12: Believers Resurrected, Creation Restored (8:18-25)
12: BELIEVERS RESURRECTED, CREATION RESTORED (8:18-25)
In our study of Romans 1—8, we have learned about the past aspect of salvation, by which we stand justified before God (1:18—4:25). We have learned about salvation’s present reality in our lives, the ongoing process of sanctification (5:1—8:17). Verse 17 of chapter 8 speaks of our being “glorified together,” which introduces us to this final section. Romans 8:18-25 speaks of our glorification, the aspect of salvation which is still in the future:
For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (8:18)
We looked at this verse at the end of the previous section and noted the reality of the suffering Christians endure in this present life. We looked at 2 Thessalonians 1:4-7, where Paul wrote words of comfort to Christians who were at that very time enduring persecution. Such persecution continued, and in about the year 96, the aging apostle John is still feeling the effects of this persecution as he endures life in a sort of Roman concentration camp on the isle of Patmos. In the book of Revelation he writes, “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ . . .” (Rev. 1:9). What is John’s comfort amid his suffering? It is “the patience of Jesus Christ,” by which I believe he means the patience we can gain from looking forward to Christ’s return. Just as Paul commended the Thessalonians for their “patience” (2 Thess. 1:4), and then reminded them that they would find “rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven” (verse 7), so also John found his hope in patiently awaiting Christ’s return. There is only one real answer amid tribulation, whether in the day of the Thessalonians, in the day of John on Patmos, or in the rest of church history including our own day; the only adequate answer to tribulation is our hope in the coming of Christ in glory.
John actually saw something of Christ in glory right there on Patmos. But in Romans 8:18-25, Paul will tell us that all Christians are to live in expectation of one day seeing the Lord just as John saw Him. If we today are living as we should live as Christians, we do not need to seek tribulation. We will surely suffer some sort of persecution as we find ourselves running counter to the whole twentieth-century mentality. Yet no matter how great the sufferings are, whether it be the young woman in London put out of her home; whether it be another person who has gone back to his home in El Salvador and is probably facing persecution right now; whether it involves our brothers and sisters in countries with open and obvious persecution of Christians; or whether it be each one of us, with our own friends, with our own family: Whatever our sufferings might be, we can find comfort in these words: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us.”
Paul invites us to open the door and walk through, as in just a few brief verses he gives us a glimpse of our Lord’s return and of the glorious future aspect of our salvation. Remember, Paul is still exegeting the theme verses of 1:16-17, which he concluded by saying, “the just shall live by faith.” And now in this section he shows us that we can live by faith right up to the gates of glory.
We have also noted, in reference to the theme passage, that we need never be “ashamed of the gospel” as a belief system (1:16), nor need we ever be ashamed of the day-to-day practice of our faith, for “hope maketh not ashamed” (5:5); we should never be ashamed of our hope in Christ, for it will never disappoint us. In these verses on glorification, Paul will reassure us once more that our hope for a future salvation will never disappoint us or make us ashamed. He will end this section with these words of encouragement: “For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with patience wait for it” (8:24-25).
Our hope in Christ is an unbroken line, from the time we believed in Him and were therefore freed from guilt; down through our experiences as Christians in this present life as we see the wonders of God’s sanctifying work through the indwelling Holy Spirit; then stretching on to the fulfillment of that hope in the coming of Christ as Paul will now describe it.
When Paul speaks of the “glory which shall be revealed in us” (verse 18), the Greek is actually “in reference to us.” It is not just a glory that will be revealed to us, but a glory that will be revealed surrounding us, in the context of us. In verses 19-23 he will tell us what this glory is, and why the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with it.
For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. (8:19)
“Creation” is a more contemporary word for creature , and I will translate it as such from here on. “Earnest” in this verse would be better translated “constant.” We should constantly be looking forward to this future glory. Jesus told us we should be always eagerly expecting His return (Luke 12:35-37). The early church certainly waited for the Lord’s return. They expected Him to return in their own generation. Some of the more liberal Bible scholars of our day would say that because He didn’t return in their own generation, they were wrong. Not at all. Each generation is to wait. It is to be our constant expectation. “The constant expectation of creation awaits the manifestation of the sons of God.”
