The Creation Waits and Groans With Us (Romans 8:19-25)

“For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 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” (Rom. 8:19-23, ESV). 

Human language has its limitations, especially when attempting to describe divine activities and extraordinary end-time events. Even though the working of God is real, it “cannot be described literally since the direct activity of God cannot be fully comprehended in human language. The biblical writers have therefore to resort to analogy and metaphor, the language of symbol, in order to convey their message.”¹ Similar to apocalyptic language employed in the Thessalonian letters, here Paul shifts into personification along the lines of Hebrew poetry (cf. Psa. 89:11-12; 96:11-12; 98:7-8; 114:3-8; Isa. 35:1-2; 55:12-13). 

Anticipating the Future

The “revealing of the sons of God” is “an eschatological revelation” (cf. 2:5; 16:25),² involving “the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (cf. v. 18; 2:7, 10; 5:2). “Scripture does not tell us much of what that glory will be, but it assures us that it will be.”³ In the meantime, the human experience in a fallen world includes “the sufferings of this present time” (vv. 17-18; cf. 5:3) to which God’s people are not immune. The scientific mind of the literalist, no doubt perplexed by the language used here, sees the degenerating world and woeful plight of mankind as a natural state of affairs. But the spiritual mind (vv. 5-6), with poetic personification, envisions “the creation” empathizing with the Lord’s suffering people. It “waits,” a verb describing an intense yearning for Christ’s return,⁴ with “eager longing.” 

Unidentified and presumably already understood, “the [one] having subjected” or “him who subjected” evidently is God.⁵ The physical habitat he originally designed for an unflawed humanity could no longer be perfect when his human creation was corrupted by sin. It was therefore “subjected to futility … bondage to corruption … pains of childbirth” in the form of death, decay, hardship, and danger,⁶ though “not willingly.” Seeing that the material cosmos is not volitive, this is a subtle reminder of the widespread and devastating consequences of man’s willful choices that brought sin and death into the world (cf. 5:12-19). But God has worked through this lamentable situation “in hope,” with a personified creation joining God’s children in “groaning,” with eager anticipation of a future liberation from pain and suffering. When Christ returns, the volatility, turmoil, and decline of the physical world ends (2 Pet. 3:10-14), and “the sufferings of this present time” are exchanged for the incomparable “glory that is to be revealed to us.”⁷

God’s children are set apart from the rest of creation with “the firstfruits of the Spirit” or “spirit” (cf. 11:16; 16:5). The imagery is drawn from “the first portion of the harvest, regarded both as a first instalment and as a pledge of the final delivery of the whole. The Holy Spirit is thus regarded as an anticipation of final salvation, and a pledge that we who have the Spirit shall in the end be saved.”⁸ Cf. 5:5; 2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5; Eph. 1:13-14.

Having already “received the spirit of adoption as sons” (v. 15), and having been justified through the redemption in Christ (3:24), we still look forward to the ultimate “adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” A close parallel to this passage, without the poetic language, is Philippians 3:20-21, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”⁹ Other helpful commentaries are 1 Cor. 15:36-54 and 2 Cor. 4:14–5:5. Accordingly, this section of Romans appears to be an expansion of what Paul had already communicated to the Corinth church.

Saved in Hope

“For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Rom. 8:24-25).

“For” continues and expounds upon the fact that in this fallen world, “as we wait eagerly” for our glorious future, there is a connection between suffering and “hope” (cf. 5:2-5), namely “this hope” in which “we were saved” (in the past). Although in Romans Paul mostly speaks of salvation in terms of the future (5:9-10; 9:27; 10:9, 13; 11:14, 26), here we see that from the moment of our conversion “hope” carries us onward, all the way through to the end. By its very definition the object of hope has yet to be realized, so “we wait,” lit. “we hope” (presently and continuously) for it with “patience” or “perseverance” (NASB, NKJV) or “endurance” (NAB, NET) (cf. 2:7; 5:3-4; 15:4-5). If the focus is on God’s promise, we wait patiently; if on current sufferings, we hope with perseverance, although contextually both are applicable in the sense of patient endurance.

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ I. H. Marshall, Thessalonians 128.

