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. (19) For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits 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) because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. (20) For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now, (23) Not only that, but we also have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly awaiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body.

The letter to the Romans was written by the apostle Paul to the faithful in Rome addressing the certainty of God’s eternal plan of redemption. All of history since the fall is marked by suffering – violence and death are not natural but the result of the curse of man’s sin – this text assumes God is the creator of all that is and it is not by chance or random. Suffering is the result of sin – the whole human race sinned in Adam and the curse of God fell on man- the subjection of corruption was by the voluntary act of man’s divinely constituted head and representative but it was not final and hopeless because in Christ man will be delivered into the glorious redemption – delivered from present misery and desire of future good. Our verses give a wide perspective of God’s great plan of redemption which is at the heart of Paul’s theology. In faith, in Christ, we have been saved and in this power we live. We are sustained in suffering, which is relatively insignificant to eternal life, is Paul’s doctrine of grace. We walk by faith, not by sight.

Paul broadened his view of glorification to include all of creation. Because of the fall God subjected the whole of creation to futility so it never reached the perfection He originally intended it to receive. The whole of rational and irrational creation, animate and inanimate – the whole human race – is under the curse of God because of sin. Paul is thinking about release from this body in which the sin principle dwells. The Holy Spirit who dwells in us at the moment of faith in ways that are not the ways of articulate speech and intercedes for the faithful. There are 2 sets of sons on this earth: the sons of God who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and the sons of disobedience. For the latter the future is not glory but the future is wrath. They shall have a resurrection but it will be to judgment and damnation. The faithful shall have a resurrection into life. By God’s command the Israelites were to offer to God the first fruits of their harvest, confident the rest of the harvest will follow. Just so, Christ is called the first fruit of resurrection meaning there are others who are going to be resurrected; that is you and I.

The day will come for the renewal of creation, both man and the renewal of the earth, when the curse of Genesis 3 will be removed. Future glory includes full renewal of creation to its original perfection and purpose. There will be freedom from sin and its corruption including the full redemption of our bodies. Now we are able NOT to sin but in glory we will NOT BE ABLE to sin. From c.s.lewis in his book The Great Divorce (my favorite) he writes “Son, ‘he said, ‘ye cannot in your present state understand eternity…….That is what mortals misunderstand. They say of some temporal suffering, “No future bliss can make up for it,” not knowing that Heaven once attained, will work backward and turn even that agony into a glory. And of some sinful pleasure they say “Let me have but this and I’ll take the consequences”: little dreaming how damnation will spread back and back into their past and contaminate the pleasure of the sin. Both processes begin even before death.”