Paul’s thesis in Romans 8:18-22 is that our present suffering is not even worth comparing to the glory to be revealed in the children of God. He uses “consider” (λογίζομαι) once again, the same word for Abraham being declared righteous in 4:8. The believer will certainly suffer, but they should not consider than suffering to be on a par with the glory which is to be revealed. Those who are in Christ have a certain hope in their future redemption.
“Present suffering” in 8:18 may also refer to the effect of Adam’s sin on all creation. Not only do humans suffer, but so too does all of creation. Creation itself was damaged by Adam’s sin, so creation is also looking forward to the redemption of the children of God (v. 19-22).
First, creation is eagerly longing for the revelation of God’s children. The noun translated “eagerly longing of creation” (ἀποκαραδοκία) is a very rare word which has the sense of “stretching the head forward” (TDNT 1:393). This noun is combined with the verb (ἀπεκδέχομαι, await eagerly), used for the eager expectation of the future resurrection (later in this passage, 8:23, 25; Phil 3:20; 1 Cor 1:7) .There is an apocalyptic overtone in this verse. Paul is looking forward to the unveiling of the children of God in the coming resurrection.
Second, because of Adam’s rebellion, creation was subjected to futility. Looking back to the effect of sin on creation in Genesis 3, all creation is subjected against its will to worthlessness (ματαιότης). The word refers to frustration, or even frustrating purposelessness. “The basis of creation’s continuing enslavement to transitoriness and mortality is the fall of mankind” (EDNT 3:313–314).
This is the word the LXX uses in Ecclesiastes 1:2, vanity of vanities, the meaninglessness of life. Recent commentaries on Ecclesiastes use the word “absurd” rather that vanity. Because of sin, creation itself is pointless and absurd. In Ecclesiastes, this is demonstrated by the constant cycles of nature. There is a certain pointlessness to animal life, for example, which seems to exist to eat, sleep and mate.
Third, creation was put into bondage to decay. More than being pointless, creation suffers death as a result of the fall. The noun φθορά refers to decay of living things. The implication is that prior to the fall, creation was not in a state of decay; it functioned differently than it does today. More than this, creation is enslaved to decay, unable to free itself from the cycle of decay and death. We know that there is nothing in all of creation which does not die, rot or erode away to nothing given time.
Fourth, creation is groaning as in the pains of childbirth (v. 22). This vivid image may be drawn from apocalyptic literature (EDNT 3:311). The suffering of the world and the persecution of God’s people are sometimes described as “the birth pangs” of the new age (Isa 26:17; Micah 4:9; 4 Ezra 4:38-43)
Isaiah 26:17–18 (ESV) Like a pregnant woman who writhes and cries out in her pangs when she is near to giving birth, so were we because of you, O Lord; 18 we were pregnant, we writhed, but we have given birth to wind. We have accomplished no deliverance in the earth, and the inhabitants of the world have not fallen.
4 Ezra 4:38-43 Then I answered and said, “O sovereign Lord, but all of us also are full of ungodliness. 39 And it is perhaps on account of us that the time of threshing is delayed for the righteous—on account of the sins of those who dwell on earth.” 40 He answered me and said, “Go and ask a woman who is with child if, when her nine months have been completed, her womb can keep the child within her any longer.” 41 “No, my lord,” I said, “it cannot.” He said to me, “In Hades the chambers of the souls are like the womb. 42 For just as a woman who is in travail makes haste to escape the pangs of birth, so also do these places hasten to give back those things that were committed to them from the beginning. 43 Then the things that you desire to see will be disclosed to you.”
Jesus refers to the suffering facing his disciples prior to his return as a series of “birth pains” (Matt 24:8). These pains are not the end itself, but the suffering and pain expected before the new age is fully revealed. In the Olivet Discourse, this will include natural suffering (disasters, etc.) but also direct persecution on account of Jesus Christ.
Paul is in step with Second Temple Judaism by describing creation as utterly corrupted by sin. Many in the first century were also looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; 1 Enoch 45:4-4; Jubilees 4:26).
Throughout Romans there has been a present and future aspect of redemption. We are save, but not wholly glorified yet we have yet to come into our inheritance.” Does the present aspect of our redemption have any impact on creation? Evangelicals are quick to talk about redeeming people, but to the redeemed people have any responsibility toward creation?
Thanks
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
We our continually killing sin, and striving to live in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit restores our relationship with the Father. And ultimately we are to be restored to the original Adam, sinless and perfect before God. Adam was commanded by God to work the garden of Eden, and keep it (Genesis 2:15). This command came before the fall. Meaning, the perfect Adam was to take care of the garden and cultivate it. Now humans are broken, but those who are in Christ have been redeemed, and even though we have not yet been glorified, we ought to live as if we have been. By viewing ourselves as redeemed, we ought to understand our responsibly to creation. Just as Adam was told to work the garden and keep it, so also we ought to follow this command as believers made whole in Christ. Yes, redeemed people do have a responsibility to creation.
