The Glorification of Creation Along with the Sons of God

In your handout, I'm going to skip over the first part of it. I had your outline of Chapter 8, but I thought, oh, it might go too long if I cover that before this lesson. And I have another sort of general outline I'd like to present. But first, we need to correct some doctrinal, some, not doctrinal, but eschatological error from you, Mike. You said, two weeks ago, you said that the Doors, the band was a 70s or 80s band, and they're 60s, so we need to get... We need to be correct in our dispensation if you listened to us tape from two weeks ago. I was like, the doors weren't in the 80s. That was cool though, you read their lyrics and I enjoyed that.

So I'll begin at 18 here in Romans chapter 8. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed in us. For the anxious longing of creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. And then 20, here's our verses for today. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

And just, I thought of, this came to me this week, Romans up till now, there's roles of the Godhead within Romans, which is kind of cool. First, God the Father comes in from Romans chapter 1, verse 18, through chapter 3 of verse 21. And he judges mankind. He brings condemnation to all mankind, to Jews and Gentiles. And it says things like, for the wrath of God is revealed. And therefore God gave them over and they exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image. So his role was in highlighting that all men are under sin.

But then he brings in his son, Jesus Christ, starting at Romans 3.22 and into chapter 7. And it's Jesus Christ's role in sanctification.

Well, first He justifies mankind, saves us from condemnation, and then He identifies us in His death, burial, and resurrection. And so we move from the end of chapter seven, Christ's work for us, into God the Holy Spirit comes in. The Spirit's work within us. and his role in sanctification, and then further to glorification. The Spirit frees us from the bondage of sin, from slavery in the present to sin, and then In the future, He'll glorify us and that'll be removing our sin nature. We'll be freed from the presence of the sin nature, yet future. And that's our message for today, what we want to focus on today.

And then a sub-category of that is creation. He'll free creation from the bondage that it's under. So I thought that was just a good way to sort of sum up very generally where we've been so far in Romans. And I'm just getting over a cold, so my voice will go out, but I'll try and deal with that. So let's review verse 19 from two weeks ago.

For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. And Mike covered that, that anxious longing is, I'll try and produce that. the pronunciation of the Greek here on the fly, apokaradokia, and that's a way the head to watch, as Mike said. It's the craning of the head to see something like a kid at a parade is looking, trying to John Phillips said, on tiptoe. He gets up on his tiptoe, and he tries to see what's coming down the prey line, to see what's coming up next. And that's that word, apokaradokia. And to see what?

What's our glorification? Our glorification together with the Lord Jesus Christ, when we'll be revealed with all the other saints at His coming. in the air when the risen Lord Jesus Christ gathers us up together with Him in the air, to meet Him in the air at the rapture. And that'll be a wonderful day. At this time in history, this curse that creation is under will be lifted and made null and void. at that time and we'll look at that this morning. And why is that?

It's because it's our glorification and suffering, Merriman says this, suffering under a curse is not a condition of glorification. And if you think about it, Christ is there. He is there present in person. So where he is, Can you think that, you can't think that suffering or curses are anywhere around him where he is. So that's why this curse will be lifted. And then another thing is this creation is tied to mankind. We are linked, as Mike, you pointed that out two weeks ago as well. When we're glorified, creation must follow.

And here, my cup is in the way of my, the words too. So I see what you mean, Courtney, right? And by the way, the only reason I'm up here this morning and last week is because this winter I left this cup here And I had to come back and be reunited with it, so it's good that I'm here. Reunited with my cup. So that's good.

F.W. Grant says, the creation is connected with man as his head. The fall of man has brought about this groaning condition. He has the soul of the beast. He has the very dust of the earth in him. He is linked in the fullest possible way with the creation throughout.

And how blessed to realize that in this way Christ, in taking on humanity, has lined himself even, one may say, with the very material universe. And that's from F.W. Grant in his Numerical Bible. On to verse 20. This is the first verse of our passage, new material for this morning. First, let's define this creation. And I always thought that it was the whole creation, sun, moon, stars, galaxies, things like that.