     ² C. K. Barrett, Romans 165. Cf. also 1 Cor. 1:7; 1 Thess. 1:10; 2 Thess. 1:7.

     ³ E. F. Harrison, “Romans” 94, emphasis in the text. 

     ⁴ H. A. A. Kennedy, Expositor’s Greek Testament 3:463. See Rom. 8:19, 23, 25; 1 Cor. 1:7; Gal. 5:5; Phil. 3:20; Heb. 9:28; 1 Pet. 3:20.

     ⁵ Cf. HCSB, LSV, NASB, NET, NLT, NKJV, YLT. 

     ⁶ Cf. Gen. 3:16-19; 5:29; Eccl. 2:22-23.

     ⁷ Instead of a renovated physical earth, which will have served its purpose at the end of time, the eternal home of God’s children is heavenly: Matt. 5:12, 16, 34; 6:19-21; Phil. 3:20; Col. 1:5; 1 Thess. 1:10; 4:16-17; Heb. 6:18-19; 10:19-20, 34; 12:23; 1 Pet. 1:3-4; cf. also 1 Cor. 15:23-24, 35-54; 2 Cor. 4:14; 5:1-2.

     ⁸ C. K. Barrett, Romans 167. See also C. E. B. Cranfield, Shorter Romans 199; J. D. G. Dunn, Romans 1:473-74; Theology of Paul the Apostle 329 n.68, 469.

     ⁹ See also 1 Cor. 16:22b; 1 Thess. 5:6. “The more Christians are caught up in enjoying the good things of this life, and the more they neglect genuine Christian fellowship and their personal relationship with Christ, the less they will long for his return …. To some extent, then, the degree to which we actually long for Christ’s return is a measure of the spiritual condition of our own lives at the moment” (W. A. Grudem, Systematic Theology 1092-93).

Related Posts: Preterism (Part 4), Adopted into God's Family (Rom 8:12-18)

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Adopted into God’s Family (Romans 8:12-18)

“So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:12-18, ESV).

Led by the Spirit

As Paul is a “debtor” or “under obligation” to preach the gospel (1:14-15), “we are debtors,” in view of all the Lord has done, to live a certain way, not “according to the flesh” that produces death but “in spirit” [πνεύματι] that procures life (cf. 5:15–8:13). The latter involves persistently (present tense) being “led” [ἄγονται] “by the Spirit of God” [πνεύματι θεοῦ]. Gal. 5:16-18 is a close parallel, where the question is whether the “Spirit” is doing the leading or the “spirit” is being led. Here, however, is the more explicit reference to “the Spirit of God.” Considering the internal battle described in chap. 7, the appetites of the flesh do not miraculously disappear, and being “led by the Spirit of God” is not a mere passive experience but requires actively walking according to the S/spirit [πνεῦμα] with intentionality and resolve (vv. 4-10; cf. 2:6-13; 6:4-22; 7:6, 25; 13:13). We are therefore led by the Spirit of God as we are willfully compliant and faithfully following the Spirit-inspired teachings of God (1:16-17; 6:16-18).

Sons of God

All this is necessary to be considered “sons of God” (cf. v. 19). Even though Paul was fully capable of speaking generically with reference to “children [τέκνα] of God” (vv. 16, 17, 21; 9:8), or even more specifically “sons and daughters” (2 Cor. 6:18), his employment of the masculine “sons” [υἱοί] must be deliberate, relevant to the inheritance metaphor (vv. 15-17).¹ In the patriarchal Mediterranean world of antiquity, daughters were generally regarded as inferior to sons and denied basic rights and privileges, particularly the family inheritance. Only a son could be heir.² Yet this firmly entrenched societal norm is challenged in Christ. With gender differences and gender roles understood, both males and females can now be “sons of God,” not in a biological-gender sense but in attaining equal access to divine privileges and the promised inheritance. All who might be marginalized or repressed by the world’s standards are welcomed into God’s family where no one is considered inferior to anyone else (cf. 12:4-5).³ 

Spirit of Adoption

Having been set free from our former master of sin (5:17–8:2), the “spirit [πνεῦμα] of slavery,” characterized by “fear,” has been replaced by the “spirit” [πνεῦμα] “of adoption as sons.” The imagery of “adoption” is used in the NT only by the apostle Paul.⁴ The literal practice of adoption was fairly common throughout the Greco-Roman world, though not among the Jews, involving “the common ancient practice of important patrons adopting people – even adult colleagues – and giving them full inheritance …”⁵ This is especially relevant to our relationship with God’s Son (vv. 3-4), enabling us to transition from lowly “slaves” to “sons” and “fellow heirs with” him (cf. Gal. 4:1-7).