I believe that we, as believers of Christ, do have a responsibility towards creation. I do not believe that means being vegan is the holiest lifestyle (although veggies are the beggies), but I do believe that God wants us to take care of His creation. Many of Christ’s parables related to some aspect of gardening or farming. We are called to be good stewards, plus it’s always better to leave something better than it was before.
This whole concept of environmental issues is actually a concern we must have as Christians. We know that God created the heavens and the earth and made it good. We see in Genesis the world God created to work in perfect harmony and for specific purposes and roles. There is no doubt God respected and nourished nature. Although man came and we are a “step above” nature because of our made in His likeness and image. We still need to have a perspective of God’s original design and intentions. It took God 5 days to create nature, and one day for us. In the beginning God gave mankind the stewardship to cultivate and nourish nature, but the fall happened and everything was ingrained with decay (humans decay spiritually and physically, nature physically). We should respect nature and the ability it has to reveal God’s presence (Romans 1:20). In Moo, there is a great section about how Paul is more “green” then we think. We need to take care of nature in a respectful and realistic way.
In Genesis we read how God created the universe, every single thing (living or not) was created by Him and for Him. God’s creation was perfect and good, He was happy with it, but sin entered the world through Adam’s disobedience and curiosity. We now live in a corrupt world where the environment and humans are falling apart and getting worse. It is a sad reality, but as Christians I personally believe that we are called to take care of the earth we have been placed in. God created humans to be “above” the earth and to take care of it. Just because sin and evil entered and we were separated from God, that does not give us a way out or an excuse to not watch over the environment. In chapter 12, Moo states that: “Christians teach that human needs and wants take precedents over the good of the natural world” (Moo, 2881). The argument by Christian’s in Moo is that we have the right to exploit nature and the environment for our good. This thinking and way of living is pathetic. We have become so self centered and consumerism has completely taken over. Moo also argues that Paul was a lot greener than most people think. It would be wise to take Paul as an example and follow is direction. As Christians we need to be the ones to take the first step. We need to drop the bad attitudes and be the examples to both non Christians and Christians.
As Christians, I believe it is important for us to take care of God’s creation. It is falling apart because of human sin. Genesis 1:31 says, “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.” The word “everything” includes both humans and the earth that we live on. When God originally created the earth He declared it was good, but when humans fell, so did the earth. It is our fault that the earth is the way it is, so I feel as though we should take responsibility for what did and what we are currently doing to the earth and try to fix it. After all, God did save us even though we are broken ourselves and it is our fault that His once good creation is now broken and “groaning together in the pains of childbirth” (Romans 8:22). We should try to extend the same love to the planet that God mercifully gave to us.
The fact that we are redeemed through Jesus Christ does have, at least to some degree an impact on creation. First of all, we are told that “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it (Genesis 2:15). God’s original plan was for us to be holy and righteous (before the fall). However because Adam and Eve sinned, this did not necessarily negate the fact that God originally gave us a responsibility, that of caring for His creation. We are also told from the book of Genesis, 1:28 to “subdue the earth and have dominion over it”. Does having dominion mean simply taking all that we can and destroying it in the process? Of not! While this may be happening slowly over time simply due to the fact that we live in a sinful world, nevertheless it is still wrong to destroy creation. We are told in the book of Revelation that God’s name will be feared, for “destroying the destroyers of the earth” Revelation 11:18. What does this mean exactly? While it is unclear, one can presume that those who pollute, exploit, and destroy God’s creation will at least face some type of judgment from God because of this. Do redeemed people have any responsibility toward creation? It would appear so. In conjunction with these, we are also told from God’s word that “whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel (Proverb 12:10). While this proverb can literally mean the life of “your own beast”, meaning one that simply belongs to you, it could figuratively also refer to creation as a whole. For example, if a natural gas corporation is planning on raising a parcel of land for wells, machinery, etc, and are informed that a rare, endangered species of animal lives there, and they go forward with construction and thereby destroy this species and aspect of God’s creation. But what if they had the opportunity to build somewhere else where it would not have affected and killed off this species, and yet they still did so simply due to sake of convenience? If this were to take place, would this be having “regard for the life of a beast” that God created? Absolutely not. It is clear from scripture that we do have an impact on creation, and we also have a responsibility to care for it.