But when it talks about creation, it's limited to the earth. and the realm of wherever mankind's realm is. So Newell and Vincent say it's all nature minus humanity on the earth. And that makes sense because that's where man is and that's all that's connected to man. Newell says, after all, the cherubim, the angels, and seraphim are not subject to this futility that man, that the creation is under.

And so why the subjection? Well, it's because of the curse of Genesis chapter 3, 17 through 19. where God says to Adam after he sins, because you have listened to your wife and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, you shall not eat from it.

Cursed is the ground because of you. And there's the curse. Cursed is the ground because of you. In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles shall grow for you till you return to the ground. And you can see that linkage there, till you return to the ground. Man comes from the ground, the creation is of the ground, and so that's how they're linked. Now what's this futility, or we could say in some of your Bibles you might have vanity.

And what that is, is emptiness, idleness, uselessness. And it's a reference to a dying, decaying condition. Which brings up my favorite topic, I think you know that Roger, is the second law of thermodynamics. And a lot of commentators mention this too. It's something in science that says entropy increases, energy loses its ability to do productive work, energy moves from order to order. and productive work to disorder and chaos.

And that's just a natural law. And so I think that right there in Genesis 3, 17 through 19, is where that law was instituted by God. And it didn't start at first because it increases. over time. So that's the curse. And we can describe this curse even scientifically.

Now let's look at this phrase in verse 20, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it in hope. You can see that the one who subjected was not Adam or Satan. And we want to look at the Greek construction. And it kind of comes out in the English because it's indirect. It was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it. It's a kind of indirect way of saying God subjected it. But a couple commentators really brought this out, especially Vines, and I thought, well, why is that? That's kind of interesting. The direct cause of it was Adam's sin. So God didn't just come in and give the curse. It was because of something. It was because he was following his holy nature and his will, and it was in response to sin. And it was indirect, so he had to do it.

We had a dog, a favorite dog, Benji, who at the end of his life he was doing those things that dogs do, they go off to die, you know, and they become rather suicidal. And so he would lie, sleep behind the car in the garage. And this is the same as our dog, Lil, up in Telluride a couple years ago. She would just go off in the night and find a snow bank and stay there all night, or go in the river, do strange things.

So Benji got run over, and he was dying, bleeding inside. And my sister was a new vet, brand new vet. So she was there. So she went down to the veterinary clinic. I think she talked to the Parker vet or whatever. And she got the pill to put Benji down.

But I'd never say that my sister euthanize Benji or my sister killed Benji or I would say Lisa had to put Benji down because he was dying so that's that indirect way of saying this in the Greek is what they're trying to get at so God indirectly had to do this because of man's sin now what's the reason God had to do this Well, if you think back to the Garden of Eden, it was a vibrant and productive place and powerful. Plants would grow, and there was no weeds, and it was a perfect place. And the millennial kingdom will be much the same. That vitality will return someday.

I reference Isaiah and Ezekiel in Isaiah 65, chapter 65 here, and Joel 3.18, and here's the conditions of the kingdom. There's no sickness, no disease. no miscarriages, people live long, there's no death of newborns or toddlers, there's peace in the land, there's supreme productivity of crops and vegetation. In other words, that law of entropy goes away in the coming kingdom. And those references I have, and you'll recognize them, I'll just read through some quickly here. And the wolf will dwell with the lamb, you know that, and a little boy will lead them, and a nursing child will play at the viper's den. The earth will increase its yield, and Israel will be secure in their land.

No longer will an infant live but a few days, nor an old man who does not live out his days. For the young, The youthful man will die at age 100. On that day, the deaf will hear the words of a book. They will not labor in vain, nor bear children for calamity.

And Joel 3.18 there says, and in that day, the mountains will drip with sweet wine and the hills will flow with milk and the brooks of Judah will flow with water. So you see that this vibrant place without the curse. And I'm comparing it to the Garden of Eden. I don't know if the Millennial Kingdom will do exactly the same, but I'm making the assumption it's going to be relatively the same, let's say. People will live long. If you think Enoch, and this is John Callahan, he brought out this point. Enoch was 365 years old when he was taken and he was the youngest guy in that time. He was taken at 365 years old. And then Methuselah lived to 969 years.

