Romans - Part 4: SPIRITSample

Glorious Freedom

The captain announced to the passengers, all immigrants, that they would soon be approaching New York harbor and all rushed to the bow of the ship to get their first glimpse of their new homeland. Each person stood craning their neck, eager to catch sight of the harbor and the famous Lady Liberty. In their longing gaze was hope, as they anxiously, but patiently, awaited arrival in a country offering peace and freedom.

Paul uses creation as a picture of the believers’ patient endurance. Similar to the waiting immigrants, we eagerly anticipate the hope set before us, much like creation (nature) anxiously longs for an end to its sentence. What sentence is that? When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, God pronounced a curse on the ground, putting the earth and all of creation under a sentence of bondage and decay (Genesis 3:17 and Rom 8:21).

Creation is groaning under this curse and longs to be released. Verse 18 gives us the context for these verses: We can consider our present sufferings as nothing because we anticipate “the glory that is to be revealed in us.” Paul is talking about the end times when the sons of man will be revealed. The word ‘revealed’ is the Greek word apocalypse, meaning “all things will be made known.” Hope and expectation are tied together in the revelation.

So, just what is Paul’s message in these verses?

In chapter 8, he has been writing about the war between our natures, and yes, we have a new Spirit-led nature, but the battle continues. Paul wants us to have the assurance that there is a set time when the war will be over and we will receive our inheritance. Even creation has been promised a new start. At this time, the children of God will be revealed, meaning “fully made known.” We are children of God now, (see verses 15-17), but we are nothing like what we shall be when we are gathered together for eternity.

John wrote, “Now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” I John 3:2

Paul wrote about this time of liberation and freedom for our bodies in I Corinthians 15:35-58 and Philippians 3:21. He describes a body raised in glory, free from the shackles of sin and decay. In Revelation 21:1, John writes of a new heaven and a new earth; all things will be made new. Creation will be set free, even as we are free. Paul is encouraging us to keep our eyes on the prize while we patiently endure the dangers, toils, and snares of this present age.

- Jinet Troost