What is this “manifestation of the sons of God” that all creation looks forward to? It is the physical resurrection of the believer’s body, as Paul will state specifically in verse 23. Of course, we all long for the day when we will receive our resurrected bodies. This should be our constant hope and expectation, but Paul says that the whole creation longs for our resurrection. And why do all do so?
For the creature was made subject to vanity [futility], not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (8:20-23)
As Christians, we have “the firstfruits of the Spirit.” If one apple appears on a tree, I know that it will soon yield a full harvest of apples. The fact that I now have new life through the indwelling Holy Spirit is my guarantee that one day I will have the total “redemption of [my] body.” In a moment we will see this same idea expressed by the word earnest. The Holy Spirit is the earnest, or guarantee, of the future complete redemption of our body.
Yet even though as Christians we now have the firstfruits of the Spirit (verse 23a), we still groan (23b), waiting for the redemption of our body, and the whole creation groans right along with us (verse 22). What is this groaning all about? It is the same groaning we heard from Jesus as He stood before the tomb of His friend Lazarus (John 11:33, 38). Jesus wept at Lazarus’ tomb (John 11:35), but I think He was also angry: angry against all the suffering and abnormalities that have come upon the world because of sin; angry not just against the devil, but against all the results of sin. And “even we ourselves,” though we “have the firstfruits of the Spirit,” groan just as our Lord did, as we see all the suffering around us and within us.
Creation groans, and we ourselves groan, waiting for something. We’re waiting for the redemption of our body. And the redemption of our body is, in the words of verse 19, “the manifestation of the sons of God,” the revealing of the sons of God. Certainly we are to show forth Jesus Christ in this present life; but on resurrection day, in the moment when our bodies are changed and become like Christ’s glorious body, in the moment when we are changed in the “twinkling of an eye” (1 Cor. 15:52), there will be a manifestation of the sons of God far beyond anything we could imagine in this present life. And it won’t be just we humans who are raised to glory. All creation as well will at that moment be “delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (8:21).
Isn’t this present life a life of suffering and groaning? Troubles, sorrows, persecution, sick children, people killing each other, people maligning each other; a great portion of the world today are slaves to other men; a great portion of the world today are displaced from their homes. Are we so foolish or hardhearted as to say that this is not a world of suffering? And yet, according to Paul, it all points forward specifically to the future redemption of our body and the subsequent restoration of all creation at Christ’s return.
Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. (8:23b)
Throughout these first eight chapters of Romans we have noticed a recurring emphasis on the physical body. In 1:24 we read about those who, because of their rebellion against God, have been reduced to “dishonouring their own bodies between themselves.” As sin has entered the world, it has involved our physical bodies. Then, you will recall, we learned in chapter 4 that Abraham believed that God could bring life out of his and Sarah’s dead bodies (4:19). And just as Abraham believed that life could come from his dead body, we were called, in chapter 6, to pursue sanctification in the area of our physical bodies as in all areas of our lives. “Our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be made powerless” (6:6). “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body” (6:12). Then in chapter 7, “Who should deliver me from the body of this death?” (7:24). The emphasis continues in chapter 8: “If Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness” (8:10); and 8:13: “If you live after the flesh, you shall die, but if you through the Spirit do make to die the doings of the body, you shall live.” Certainly throughout these chapters Paul shows how salvation relates to our whole person, but we can’t help noticing this recurring emphasis on the physical body.
Our bodies suffer because of the Fall. If we accept Christ as our Savior, this is to mean something in the present life in regard to our bodies. Surely those of us who have been Christians for any length of time have seen some victories over sin in the area of our physical bodies. Yet we must surely long for more victory still. We still feel the weight of the Fall in terms of sickness and in terms of our bodies getting older. We must say we have seen some victory, but we long for more. We still “groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body” (8:23), not just in the area of sickness, not just in the area of physical death, but in the area of being all that we should be. We long for the day when Christ will be completely honored and praised in our body as well as in our mind and spirit.
We often speak of God’s care for the whole personality. When God made man, He intended that our whole personality would love and praise Him. The first commandment, to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind” (Matt. 22:37), applies not just to the spirit but to the whole person, including the body. Surely all of us at times long for all aspects of our being, including our body, to be blended together in a whole to the praise of God. And Paul answers that the day will come when we will, indeed, be able truly to praise God with our full being.
