Romans (Written)

Saturday, 20 July 2013

For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Romans 8:22

Again for the forth time in this section the verse is introduced with “for.” This is then being tied back to verse 21 which said that the “creation was subject to futility” and that it “will be delivered from the bondage of corruption.” He now explains, based on this knowledge that “we know…” In other words, what he is stating should be taken as a universal axiom – anyone can simply look around and tell.

“We know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs.” There are earthquakes, there are floods, there are hurricanes, there are famines, and there are plagues. There is unnatural death, stars explode, meteors crash into the earth, etc. All of these things, and so very many more are evidently not something one would think of as “normal” when thinking of an ideal world.

And yet, we have the intuition that there is an ideal that should exist. This is the stuff of dreams, legends, plays, and movies. It is something universally found in the heart and hope of man. This creation shouldn’t act as it does, but it in fact does. And these “groans and labors with birth pangs” continue “together until now.”

This was true at Paul’s time and it continues to be true 2000 years later. The world which is hoped for has not yet arrived. There is a universal fault which will be corrected as he previously stated, “for we know” that things aren’t as they should be.

Life Application: When you see a tsunami kill 200,000 people, you know that it isn’t something that should happen. Something has caused it. Is it a mean and vindictive God? Is it a God who can’t handle crises as they arrive? Or, is it that there is a fault which was caused by our own rebellion? If the last is the case, will God correct it? We know the answer because we have the instruction manual to the problem in our possession. When crises arise, let us use the situation wisely and share the good news of Jesus Christ. No matter what the calamity, small or large, we can use it for His glory.

Precious Lord Jesus, I see the immense devastation of floods, tornados, hurricanes, and the like and I know that you can use me during these times to help those who have been afflicted – both for their temporal and spiritual benefit. Give me the wisdom to use such times sensibly by sharing Your love and Your good news to those who have been brought low by these things. Amen.

Friday, 19 July 2013

…because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Romans 8:21

As noted in the preceding verse, not just man, but all of creation came under the curse that was executed upon man. The price and weight of sin is such that it affects not just the sinner but it corrupts everything. The trials, troubles, and distresses of nature are a result of our disobedience. This is the great lesson for man since the fall. But what is fallen will be restored.

There is coming a time of worldly renewal which was seen by the ancient prophets. This is known as the Kingdom Age where Christ will reign from Jerusalem for 1000 years. However, there will still be death during this period and only after that reign will come the final correction of what was lost so long ago.

The promise of restoration is a hope that we can cling to as absolutely certain. What has to be considered through the Bible’s words is that it was the devil who deceived man and it was because of this deception that the fall occurred. Without a restoration, the victory isn’t truly complete. This is the reason for the dispensations which have been introduced into the stream of humanity. Each has led us through the unfolding of God’s plan of this restoration.

In the end, this is a battle in the spiritual realm which is being realized in the temporal realm. John tells us succinctly the main reason for Christ’s coming –

“He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” 1 John 3:8

The devil has wrought his destruction and so Christ has come to destroy what he has wrought. When the destruction is destroyed, then what is left will be as was intended. The final chapters of the book of Revelation detail the glory which lies ahead when “the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption.” As Godet says, nature “possesses in the feeling of her unmerited suffering, a sort of presentiment of her future deliverance.”

This deliverance from corruption’s bondage will be “into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” What is translated as “glorious liberty” is the phrase eleutherian tēs doxēs, “liberty of the glory.” All of creation will be delivered from the pains of corruption. Sin shall be expiated from man and the fallen creation will be glorified into the same liberty that is bestowed upon the children of God.

The End of the Garden of God
Charlie Garrett

Your sentence is pronounced
In pain you shall give birth
Your husband will rule over you
And he shall till the unforgiving earth

Your pains in childbirth will be increased
Indeed your labor will be most severe
But when from your womb the child is released
Again the joy in your heart will appear

And Adam, because you listened to your wife
And from the forbidden fruit you did eat
I shall give you a burdensome life
I’ve cursed the ground beneath your feet

For your crops you will till and the soil will resist
From it thorns and thistles will readily grow
But the things on which you need to subsist
Will take careful work with a plow and hoe

Someday you’ll return to that ground
As a seed planted in the soil
And if by faith you live your life
There shall be a reward for your time of toil

Now I will clothe you with garments of skin
And send you out of this garden of delight
Cherubs will faithfully guard the way back in
Until My Son makes all things right

And when He does you can come back in
Not because of anything you have done
But His blood alone will cover your sin
Such is the wondrous work of my Son

Hallelujah and Amen!

