GOD'S NEW WORLD, DAY 15 (the birth of the new creation)

“…all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God…and if children, then…heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him. I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility…in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay…We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now; and not only the creation, but we…groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved…” (Romans 8.14-24)

     The Bible begins with God creating “the heavens and the earth” (Gn. 1.1) and ends with the creation of a “new heavens and a new earth” (Rev. 21.1).  Though the shape of the biblical canon makes it rather hard to miss, the Church has indeed often completely missed the point of the biblical “bookends” – the Bible is not about “going to heaven” (i.e., leaving the created world behind), but is rather all about how the Creator will redeem and re-make his world.  God’s world, which has been all but destroyed by human rebellion (sin) and the forces of darkness that operate through those human wills which refuse to submit to the Creator’s designs and choose rather to undermine God’s purposes for the cosmos, is destined – so Paul tells us – to be “re-born” (Rm. 8.22).

     This best-kept-secret of the Bible – that the world will be re-born, re-made, re-created – puts everything in a glaringly new light.  The Creator has not changed his mind about sustaining a cosmos that is destined to be flooded with his “glory” (cf. Gn. 1; Habakkuk 2.14).  Paul talks about the “glory about to be revealed to us” and the fact that “the creation is impatiently waiting for the ‘revealing’ of the children of God” (Rm. 8.18-19).  What is going on here?  Not surprisingly, the roots of Paul’s argument are to be found “in the beginning”.  In Gn. 1.26-31, God creates human beings in his image in order that they may “have dominion” over his creation.  By looking at humans, the rest of the created order knows what God “is like”.  Human beings mediate the Creator’s authority in his world.  Psalm 8 picks up this theme from Genesis and says that God has “crowned mankind with glory and honour” (Ps. 8.3-8, esp. v. 5).  There we have it – the glory of God is manifested when human beings exercise their God-given mandate to “rule” over creation.  One way to summarize human history is in terms of humans presuming to “rule” over the world (through civilization and empire) without reference to the Creator but rather, through the amassing of power, setting themselves up as “gods” with prerogatives which rightly belong only to the Creator (which countless rulers have done down through the ages).  This highlights one of the central themes of Scripture – that of the kingdom of God which is always in conflict with the kingdoms of mankind.  This is deeply ironic since, as we have seen in Gn. 1, it was always the Creator’s intention that his human creatures would rule in his name and in accordance with his will.  The way to true glory is to embrace one’s creaturely condition – tragically, ever since Eden, humanity has opted to reject its God-given status and has chosen rather the futile road of trying to usurp God’s role.  It’s a thin line, but it makes all the difference.  Will you seek to rule as a creature or as a wannabe god?

     And so, says Paul, creation itself has been “subjected to futility” and is in “bondage to decay” (Rm. 8.20-21).  As described in Gn. 3, the rebellion of the primordial man and woman resulted in creation itself being “cursed”.  Since the stewards of creation (i.e., humans) have twisted their vocation and have become self-serving rather than Creator/creation-serving, the creation itself suffers and indeed, “fights” against humanity’s efforts to cultivate (exploit?) it (cf. Gn. 3.17-19).  However, says Paul, this is not the final word on creation.  Creation is destined to “obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rm. 8.21).  Once the children of God are “revealed” (cf. Rm. 8.19) – i.e. resurrected (cf. Rm. 8.11, 23) – the creation itself will be reborn (Rm. 8.22).  Newly embodied humans in a new world – that is the vision of Paul in Romans 8.  Once again, the goal of the biblical narrative is not the destruction of the world, but is rather a new creation, ruled over by the Creator’s image-bearing creatures.  However, the path to the new world – i.e., “glory” – leads through suffering (Rm. 8.18)…