Do you “groan” over the state of fallen creation, as it is manifested both within yourself and in the world outside? Well then, “My beloved,” says the Lord, “I’m coming, and your body will be redeemed” (8:23). There will come a day when we will be able to praise Him as we should. Meanwhile, our calling is to “present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God” (12:1).
Here in Romans Paul speaks of the redemption of our body. In Ephesians, he says that those who believe have been “sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession” (Eph. 1:13b-14). We are God’s “purchased possession,” purchased by Christ’s own blood. And God has “sealed” us with the indwelling Holy Spirit, who is the “earnest” or promise that He will one day redeem us in full.
In English law, it used to be the custom that when a portion of land was purchased, the person who was selling the land handed, in the presence of witnesses, a handful of his soil to the person who was buying it. That handful of soil was the “earnest,” or promise, that the whole had been purchased. When you and I are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, this is an earnest of the fact that the whole has been purchased by the blood of the Lamb. The earnest is already ours. He dwells within us in the person of the Holy Spirit. He is the proof that the whole has been purchased. And what is the whole? The whole is the redemption of our bodies. Because the Spirit indwells us, we can be sure that the Lord has purchased our whole being, and that He will one day claim it by raising us from the dead (8:23).
Meanwhile we wait, and all creation waits.
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. (8:21-22)
The indwelling Holy Spirit is the firstfruits, the earnest or guarantee that God will one day completely redeem us by raising us from the dead (8:23). But then, our own complete redemption will in turn be an earnest or guarantee for the redemption of all creation. As James expresses it, we are “a kind of firstfruits of [God’s] creation” (James 1:18). Paul says that right now the whole creation looks forward to the day when our redemption will usher in “deliverance from the bondage of corruption.” Meanwhile, they “groan and travail in pain together until now.”
To understand how our complete redemption will be the guarantee for the complete redemption of all creation, we must look at some other parts of Scripture, beginning all the way back in Genesis 3 with the story of the curse. Immediately after Adam and Eve commit the first sin, God speaks first of all to the serpent, saying that one day a Redeemer will come to undo the damage that the serpent has done: “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel” (3:15). There will be a Redeemer who will win a complete victory over Satan. Romans 8:18-25, coming after this victory of Christ over Satan at the cross, promises on the basis of that victory the coming total redemption of all creation from the damage done by original sin.
Genesis 3 describes the damage that would come to all creation because of mankind’s sin. After speaking to Satan, God turns to Eve and says, “I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children” (3:16). Eve’s own body will now be against her. Sin will bring not just mental suffering but physical suffering as well.
God then speaks to Adam of another devastating change in the physical world as the result of sin: “Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake” (3:17). Adam has committed the sin and he will suffer as a result, but the ground will also suffer. Adam and Eve’s first sin brought abnormality to themselves and to the entire external creation as well. The suffering wasn’t just in the minds of Adam and Eve. The whole creation would suffer right along with them. The fields where Adam planted his crops would now bring forth “thorns and thistles” (3:18).
The first sin brought abnormality to the physical human body, as signified by the woman’s pain in childbearing. It brought abnormality to all nature as well, signified by the ground’s producing thorns. Then in Genesis 3:19 we read of a third abnormality: “. . . till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return.” The third abnormality resulting from sin was physical death.
Looking back at Romans 8, we find a wonderful reversal of this process. It’s true, says Paul, that “creature was made subject to futility” (8:20). But he immediately goes on to say that “creature itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption” (8:21). And when will this happen? It will happen when the third part of the curse has been overcome, when redeemed humanity, as the “firstfruits,” has experienced the reversal of the curse of death in the “redemption of our body” (8:23). When this third external abnormality has been over come, then will come the cry, as Paul expresses elsewhere, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” (1 Cor. 15:55). The firstfruits of our physical resurrection will set in motion the redemption of the whole creation.
