HOPE
Paul had said in v. 19 that “the earnest expectation of the creation waits…“. He continues that thought: “For the creation was made subject to vanity, not willingly but by reason of Him who has subjected the same in hope” (Romans 8:20). Why would a loving God submit all of creation (the whole worldly system) to vanity and emptiness and futility. Why is it we wrap our lives up in relationships that will end in death, the accumulation of wealth that will be divided among others, and pampering bodies that just get wrinklier with age? What’s the purpose?
The answer to that goes all the way back to the creation story, the fall of man, when in proclaiming judgment upon sin, God said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed [perpetually]; he [the woman’s seed] shall bruise your head, and thou shall bruise his heel” (Genesis 3:15). The earth is cursed because there is an ongoing war between creation and Satan. Satan, who is the god of this world, undermines God’s presence to deceive us in all corners.
We believers are part of creation and we do not willingly submit to this life of vanity. It is forced upon us by this curse. Is there no hope for those of us who cry out to God for mercy? Absolutely. Note that our verse ends with the phrase “in hope“. That verse ending actually interrupts Paul’s thought, which we’ll continue in the next blog entry on v. 21.
But its that final word, “hope” that we hang onto. Have hope in God’s grace and mercy today.