Life application: What the devil has fouled up through deception, Christ will fully reverse through truth and righteousness. In this world of woe there is a better hope. Fix your eyes on Jesus and the glory which lies ahead.

Lord, as I see things wear out and fall apart; as I experience physical pains; as I see the death of people and creatures around me, I know that this isn’t the way life was intended. At times, I wonder why You allow the trails to continue, but then I remember that You have a plan and that the glory to come will mean so much more because of the present difficulties. And so thank You, even for the trials. Amen.

T

hursday, 18 July 2013

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; Romans 8:20

“For” again is used to continue to explain the train of thought which proceeds from Paul’s instruction on our glorification. He is now building on what he said in 8:19 – “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.” Using personification of the creation, he says that it “eagerly waits.” This ties back to verse 14. Those who “are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.”

Someday, those who have come to Christ will be revealed in glory. Until that time, creation waits in a frustrated state. Why? Because “the creation was subjected to futility.” This was seen in several examples from the Genesis account – the curse of the earth which now brings forth thorns and thistles, the enmity between men and animals, etc. This was done “not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope.”

The creation didn’t fall because it wanted to or because there was some type of fault in it originally. Instead it fell because of man’s sin. All creation came under the curse that was executed upon man. This was done to show humanity that sin exacts an immensely great price. God Himself subjected the creation to futility “in hope.” The hope isn’t God’s hope, but creation’s hope. Just as the creation was said to “eagerly wait” it is said here to “hope.”

We are being shown from the tip of Paul’s pen that creation has submitted to the futility wrought upon it on the account of man’s misdeeds. It has fallen in “obedience to that superior power which had mysteriously linked its destinies with man’s (Jamieson Fausset Brown Biblical Commentary). The perfection of man coincided with the perfection of Eden. The fall in creation coincided with the fall of man. And the glorification of man will coincide with the restoration of the creation which had once been so gloriously perfect and which will again be in that wondrous state. Great stuff here.

Life Application: The whole creation fell through one man’s sin which was done in innocence. Imagine the weight of our sin which is done with knowledge. Don’t sin.

Tragedy in the Garden
Charlie Garrett

The woman was enticed and she ate of the fruit
She passed it on to Adam and he ate as well
He became the second willing recruit
And together they left a sad story to tell

Their eyes were opened to their exposed state
They realized that life in sin just ain’t so great

They sewed together figs to hide their shame
And made coverings that just wouldn’t suffice
The Lord questioned them about their hiding game
And they realized that sin just ain’t so nice

“Where are you?” called the LORD. (Though he already knew)
“I was hiding because I realized something wasn’t right
I was afraid to answer, I’m naked … yes it’s true
And so I hid myself, like a shadow in the night.”

“Who told you that you were naked? What is this you did do? Have you taken of the fruit which I told you not to eat?”
“It was the women who did it… the one made by You
She told me of it’s yumminess,,, and how it was so sweet.”

I thought it would be so good, but I guess I paid the price
I’m beginning to see that sin really ain’t so nice

“Woman, what is this thing that you have done?
Traded life under the heaven’s for life under the sun.”

Oh my LORD it was the serpent. He deceived me and I ate
And now I’m seeing that sin just ain’t so great.”

Oh God that we could take it back and undo what we have done
Life was wonderful under the heavens
But it’s terrible under the sun

What can we do make things right?
Where can we turn to be healed?
How long will we be cast from Your sight?
How long until the grave is unsealed?

I have a plan children, but you’ll have to wait
Many years under the sun toiling in the heat
But I will someday open wide heaven’s gate
When my own Son, the devil will defeat.

I will send my own Son, the devil to defeat.

Glorious and Almighty God – I truly am overwhelmed at the promises contained in Your word. You have shown that creation was cursed due to man’s sin, but You have also shown that this will be corrected some glorious day. The creation itself will be changed to a state of perfection and wonder. Lord, I long for that day and I hail the Lamb who made it possible. I praise You for the work of Messiah, our Lord Jesus. Amen.

Wednesday, 17 July 2013

For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. Romans 8:19

In this subsection, verses 18-28, Paul uses the term “for” five times in various ways – “For I consider,” “For we know,” etc. In the preceding verse, “for” was given to explain comparisons between the suffering of this current walk and the glory to come. The “for” now is used to build on that concept of glory. This is important to consider, because if there are ten thousand commentaries on this verse, there are surely ten thousand various opinions on what it exactly means. It is an extremely complicated verse to pin down.