Because the creature itself also shall be delivered . . . For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. (8:21a, 22)
From the very beginning, all creation has suffered right along with mankind. And from the very beginning it has had a share in God’s unfolding plan of redemption. When God judged wicked humanity in the Flood, all but a designated few of the animals died along with them. When Noah and his family and all the rescued animals came out of the ark, God made the covenant of the rainbow with humans and animals alike: “And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you” (9:12). The covenant was not only between God and man, but between God and every living creature as well.
When at the Exodus God killed all the firstborn of Egypt while delivering Israel, the firstborn animals of Egypt died right along with their masters, while the animals of the Israelites were saved along with them (Ex. 12).
The story of the Exodus and the first Passover of course points forward to the death of Christ, the Passover “Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29). We could also consider the Passover to be a promise: It is a promise that, on the basis of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, not only will believing mankind be redeemed, but all creation will be redeemed along with them. Satan will not be allowed a victory in the world of humans, and Satan will not be allowed a victory in the world of the total creation. The Seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15). As the lamb of the Passover enabled the beasts of the Israelites to come out of Egypt alive, so eventually the work of Christ will send forth all creation into its glorious liberty. “Because creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.”
God is concerned about His whole creation, and we should be concerned about it as well. Our greatest sorrow should be reserved for lost and suffering humanity, but we should weep as well for the sufferings our sin has brought upon all of creation. You’ll find many modern artists who, though having no understanding of the Bible, at least understand and portray in their work the suffering of nature. The artist who pictures nature all rough and raw surely understands it better than the romanticist who looks at nature as though it were a piece of flawless beauty. Tennyson, who writes of “nature, red in tooth and claw,” sees nature as it truly is. When Picasso paints the cat with the bird in its mouth, he is painting nature in all its reality. Mankind sinned, they rebelled against their Creator, and all nature bore the curse along with them. Mankind kept on sinning, and the Flood destroyed animals as well as people. Noah believed God, and the ark carried the animals as well as the humans. At the Passover, the blood of the lamb on the doorposts saved animals as well as people.
Then in Romans 8 we find these great ringing words of promise for all creation: “The constant expectation of creation waiteth for manifestation of the sons of God. For creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, because creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, that is, the redemption of our body” (8:19-23).
This “redemption of our body” will be the firstfruits; when, “in the twinkling of an eye . . . the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible” (1 Cor. 15:52), this will be only the firstfruits of the tremendous redemption of all creation. Satan will not be allowed a victory in creation any more than in the world of humans. And all upon what basis? Upon only one basis: “The seed of the woman,” that is, Jesus Christ our Lord, “shall bruise the serpent’s head” as He wins His victory over hell and death at Calvary.
In Revelation, John paints a wonderful picture of redeemed creation: “Every created thing which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever” (Rev. 5:13). This is the song of redeemed creation, not even just every animate thing, but every created thing. We know very little of the total praise of creation to God. As someone has rightly observed, because of the curse on nature it is impossible to reason from nature to nature’s God. But there will be a day when that no longer is true. There will be a day when, once again, the “morning stars will sing together” just as they did at creation (Job 38:7). How beautiful the birds sing now. But what will creation be like in its song of redemption! And we will be the firstfruits of all this: raised from the dead (8:23); reigning with Christ upon the earth (Rev. 5:10); and then will come the song of redeemed creation (Rev. 5:13).
Edward Hicks (1780-1849), the primitive American painter, did almost all of his paintings on one single theme: redeemed creation. Hicks was primitive in his style, but his subject matter certainly was not primitive, for it was taken from the very heart of all history and all creation: There was a curse on creation, but there will come a day when the curse is lifted. Isaiah described and Hicks expressed in his paintings that “The wolf and the lamb shall feed together” (Isa. 65:25). As certainly as the ark carried the animals along with the humans; as certainly as the firstborn of the Israelite beasts were saved along with their masters; as certainly as all this there will come a time when all creation will be redeemed, when all created things will raise their voices to praise God as He was meant to be praised.