And think of this law of entropy or the curse. I was looking at average lifespans from 1700, and they're at 35, 28, around 30, and it stays about there until you get up into last century, goes up to 70, 72. So we're way, you can see how that law has just, taking the lifespan of man way down. So that's going to come back in the millennial kingdom, which will be good. If you want to live long, that'll be your time.

That's due to the presence of the sin nature. In Genesis 2, verse 17, God says, if you eat of the fruit of that tree, he says, dying, you shall surely die. So we're all living here. Living, but we're actually dying. And we'll live out our days to, what, 80 years old, 90 years old. But we're dying inside. Which is tragic, but our future glorification will be very good. I have a theory, and this is just a theory.

As to why God had to institute the curse, well, he was punishing sin, but he also had to do it in the garden because if you think the creation was powerful and vibrant, it was here, and he placed Adam Above it to subdue it. He said subdue it So the hierarchy was Adam was above the creation but then when Adam sinned Sin was in him and over time he was gonna go like this Go from living 900 years down to 30, you know 28 years So God had to bring the creation down so that the hierarchy kept in place. You see what I'm saying? So that Adam and mankind was still above the creation and could carry out his role as husbandman to the creation.

And that's my theory. I don't know if that's true. But we'll see how it works out. In a year, I might say, well, that was a dumb theory. But there it is. So that's my theory. And I'm sticking to it. So the creation was subjected and in hope. In hope, this is better stated, on the hope that creation will be freed from its bondage. The thing hoping is the creation, so obviously God isn't the one hoping, and Vine brings that out. I had to divide this word up into two. Anthropomorphize, if we can anthropomorphize creation, that means assigning human characteristics to something that isn't a living thing. Godet, cited by Vine, says, creation, she possesses the feeling of her unmerited suffering. And she has a vague impression, but inaccurate impression, of her future deliverance.

So that's the hope that creation has of its deliverance. Mike, you said two weeks ago that creation is not inert, it's not lifeless, it's vitally connected to man, and we've established that. It is the natural ally to our souls. And I like that, that fits in well.

Verse 22 coming up is that creation suffers birth pangs awaiting her freedom of the glory of this curse removed. So, and hope, hope is absolute certainty. and absolute certainty of the future revealing of the sons of God. And Grant says, if we hope for what we do not behold, then do we with patience wait for it. How beautiful a thought it is that this hope is so perfect, there is such complete assurance with regard to it, that not having it only produces patience in us. And that could be said about creation as well. So on to verse 21, we looked at what creation means. So in 21, creation itself will be set free from its slavery to corruption. And this is creation in the future.

And if we remember what this link was from Genesis 3.19, the end of verse 19 of chapter 3, because you were taken from the dust, you are dust, and to dust you shall return. That's linkage.

And further, keeping with Romans 8.2, for the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death, there's our deliverance. Our life in Christ Jesus is the freeing principle, and the agent doing it is the Holy Spirit.

So it naturally follows that creation will, in the future, be set free. It's subordinate to man. It follows us in being set free. And set free to what? And it says, to the freedom of the glory of the children of God. And it's better for me, I like it better, saying the better translation is the liberty of the glory of the children of God. Liberty is a critical element in the future glory state of the millennial kingdom. As I said before, Christ is there. There's no bondage in him where he is. So what is this liberty of glory? And kind of repeating myself here, but Christ is there. He liberated us from the sin nature.

We have glorious transformed bodies like his. And it's kind of neat because last week I spent a lot of time on that Easter Sunday, what these transformed bodies will be like. And then two weeks ago, Mike, you had a lot of verses about us being transformed as well. So there's been three weeks of this glorious state. It's interesting how these verses tied into the Easter message from last week and they dovetail very nicely.

So in Christ, there's no bondage, no corruption, no vanity, no death decay. And this is just me trying to describe what this liberty of the glory will be. And it's kind of hard to describe because it's so vast, what's true in the kingdom. A couple commentators brought this out. There's the liberty of the glory, but then there's the liberty of grace. And we're familiar with that. It's Romans 6, 7, and 8. And that in grace, we're set free from the sin nature and the law of sin and death. And that's by grace.