Therefore, looking to the progression of the thought – what it is built from and where it is leading to, should help to provide the clearest sense. This is needed because even translations differ. Is this section speaking of the “creation” or the “creature?” If it is about the “creature” is it speaking of all creation using a generic term for all the various aspects of creation, or is it speaking of living creatures in creation only, or of humans only? If humans, is it speaking of gentiles, Jews or both? Etc. All of these have been proposed and well defended by great and honorable scholars.

As you can see, the differences start right away and build into vast theological avenues. Fortunately, even with the complicated nature of the passage and the differing opinions, it is not a section which leads easily to heresy. So to be wrong, although not a good thing, isn’t something that would lead others to not comprehend the message of salvation.

Verse 21 will state that “the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” Because the creation (or “creature” depending on the translation) is being tied in with what happens to the “children of God,” it is likely that what Paul is speaking of is the whole of creation. Obviously, creation itself can’t “eagerly wait” in the truest sense. So what this means is that Paul is using personification to make his point.

This is a fallen world which is eagerly waiting for its return to how it was originally intended to be. Things now are not in an ideal state. When man fell, the creation fell with him. This is evidenced by the Genesis account –

“Cursed is the ground for your sake;
In toil you shall eat of it All the days of your life.
Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you,
And you shall eat the herb of the field.” Genesis 3:17, 18

And again –

“And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea.” Genesis 9:2

The living and non-living creation has been frustrated. The ground was cursed (non-living) and this curse has affected the plant life. Animal life is also not as it was originally designed. The 360-day calendar of the Bible doesn’t match the calendar we currently use. Thus the revolution around the sun is not as it once was. And so forth. In other words, all of creation, although magnificently timed and orchestrated, is still not as it was originally intended to be.

The explanation for this is to be found in the next verse, but what is certain from this verse is that this fallen “creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.” When the sons of God are revealed, the creation will be restored to the way it was originally intended. Isaiah speaks about this on several occasions.

Life application: There are complicated passages in the Bible which people disagree on which don’t lead to heresy. There are also concepts in the Bible which when misrepresented do. Let us evaluate those things which are of less weight without arrogance or accusation toward others, but let us hold firm to the truths which would otherwise lead others to heresy, not tolerating that which condemns precious souls.

Lord God, there are myriads of religions and people are fully convinced they are right. But in the end, there can only be once Source of truth. Your word is truth and it confirms itself because it is from Your hand. In the end, misdirected faith is wasted faith. I will not blindly step into the darkness, but only into Your revealed Light. I choose the truth; I choose Jesus. Amen.

Tuesday, 16 July 2013

For I consider 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

“For” refers directly back to the preceding thought, “if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” Our suffering in Christ may not be what we hope for but despite it, there is the promise of glorification ahead. This is what Paul is telling us and then he gives words to comfort us about these things.

Referring to himself in the third person in 2 Corinthians 12, he tells us that he was caught up to the “third heaven.” While there he “heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.” If the hearing of Paradise was beyond our authorized knowledge, imagine what the seeing and experiencing must be. From one who had experienced first hand the glory to come, he considered “that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared” with what lay ahead.

And Paul knew suffering like most of us never will. In 2 Corinthians 11:22-29, he cites many of the trials and discomforts he had faced. Alone with his other infirmities, he was truly a man who would know. But to him, they were nothing. He knew and understood what was coming in an intimate way and so he, with this wonderful knowledge, implores us to follow in the footsteps of faith. Just as he had this certainty for himself, he shares to his reader of the “glory which shall be revealed in us.” Later, he will pass on the same sentiment to the readers in Corinth. When he does, he makes a contrast between the suffering and the glory. No matter how immense the suffering now, he says it is “light.” In contrast, the glory will be of “eternal weight” –

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:17, 18

Life application: What is your pain? It will be healed for eternity. What is your sorrow? It will be exchanged for everlasting joy. What is your worry? It will be swapped out for comfort throughout the ages. If this is true, then the hope of it should carry you through the moment with peace and contentment. Place your cares on the Lord, for He cares for you.

Precious Lord Jesus, You suffered at the cross so that I could stand before Your Father in glory. What can man do to me that could diminish the joy I feel. I will be content in my trials, in my sorrows, and in my weaknesses because in this contentment they reveal that I am truly Yours. I don’t ask for these, but if and when they come, I will be pleased to accept them as a gift of Your grace. Amen.