The “spirit of adoption as sons” is the impetus from which “we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’” Comparable to “the spirit of Christ” and “Christ in you” (vv. 9-10), in Gal. 4:6 we read of “the spirit of [God’s] Son” within “our hearts” from which the prayerful cry emanates. While the “cry” [κράζω] might be understood in the sense of a “scream” or “shriek,” and elsewhere in the NT it signifies a loud or earnest cry (9:27; cf. Matt. 9:27; Acts 14:14), it is commonly employed in the LXX of prayer addressed to God, and when used in this sense, it is “a cry of some intensity” and “rather fervent than loud.”⁶ The spirit of sonship is not merely an occasion of surging emotions, or charismatic empowering, or inspired utterance, or ecstatic experience, but is patterned on Christ and conforms to his sonship.⁷

This is not “the passionate, violent operation of the Spirit”⁸ or some other independent force that calls out to God on our behalf. If the “spirit of slavery” is “such a spirit as is possessed by a slave, not by the son of the house” (BAGD 833), it follows that the “spirit of adoption as sons” is such a spirit as is possessed by the son of the house. Making an address to “Abba! Father!” is the prayer language of God’s Son (Mark 14:36), unique to Jesus in all extant Jewish literature. He regularly referred to God as “my Father,”⁹ and he taught his disciples to address God as “Father” (Matt. 6:9; Luke 11:2). 

The term “Abba” is a Greek transliteration of the Aramaic word for “Father,” which is also the meaning of the Greek πατήρ. It was used in Aramaic-speaking homes, both by younger and older children, as an affectionate address.¹⁰ However, it “was not a childish expression comparable with ‘Daddy’: it was more a solemn, responsible, adult address to a Father.”¹¹ An intimate relationship with the heavenly Father is implied by “the meaning of the term and the fact that such a cry comes from the heart ... Here is the ultimate evidence that we are God’s children, in that we address God with the same term of intimate relationship that Jesus himself used. We are not slaves, but children.”¹²

The Spirit’s Testimony

“The Spirit” [τὸ πνεῦμα] “himself” [αὐτό - emphatic!]¹³ “bears witness with” [συνμαρτυρεῖ] “our spirit” [πνεύματι ἡμῶν] “that we are children of God.” Here a clear distinction is made between “our spirit” and “the Spirit” [of God] dwelling within us (cf. vv. 9a, 11),¹⁴ albeit not disconnected from the “spirit of Christ” (vv. 9b-10a). God’s indwelling Spirit does not bear witness to our spirit but “with” [συν-], in the compound verb meaning “to testify or bear witness together with another, add testimony.”¹⁵ In addition to our own spirit, which confirms whether or not we are living in accordance with the Lord’s revealed will, the Holy Spirit “himself” searches our hearts and bears testimony to God. We might deceive ourselves but not him. 

Suffering with Christ

We are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (cf. 4:9-16),¹⁶ conditioned upon whether “Christ is in you” and “provided we suffer with him …” Paul earlier portrayed our union with Christ as having been “united with him in a death like his …. our old self was crucified with him …. Now if we have died with Christ …” (6:5-8). As penitent believers we have symbolically reenacted his death, burial, and resurrection in baptism (6:3-4). However, this is just the beginning of a lifelong and difficult journey with him, as we “put to death the deeds of the body,” which is challenging enough, but also “we suffer with” him (present active indicative), currently and continually (cf. 5:3; 8:35; 12:12). The Christian life has never been promised as an easy life.¹⁷

Glorified with Christ

Despite the fact that as sinners we fall short of God’s “glory” [δόξα] (3:23), we look beyond “the sufferings of this present time” as we anticipate the incomparable “glory” in being “glorified with him” (cf. v. 30; 2:7, 10; 5:2).¹⁸ This continues the thought of v. 11 concerning our future resurrection life and reaffirms the assurance already given: “we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (5:1); “we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his …. we believe that we will also live with him” (6:5-6). To be continued …

--Kevin L. Moore

Endnotes:

     ¹ Also Gal. 3:26; 4:6. See K. L. Moore, “How are all Christians ‘Sons’ of God?” Moore Perspective (6 April 2020), <Link>.