And that's really Romans 8.2.

And Ironside and Grant say, creation does not share in this liberty of grace, but it will have its part in the liberty of the glory to follow. In the kingdom age, it's a millennial blessing. So is everyone clear on those two? concepts the liberty of the glory and the liberty of grace I Think that's a kind of a cool a cool distinction that I hadn't seen before So on to verse 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. Something I know nothing about, thankfully.

But we're dealing with this verse, it's creation in the present. And this is kind of the crux of the lesson for today. Creation groaning and suffering in the present. The word knowledge is Ido or know is Ido, and it's a divinely inspired knowledge or an intuitive knowledge. It's not something that we would be, we would come, It wouldn't come to us by experience. We just have to be given it. We know it intuitively that the creation groans and suffers. It's hidden from experiential view. Therefore, a spirit given. The pains of childbirth is another good anthropomorphism for the travailing under the natural law, the second law of thermodynamics, death, decay, and disorder. And this one is good. Think of this.

Nature, with its melancholy charm, resembles a bride who, at the very moment when Cher was fully attired for marriage, I might have to correct that, saw her bridegroom die. She stands with fresh crown, and in her bridal dress, but her eyes are full of tears." So I know that we had a CPA for our company who retired. Exact same thing happened to him. His son was getting married, and they went across the street to take photos, and he was coming back, and his son got hit by a car and died on his wedding day. So you can imagine his daughter-in-law standing there in her full, fresh crown and her bridal dress, you know, full of tears.

So that's a really melancholic way to describe what the creation is groaning and suffering through now, waiting for this time in the future to come. And this, in verse 22, the last part, together until now, and it's the elements of creation. So you think the land, sea, water, weather, all the earth systems of creation are groaning together.

It's the word, The word for travailing, as in childbirth, is sunodino. And that's, Mike, you had two weeks ago, S-U-N. I have S-Y-N, but same thing. That's co-travailing. We have sustenato, co-groaning. Those are both in verse 22. And if we compare that to verse 17, being co-heirs with Christ is su clarinamus. Suffering together with Christ is sum pachco. Being glorified together with Christ is sum doxatso. So you see all these co-things in this chapter 8 of Romans.

So there's one, two, three, four, five. There's a lot of co-things with Christ and co-things with the creation that is going on there. I just thought that was an interesting kind of word study to end it there. I have a Macaulay, what I'm calling a Macaulay minute. And this is, I'll describe this chart, just making sure it's all there for you. It's, he brings out a chiasm of chapter eight, verse 18 through 23.

And you see the big X, well that's a chi, that's a Greek letter chi. But if you fold it, It's a mirror image of itself, so it folds into itself perfectly. So, in verse 18, you have the future of the believer. and you fold that and it hits down there, verse 23, the present of the believer. It's a mirror image in writing. So then on the right side, the right side for you too, you have verses 19 through 21, the future of creation. You fold that down and it's the present of creation.

And the things, just to review from verse 18, the future of the believer, is there's a glory that will be revealed in us, a redemption of our bodies will be adopted as sons. Then the future of creation, verse 19 through 21, the creation will be freed from its servitude. It'll experience the liberty of the glory of the sons of God.

And then that folds down to verse 22, the present of creation, Currently, creation is groaning, suffering, travailing. We saw that soon. All those words for travailing and suffering, that co-suffering. And then in verse 23, finally, we groan within ourselves. And that is the present of the believer. But that we leave for next week when Roger takes that over. So I've done the groaning of creation this morning. And then Roger will take upon our groaning. And I hear groaning from you right now, but that's your stomachs. And I think we're going to have a lunch downstairs. So I'll end it there. And I'll close in prayer.

Our Heavenly Father, We thank you for Romans, and the wonderful book of Romans, and the fact that we're saved from sin, and you've saved us from our sin nature, and you sanctify us, you separate us from sin, and we have that. And then in the future, we'll be glorified together with you. and we won't experience sin anymore for all eternity. And we thank you so much for that, and that you'll liberate your creation. And what a glorious future we have in store for us, Father. And we thank you for these things, and we pray in Christ's name, amen.