Suppose some fairytale genie were to grant you, just as you were becoming an adult, a lifetime of happiness, no worries, living in an ideal location, doing what you would always have dreamed of doing, just a perfect life for the rest of your life. However, in order to obtain this you would have to go through a very brief, less than a minute, of bad pain. Would you do it? I think most of us would. What is one minute compared to a lifetime, perhaps 70 or more years, of a perfect life? Equally so, what are a handful of years compared to an endless eternity? This hypothetical scenario is similar to what St. Paul speaks of in our Scripture today, as we continue on in the eighth chapter of Romans.
Paul begins this portion of Scripture with teaching that the various sufferings that we all go through throughout life are insignificant compared to the future glory that God will reveal (vs. 18). He doesn’t deny the existence of suffering. We all know it is real, however it is temporary. The glory of the believer’s future eternal life is certain. It is immeasurable, and it will be forever. Whatever problems or pain we are going through won’t last forever, but we will. Compared with eternity, what is 70, 80, or 90 years? It is like a millisecond. Paul tells us to look beyond the present to the promised future.
There is coming a time in the future when God’s children will receive their glorified bodies, and will be presented and shown as His redeemed people (vs 19). This will be at the Second Coming of the Lord Jesus and His Millennial Kingdom. As Paul states, this is something that creation itself longs for because its own restoration is tied to our glorification.
Adam and Eve’s sin in the Garden of Eden didn’t just affect them and mankind. It also affected all of creation - other animals, plants, the weather, all of creation (vs. 20-22). They all fell, as well. The Fall in the garden brought decay, death, and disorder into the physical world. There were no weeds in the Garden, nor thorns and thistles. There were no birth defects, violence, nor poisonous animals or plants. There were no tornados, hurricanes, nor all the earthquakes we have seen lately. Creation is now in “bondage of corruption”, but it will one day be delivered when Jesus returns and establishes His kingdom. People may say that the earth’s future is destruction, but that is not true. Creation’s future is freedom.
Paul uses language here, that of moaning and groaning, that echoes that of childbirth, which is pain with a purpose. All of the natural disasters, the decay, disorder, and death are evidence of creation’s groaning. This groaning is not hopeless, it anticipates its new birth. The physical creation is awaiting its renewal.
Creation isn’t the only thing that is groaning. As believers groan too (vs. 23). We groan because we are waiting for “the adoption and the redemption of our body”. The adoption will be the full and final experience of being God’s child. We also eagerly await the glorified body that was promised at the resurrection. The Holy Spirit guarantees this future inheritance (Ephesians 1:13-14), and He produces the longing for Christ’s return in us. We groan because we know that this world is not our final home.
We were saved into hope (vs. 24-25). This hope is not wishful thinking. It is a confident expectation grounded in God’s promises. Hope that is seen is not hope, so therefore believers wait with patience. We hope and wait for our future resurrection and the return of Jesus. We hope and wait for the restoration of all of creation and our glorification. This hope fuels our endurance of all we might currently be going through.
We can endure suffering with confidence, knowing our future is glorious beyond comparison. Let us lift our eyes from the pain of the present to the glory of the future. Suffering is not the final chapter. Redemption is. We groan, all creation groans, but it should be filled with hope. Jesus will return, creation will be restored, and we will shine with Him in glory. Let us anchor our hope in God’s promises, not in our present circumstances.
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