Do you love nature now? What will it be then! In the art museum in Neuchatel, there are three murals by the Swiss painter Paul Robert (1851-1923) on the theme of the Second Coming of Christ. The murals proclaim that when Christ returns He will be Lord over everything. One of the murals depicts the relationship of Christ to the world of industry; one shows His relationship to the world of the arts and other intellectual endeavors; and one shows His relationship to the world of agriculture. The mural on Christ and agriculture is set in the valley between Neuchatel and La Chaux de-Fonds. I wish you could see this part of Switzerland in spring. There’s no place like Switzerland, with its wildflowers blowing in the breeze. But Paul Robert painted the scene even more beautiful than it is now, more beautiful than eye has ever seen, because it will be so when Christ returns.
. . . the glory which shall be revealed in us. . . . the glorious liberty of the children of God. . . . the redemption of our body. (8:18b, 21b, 23b)
Is this all just a hopeless dream, or can we be sure that Christ will someday return for us? The apostle Peter would say to us that Christ’s return is as certain as His first coming to this earth. Speaking to a crowd in Jerusalem, Peter declared that “those things, which God before had showed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled” (Acts 3:18). Jesus came to earth and died on the cross and rose again. Those are undeniable facts of history, and they happened just as “all of [God’s] prophets” said they would happen. But Peter goes on to call the people to repentance and faith, so that they would be ready to meet the Lord “when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and he shall send Jesus Christ” (verses 19b-20a). Peter is now talking about the same future events that Paul has been talking about in Romans. He goes on to describe these great future events as the “times of restitution of all things” (verse 21a). Surely he has in mind the future redemption of all creation that we have been hearing about from Paul. And how certain can we be that these wonderful things will come to pass? Peter calls it the “times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (verse 21). God’s prophets predicted Christ’s first coming, and Christ came. The prophecies were fulfilled literally and completely. These same inspired prophets of God have predicted Christ’s Second Coming, so we can be certain that those predictions will come true as well—literally and completely. If we believe that Christ lived on this earth and died for us and rose again, we can trust the prophets’ word that He will return for us someday.
Not just in our imaginations but in real, space-time history—at a particular point of time in a particular geographic place—the times of restitution and refreshing will come. That took place in part in the ark bearing humans and animals across the flood, and with the Passover lamb saving the Israelites and saving their animals as well. Satan is not going to have a victory. The future fulfillment of prophecy will be as certain as the fulfillment of prophecy already past. If we believe in the past finished work of Jesus Christ, the flaming word is that, just as surely as Christ lived on our earth and died on the cross and rose from the dead, just as surely as all this took place, there will one day be the restitution of all things.
As we think about our coming complete redemption and with it the restoration of creation, we need to look ahead for a moment to Romans 8:29, which we will consider again in the final chapter of this study. We read that Christ is “the firstborn among many brethren.” And in Colossians 1:18, Paul describes Christ as the “firstborn from the dead.” We will one day be raised from the dead (Rom. 8:23), but Christ has already been raised from the dead. Therefore He is the firstborn among many brethren. Paul speaks in similar fashion in 1 Corinthians 15, the great passage on the physical resurrection of the dead: “But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power” (1 Cor. 15:23-24). Christ is the firstfruits, the firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18), in relation to redeemed humanity.
But Paul also sees Christ as the firstborn from the dead in relation to all creation; just a couple of verses earlier in Colossians he describes Him as “the firstborn of every created thing” (Col. 1:15). It’s exactly the same terminology in both places. And so that this cannot be misunderstood, Paul goes on to say that God allowed Christ to die on the cross, “by him to reconcile all things unto himself” (verse 20). All things, every created being. Jesus died not just to save lost sinners, but to restore the broken creation as well.
With all this in mind, we read on down through this section in Romans 8 again and feel the force of it: “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in reference to us. For the constant expectation of creation waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, that is, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it” (8:18-25).
And we wait; for it still lies ahead.
In conclusion, we turn back to our key verse: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation” (1:16). The gospel, the good news of Christ’s death and resurrection on our behalf, is the power of God unto the whole salvation, including the resurrection of the body of the believer and the restoration of all creation.
And yet, we still wait. But don’t forget the next verse: “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.” We are called to live by faith. And in the present life we won’t be disappointed, we won’t be made ashamed of the faith and the hope we have placed in Christ (5:5). And finally, when we are glorified, when God’s glory is revealed in reference to us (8:18), we certainly will feel no shame whatsoever for having lived a life of faith, as our salvation through Christ is brought to glorious completion.