CHAPTER 4

THE PREEMINENCE OF THE CREATOR OVER HIS CREATION

 

ROMANS 8:18-25. These verses are as much a part of end time prophecy as the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, the seventeenth chapter of Luke, 1 Thess 4, parts of Daniel, The Revelation and all of the rest of the prophetic passages, that have yet to see their fulfillment. With the first coming of Christ at the cross, and the empty tomb Jesus dealt with man's sin debt. Tearing down as it were the middle wall of partition, giving to the faither access both to the Father and to the life the Bible calls eternal.

So that the end result of His first advent is that the believer will be saved instantly and forever. However the day after the resurrection of Christ the flowers of the field continued to fade. Sinners and sin still ran wild and they're running wild today. The curse that fell upon Adam as a result of his sin was and is still in effect. In this passage Paul looks forward to the time when not only the believer is brought to completion in the resurrection, but to the time when creation itself which was also crippled by the curse (Cursed is the ground for thy sake) will also be redeemed by the ministry of Jesus at His second coming.

The chronology of prophetic scripture is as I understand it, that this redemption of creation will begin at the end of the tribulation period, at the great battle of Armageddon. As we learn from the many millennial prophecies the world will be a far better place to live for one thousand years with Jesus Christ reigning in Zion. Then finally and ultimately, when the thousand years are ended there will be the consummation of all things. The curse will then be lifted and then in the words of the late Dr. B.R. Lakin, "the flowers shall bloom evermore".

There will be no more curse (Rev 22:3), all that went wrong in the garden at the moment we refer to as the fall will finally and forever be set right by The Lord of Glory. The city limit sign for the New Jerusalem might well read, "Well done thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord". Beyond this point where time ends and eternity continues you will find no more crying, death, suffering, or sin. This is the prize that the eye of the Apostle is on in verses 18-25.

VERSE 18; "For I reckon." Just as a mathematician might calculate by adding and subtracting in a long equation ultimately reaching the sum total, Paul having reckoned in his own way that the suffering and sadness, the disappoint and the despair, the pitfalls and the pain, of this present life faded into obscurity when compared to the, "glory that shall be revealed in us". Revealed in whom? In we who are alive unto God by faith, apart from the works of the law. Revealed when? In the resurrection when all who know Christ are to be given a glorious body like unto the resurrected body of Christ. "The glory which shall be revealed." Notice now the Bible says "shall be" it is not fully revealed at this present time. Yes there is glory on the inside, "Christ in you the hope of glory". But in that day the glory will be everywhere. We will be glorified.

VERSE 19; "The earnest expectation of the creation." I think that almost everyone will agree that creation is more accurate than creature. Although some who write on this passage make the creature here to be the new man. There is no doubt in my mind that this verse is saying that because of the fact that all of creation was affected by the fall, and the curse that came as a result of it, the entire creation is looking forward to that wonderful day referred to above. In this passage creation takes on a kind of personality. And just as saved men look forward to and long for redemption's day, so to creation is said to be looking for that day along with all of those in Christ. When the vicious cycle of death will be brought to an end.

VERSE 20; The controversy surrounding this verse is the question who is meant by the personal pronoun "him". Is it Adam? Many believe that it is, among whom are Ironside and Matthew Henry. Or is the "him" of this verse a reference as says F.F. Bruce and others to the Father. Some even believe that the one in question is Satan. And what about me? Do I have an opinion? Well I do, but let me first say that I wouldn't want anyone who studies with me to become bogged down at the sight of this seemingly controversial tree and at the same time to lose sight of the glorious forest we find presented in this chapter. And secondly, let me confess to you, that I am not qualified to disagree or argue with these great scholars.

However this much I am sure of; (1) creation was made subject to vanity, not by its own will, but by the curse that was thrust upon creation as a result of the sin of the one who had the dominion over it. When Adam fell it affected all that he was and all that he possessed and every aspect and area of his dominion. "And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over ever living thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in which is the fruit of the tree yielding seed, to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, where in there is life, I have given every green herb for meat, and it was so. And God saw everything that he had made and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day" (Gen 1:28-31).

The extent of Adam's domain was vast, and all of it fell with him. When Adam fell from his position of dominion the successor to the throne came to power. Namely sin and death. "Never the less, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam transgression, who is the figure of Him to come" (Rom 5:14). And they continue to reign today, the only exception being those in Christ Jesus by faith. Secondly, I feel that we must recognize and acknowledge the sovereignty of God here in this verse, "He who hath subjected the same in hope". The creation was plunged into vanity. The word vanity here means, futility and frustration and disappointment in misery. And so this misery that the creation is said here to be in is a result of Adam's sin. The fall. But the subjection of it in hope was an act of God. For me no other comment is necessary on this verse at this time.

VERSE 21; From this verse I can see how that some like Albert Barnes makes the creature here to be the new man. And certainly the new man in the resurrection will be liberated from the body of this death (Rom 7). But systematic theology demands that we be consistent. And not only consistent, but I feel we are accurate when we understand it to mean the creation. As I believe verses 22 and 23 will make the point very clear.

VERSES 22 & 23; "For we know." Not everyone, not even every child of God, but Paul under inspiration said he knew and so we know the Lord wants us to know. And we all can know if we meditate upon this verse in the context of the entire passage. "Groanth and travaileth in pain together until now." This is the descriptive language of labor and vividly so.

The pains of labor at first are relatively far apart and mild when compared to those that are to come. With the passing of time they are closer and increasingly more intense until the horrible pain ends in new life. This is what is being described to us here. The groaning and travailing in pain together (that is with us) will come to a instant end at the resurrection for the dead in Christ. And in creation at the end of the millennium (Rev 21& 22; 2 Peter 3).

VERSES 24 & 25; "We are saved by hope." Hope and faith are twin sisters for the child of God. However in these two verses the salvation and hope spoken of are in connection to the salvation of the body. The redemption of the body, and the resurrection of the body. The salvation that makes us a child of the heavenly Father is already a matter of eternal fact for the faither. It is in no way future, but as pointed out earlier in the study the salvation of the body is a future event. "With patience wait." Here again I find in Paul's message a hopeful optimism.

In this verse I can hear a kind of anxious anticipation and excitement. That is to be bridled by patience. "By whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God, and not only so, but we glory in tribulation also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience, experience, and experience, hope. And hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts, by the Holy Spirit who is given unto us" (Rom 5:2-5).