Romans 8:19-22

The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the One who subjected it, in hope that [or subjected it in hope. For] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

We are not alone in this frustration. Humans, believers, are not the only one who must patiently await the consummation. Paul says that the whole creation is groaning. The whole universe is caught up in the plight of the fall and the hope of future glory. The creation is in bondage to decay on account of the sin of man. The earth longs for its dryness to end. The wolves and lions long to eat plants and cuddle up with lambs. Cobras are anticipating the day when they can play with children without fear. Do you see evidence of these realities?

How do we know it was God that did this? How do we know it was not Adam by his sin, or Satan by his temptation of Adam and Eve? We know this because of the words “in hope” at the end of v20. Adam did not subject the world to futility in hope. Satan did not subject the world to futility in hope. Neither of them had a plan for the revelation of the children of God in due time. Only God could have done it in hope; and He did. Which leads us to an incredibly important, massive truth: the futility and corruption and groaning of the creation are judicial, not just natural. It is a divine, judicial decree, not just a natural consequence of material events. The Second Law of Thermodynamics, called “entropy,” that the universe is running down, is effectively God’s subjecting the creation to futility and decay and corruption. There is a painful realism in this text, and it is meant to help you hold on to your hope as a Christian. It helps us endure our suffering in this life to know that God Himself subjected the entirety of His creation to frustration and disorder because of sin. All the misery of the world is a bloody declaration about the nastiness of sin.

And we might think it strange that God has done this, but when we realize why, we stand in awe. It pleased God to subject it to frustration so that He could liberate it by Christ for His glory and give all things to His people as heirs. When you experience suffering, remember that you are not alone, for the totality of the created order has been objected to the effects of the fall as part of God’s design not simply to bring glory to Himself, but to bring glory to His people. When you’re suffering, remember that the whole created order is frustrated and that God has a good purpose in it. Many Christians are unfortunately so desperate to remove God from the suffering in the world that they are willing to become “deists” in order to keep God out of the equation. A deist is a person who thinks of the universe as a clock created and wound by God to tick on its own with no divine interference. Everything was explained in terms of merely natural laws, not divine decrees. And we see right here that deism is false. God is active in creation, sustaining it by His powerful Word, and subjecting it to frustration until that glorious fixed time when the sons of God are revealed. God promises that the miseries of the universe are not the throes of death but merely the labor pains of childbirth. And there is seriousness about that. But there is also peace and hope.

What types of sufferings are included? Paul talks elsewhere specifically of persecution-type sufferings, but here and following broaden the scope of suffering to include all sufferings of every kind that we and all of creation face every minute of every day. Think of any pain or suffering that you or your friends and family or your pets or wild animals or even the land experiences. This is God-subjected! And its purpose is to display the grossness of sin and to glorify Christ as Redeemer, Restorer, Rebuilder, Rewarder, and Heir.

The comfort and encouragement of this text is not that God has nothing to do with human sufferings or natural disasters, but that in all of these things and through all of them, He has hope-filled designs for His people and His creation. That is what v28 is going to say in summary: “God works all things together for good to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.”