Romans 8:22-23 (ESV)
[22] For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in
the pains of childbirth until now. [23] And not only the creation, but we
ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait
eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
Romans 6-8 talk about the flesh and the Spirit. The flesh cannot please God.
The flesh is in bondage to sin. Believers in Jesus Christ are no longer in the
flesh but in the Spirit. By the time we get to the middle of chapter 8 we might
begin to think that the Greek philosophy of Gnosticism has influenced Paul’s
thinking. The flesh is bad. The spirit is good. But then Paul does an
interesting thing. He uses another word for our physical body Flesh is the
Greek word sarka or sarx. But in Romans 8:23 he begins using the
word body, somatos or soma. This body will be redeemed.
All creation, the physical world in which we live, is groaning with
expectation of redemption. This world was created to function under our
oversight and care according to Genesis 1. When Adam sinned it not only brought
mankind under a curse, but all creation under his care. Creation is filled with
brokenness just as people are. But that is not how it was created to function
any more than people were created to function in brokenness and sin.
Gnosticism taught that all that was physical was evil but that which was
spirit was good. The truth is that all God’s creation is good, but exists under
a curse. There is coming a day when all creation will experience re-creation
(see Revelation 21). We have experienced adoption as sons according to Romans
8:15, and yet, according to Romans 8:23 “we wait eagerly for adoption as sons.”
There is a now and not yet aspect to our salvation. We are redeemed. We are new
creations in Christ. Yet we are not whole, for our bodies are still subject to
death as is all creation.
When Paul writes that, The sufferings of this present time are not worth
comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Rom 8:18) that is what
he is talking about. The glory to be revealed to us is not only the glory of
God, as great as that will be, but it is the glory of ourselves and creation
around us in its intended, created form. The sufferings of this present time takes
many forms, but it is all the result of fallen people living in a fallen world.
The glory to be revealed is the glory of people created in the image of God
without the brokenness of sin living in a world without the brokenness of the
Fall.
Our future hope is not spiritual versus physical, but physical and spiritual in perfect synchronicity with God and creation according to the Creator’s intended purpose. We live in a beautiful world. It is hard to even begin imagining what creation untouched by the Fall will be, but it will be glorious. Lord, come quickly.
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