“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.” (Romans 8:18)
There is no exemption from suffering for the children of God. Rather, it is a necessity in the case, if it is a suffering with Christ. But the glory far outweighs the suffering, for the glory of the sons of God is the end to which creation looks and for which it waits. By a very striking and impressive personification, Paul in these verses represents creation as looking and waiting for the culmination of the Divine plan. The ground was cursed for Adam’s sake (Genesis 3:17), and is thorn and thistle producing. This evil in nature, associated in origin with man’s sin, will be removed in connection with the redemption in Christ. The “dominion” given to Adam (Genesis 1:26), and lost by him, is restored in Christ (Psalms 8:6; Hebrews 2:6–8; 1 Corinthians 15:27). “The Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody” (Isaiah 51:3). “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off” (Isaiah 55:13). Whatever figurative application these words may have, there is an undoubted literal meaning underlying.
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Author: John Carter
Keywords: All creation groans, earth groans, new creation, new heaven, new earth, new heaven and new earth, creation groans
Bible reference(s): Romans 8:18-25
Source: “The Letter to the Romans,” The Christadelphian, Vol. 67, No. 788, 1930.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.