The anxious longing of the creation waits

Romans 8:9-25 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. ¹⁰ If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. ¹¹ But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

¹² So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh— ¹³ for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, ¹⁷ and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. ²³ And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. ²⁴ For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

In today’s text it says:      that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.      Not only was man subject to the curse of sin, but in Genesis 3:17-19 it says:   Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life.  “Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field;  By the sweat of your face You will eat bread…    Creation itself, at least this world we live in was affected by the curse of sin.  In Revelation 21 it says:    Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away… And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.”  Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost.  He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.           So there will be a future when Christ returns and the world, creation will be fully restored, redeemed from the curse, made new. Those who have overcome the curse, through Christ, will inherit these things, they will be sons of God.  

In the text though Paul says:    For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.  For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”  The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God,  and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.       This speaks of a present condition, not of a future. There is a future inheritance we have in and through Christ but there is also a present inheritance. We are God’s children, not we will be. We are:    heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ      When Jesus was here on earth a vital part of His message was:  "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17) Repent does mean to turn from sin, to change direction from following the way of sin to seeking righteousness. It also means to change your mind, to think differently. We are no longer to think and believe that we and creation are under the curse. The kingdom of heaven is at hand, some translations say it is near.  How near is it? Both in time and space, how near is the kingdom of heaven to us?  Let’s look at what it says in Luke 17:20-21:      Now having been questioned by the Pharisees as to when the kingdom of God was coming, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God is not coming with signs to be observed;  nor will they say, ‘Look, here it is!’ or, ‘There it is!’ For behold, the kingdom of God is in your midst.”     In your midst literally means within. So we are to repent, to change both our actions and our way of thinking. We are to believe that the kingdom of heaven is within us.

Jesus taught us to pray: Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. That’s how we are to pray, that the realities of heaven would be manifested here on earth, that the perfection of heaven, the freedom from the curse of sin would be here on earth as it is in heaven. But it should be more than just a prayer, more than asking God to cause it. If indeed the kingdom of heaven is within us, then we should live as agents of change in this world which has been affected by sin. We should bring the realities of the kingdom to earth. Today’s text says:  For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.   Creation is longing for those who are sons of God to be revealed.     Jesus says:   “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;  nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.  Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)   As believers we need to live in such a way that we reveal the kingdom of heaven to the world. We are not to sit back and wait for a time in the future when God will Himself reveal His kingdom.

In Matthew 16:15-19, Jesus asks the disciples who they believe He is.       He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”  Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.  I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.  I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.”     Upon the revelation, the reality of the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Redeemer, the Lord of Lords and the King of kings, Jesus has established His church, His ekklesia, those whom He has called apart to reign and rule, to reestablish the kingdom of heaven here on earth.

We as believers, as followers of Christ, as His church need to repent. We need to change both our lives and our minds. We need to live as the revelation of the kingdom of heaven to all of creation. There were times when Jesus was here on earth, that those in His presence were impacted, changed, healed simply by being near Him. The same was true of the apostles, people were affected, changed, healed even by their shadows. Acts 5:12-16 says:   At the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico… And all the more believers in the Lord, multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number,  to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and pallets, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them.  Also the people from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

May we be the revelation of the kingdom to all of creation. May indeed; Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.   Amen