As Christians, I believe this is something we should really be concerned about because we are critically ruining with many things that are being done on this planet. This is an important topic because we need to be more concerned with God’s creation even though it might not seem like we do much harm to it but we really do and that is what some folks might not realize. The little things we can do to help God’s creation a safe environment would be very helpful to him and others around us because it is what God intended us to do. He died for all of our many sins and in return one of the small things we can do to help is keep his wonderful creation healthy and do what we can to keep it nice and healthy and spread it to others.
I think we forget that after Adam and Eve ate from the tree of good and evil, their actions cause more damage than just the curse on man. It affected everything around them. After God finished his creation, He gave Adam the responsibility of tending it. Genesis 2:15- “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it.” Even though we are now in the reality of the fallen world we, as humans, are still given the task to take care of it. Sin entering the world has clearly done its damage with how humans take care of it, but how should Christians respond to creation care? I think that Moo makes a good point that in Genesis 1:28 that we have the choice on how to handle the world we live in, but I don’t think that God intended us to mistreat that responsibility. “Our attitude toward nature should be one not of exploitation but of stewardship” (Moo, 122). God cares about His creation, all of it, and so should we.
Paul’s view that are suffering does not compare to what is coming when the Glory of God is fully revealed should not be a surprise since we do live In a fallen and broken world. This is due to the fact that when Adam and Eve ate the fruit it was not just humanity that was cursed but it was God’s creation that is still groaning. Genesis 2:15 man is given the job to maintain the garden, after the fall though man is now responsible for subduing the earth not just maintaining the garden. WE are still called to stewardship and that is what I think Paul is getting at. Yes we as Christians often tend to look at the great commission as our calling, but we often forget that part of our responsibility is still stewardship of God’s creation.
We as Christians, have a legitimate obligation to keep our planet in good shape. Human’s have done a good job at destroying our ecosystems and polluting the air we breathe. This has caused numerous negative effects to our Earth. Even aside from the moral obligations that our Lord places in our hearts, even most-non believers will tell you that it’s vital for our Earth to be kept and to be continually improved. From a biblical standpoint, there honestly isn’t a whole lot that we can do to “save” our earth because Adam’s original sin caused decay and death. So even the planet we live on is experiencing the consequences of sin. What we can do though, is try to preserve our planet because after all, Earth is a part of God’s creation just like we are. The earth deserves to be treated well. Romans 8:22 says, “the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth…” This illustrates to us that all of creation including humans, animals, and nature have experienced the outcome of Adam’s sin. But like I said earlier, because the earth is God’s creation just like we are, it should be our moral duty to make sure that the Earth is healthy enough for future generations to live on.
Roman’s offers the insight to and end of our suffering and to the profound glory that comes to end our suffering. As you mention, believers have this glory to look forward to. I heard from a youth leader that there is a famous story of a woman who converted from a Middle Eastern religion to Christianity. After her conversion, she was shocked that Christianity is full of joy. I do not remember who this convert was to reference, but I remember being told that this convert had never experienced joy and the practice of loving others intentionally within her past religion. When I consider Christianity, or when I am facing suffering, I think often to how I am thankful for Christianity in my life and have the ability and privilege to be joyful in suffering. I can reflect on how other countries suppress this Gospel, and how persecuted Christians are currently experiencing far more suffering than I can imagine. This gives me a deeper appreciation for Romans 8:19-22. Those facing terrible persecution likely struggle to feel joy or must earnestly pray for joy within their suffering. Paul is speaking to everyone when he is addressing the coming glory of Christ and the end of our suffering, and it is meant to be held onto tightly by all, motivating us to remain faithful to Christ with this hope. We can also understand how this coming glory is the coming redemption of humanity with God, which will pull us back into the relationship that God intended us to have with him in the beginning. This is the relationship that sin defiled in Genesis 3. And like birth pains, this suffering will worsen until the New Age comes.
found this blog post to be very thought provoking regarding the redeemed role in creation. As Christians living in a broken corrupt world, we are redeemed but have not yet received our inheritance as said in the blog. This puts us in an interesting position. The Lord created this world for us to live in and to take care of us. I believe that in return we must take care of God’s creation. We must not worship creation or put it above ourselves but as redeemed people we have a responsibility to be good stewards of what God has given us. As Christians we are aware of the death and decay around us in this world. The suffering and birth pains are apparent. The result of sin has infected everything. As we are still in this world, we are made aware of this condemnation every day. As Christians we are called to bring the kingdom of heaven down to earth and be an example for our Lord. We do this during creation that is groaning. The longing that we all must be reunited with God is apparent every day. Our sin paints a picture of our need for a savior. We see this in all of creation including humanity. In Isaiah 26:17-18, there is a clear image that there is a deep longing for our Lord. There is an inherent pain in our hearts as we desire our redemption with our Father.