     ² Matt. 21:38; Mark 12:7; Luke 20:14; Gal. 4:1-2.

     ³ Cf. 1 Cor. 12:12-27; Gal. 3:26-29; Col. 3:9-11.

     ⁴ Rom. 8:15, 23; 9:4; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5.

     ⁵ G. L. Borchert Galatians 303.

     ⁶ R. N. Longenecker, Galatians 174; J. D. G. Dunn, Theology of Galatians 61 n.52; BAGD 448.  

     ⁷ J. D. G. Dunn, Theology of Galatians 62; cf. Gal. 4:6-7, 19. Particularly on the misguided inference of ecstatic utterance, see G. D. Fee, God’s Empowering Presence 409-10.

     ⁸ This is the description of H. N. Ridderbos, Epistle to Galatia 157.

     ⁹ 17 times in Matthew, 4 times in Luke, and 34 times in John.

     ¹⁰ See J. Jeremias, Prayers of Jesus 11-65. Paul’s use of this Aramaic expression in a letter to Greek-speaking churches “is a powerful testimony that the idea of God’s fatherhood goes back to Jesus’ teachings, since Jesus spoke Aramaic” (G. L. Borchert, Galatians 304).

     ¹¹ J. Barr, “Abba Isn’t Daddy,” JTS 39.1 (April 1988): 46; see also C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans 1:399-402; J. D. G. Dunn, “Prayer” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels 618-19; G. D. Fee, God’s Empowering Presence 410-12. 

     ¹² G. D. Fee, God’s Empowering Presence 412.

     ¹³ The pronoun αὐτό is neuter rather than masculine because it modifies the neuter noun πνεῦμα, which contextually is distinct from “our spirit” [πνεύματι ἡμῶν] and thus an apparent allusion to “the Spirit of God” (v. 9).

     ¹⁴ After we have heard and believed the word of truth and have entered Christ, we are “sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of his glory” (Eph. 1:13-14). We can only be “in” Christ if we have been baptized “into” him (Rom. 6:3; Gal. 2:27), and then we are said to be “sealed” with the Spirit, who is our “guarantee” or “pledge.” A “seal” signifies proof or authenticity of ownership (Rom. 4:11; 5:5; cf. 1 Kings 21:8; Esth. 8:8). Because we have this seal, the Lord “knows those who are his,” with the accompanying expectation of spiritual purity (2 Tim. 2:19). We are to glorify God in our bodies because we now belong to him and have his Spirit abiding in us (1 Cor. 6:18-20). To live in sin is to “grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30).

     ¹⁵ H. K. Moulton, The Analytical Greek Lexicon Revised 382.

     ¹⁶ Cf. also Gal. 3:5–4:7; Tit. 3:7; Heb. 1:2; 6:13-20; Jas. 2:5.

     ¹⁷ Matt. 5:10-12; John 15:19; 16:33; Acts 14:22; Col. 1:24; 1 Thess. 2:14-15; 3:4; 2 Tim. 3:12; Heb. 10:32-36; 1 Pet. 4:13; Rev. 1:9; 2:10, 13; et al.

     ¹⁸ 1 Cor. 2:7; 15:43; 2 Cor. 3:18; 4:17; Eph. 1:18; Col. 1:27; 3:4; 1 Thess. 2:12; 2 Thess. 2:14; 2 Tim. 2:10; Heb. 2:10; 1 Pet. 1:7; 5:1, 4, 10; cf. John 17:22.

Related Posts: Baptism: Death, Burial, Resurrection (Rom 6:1-4), Deliverance from Sin & Death (Rom 8:1-11), Creation Waits & Groans with Us (Rom 8:19-25)

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