Romans 8.19-Creation Eagerly Anticipates The Revealing Of The Sons Of God
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Sunday November 30, 2008
Romans: Romans 8:19-Creation Anxiously Anticipates and Eagerly Awaits The Revealing Of The Sons Of God
Lesson # 265
Please turn in your Bibles to Romans 8:1.
This morning we will note Romans 8:19, which teaches that all of creation anxiously anticipates and eagerly awaits the revealing of the sons of God.
Romans 8:1-4, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Romans 8:5, “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.”
Romans 8:6-8, “For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.”
Romans 8:9, “However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.”
Romans 8:10, “If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.”
Romans 8:11, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”
Romans 8:12-13, “So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh -- for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”
Romans 8:14, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
Romans 8:15, “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, ‘Abba! Father!’”
Romans 8:16-17, “The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.”
Romans 8:18-25, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly 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 also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.”
Let’s now concentrate on verse 19 for the rest of the morning.
Romans 8:19, “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.”
Paul’s statement in Romans 8:19 intensifies and advances upon his statement in verse 18, which teaches that the undeserved suffering of the Christian does not compare with the glory that is to be revealed to him at the Bema Seat when he receives rewards.
This glory that the overcomer receives at the Bema Seat in the form of rewards and his eternal inheritance is directly related to all of creation since these rewards and the eternal inheritance involve the sons of God who are “joint-heirs” and “overcomers” ruling over all of creation in Christ’s millennial government.
So Paul is saying that this future glory that is to be revealed to the overcomer and joint-heir with Christ at the Bema Seat and involves receiving rewards and the eternal inheritance is directly related to all of creation.
It is directly related to all of creation since these rewards and the eternal inheritance involves the lifting of the curse that is over creation since the Fall of Adam so that the “overcomers” and “joint-heirs” with Christ can rule in perfect environment during Christ’s millennial reign.
All of creation is under the curse of sin as the result of Adam’s fall in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:1-19).
This curse on the First Adam will ultimately be lifted when the Last Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ returns with the church, the sons of God, at His Second Advent to deliver Israel from Antichrist and the Tribulational armies in order to establish His millennial reign (Rom. 8:18-22).
The animal kingdom will be at peace as well during the millennium (Is. 11:6-9; 35:9; 65:25), all sickness will be removed (Is. 33:24; Jer. 30:17; Ezek. 34:16) and all deformities will be healed (Is. 29:17-19; 35:3-6; Jer. 31:8).
There will be a supernatural work of preservation of life through the King (Is. 41:8-14; Jer. 32:27; Ezek. 34:27; Joel 3:16-17; Amos 9:15; Zech. 8:14-15; 14:10-11).
All of creation will be at peace during the Millennium (Rom. 8:19-20) and there will be no war for 1000 years during the Millennium (Isaiah 2:1-4).
There will be international prosperity and the life man during the millennium will be greatly increased (Isaiah 65:17-66:1).
There will be no deserts on the earth (Isa. 35:1-3) and the animal kingdom will be changed (Isa. 11).
There will be a perfect economic system during the millennium in which the needs of men are abundantly provided for by labor in that system, under the guidance of the King.
There will be a fully industrialized society (Is. 62:8-9; 65:21:23; Jer. 31:5; Ezek. 48:18-19) and agriculture as well as manufacturing will provide employment.
There will be economic prosperity because of the perfect labor situation (Is. 4:1; 35:1-2; 30:23-25; Jer. 31:5; Ezek. 34:26; Mic. 4:1; Zech. 8:11-12; Ezek. 36:29-30; Joel 2:21-27; Amos 9:13-14).
There will be a tremendous increase of solar and lunar light during the millennium (Is. 4:5; 30:26; 60:19-20).
Language barriers will be removed (Zech. 3:9).
There will be unified worship of the Father and the Messiah (Is. 45:23; 52:1; Zech. 13:2; 14:16; Zeph. 3:9; Mal. 1:11; Rev. 5:9-14).
God’s presence will be fully recognized and fellowship with God will be experienced to an unprecedented degree (Ezek. 37:27-28; Zech. 2:2; Rev. 21:3).
The Scriptures make clear that the world government during the millennium will be under the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ (Is. 2:2-4; 9:3-7; 11:1-10; 16:5; Dan. 2:44; 7:15-28; Obad. 17-21; Mic. 4:1-8; 5:2-5; Zeph. 3:9-10; Zech. 9:10-15; 14:16-17).
The thousand-year reign is the direct administration of divine government on earth for one thousand years by our Lord and His church.
Its earthly center will be Jerusalem and the nation of Israel, through Christ and the overcomers of the church age will rule in resurrected bodies and will take the place now occupied by the kingdom of darkness.
The millennial reign of Christ will be the public earthly honoring by God the Father of His Son Jesus Christ and His Son’s joint-heirs who were “overcomers” during the church age.
This is in direct contrast to when His Son was dishonored by the inhabitants of the earth during His First Advent and when His Son’s bride was dishonored during the church age.
The millennium will be the execution of God’s promises to His Son and the prophecies concerning the Lord Jesus.
Romans 8:19, “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.”
“The anxious longing” is the noun apokaradokia (a)pokaradokiva) (ap-ok-ar-ad-ok-ee-ah), which means, “anxiously anticipates” since the genitive substantive ktisis, “creation” functions as a “subjective genitive” meaning it functions semantically as the subject of the verbal idea implicit in the head noun, which is apokaradokia.
In these instances, the verbal noun apokaradokia can be converted into the verbal form “anxiously anticipates” and the genitive noun ktisis, “creation” can be turned into its subject.
The noun apokaradokia is personifying creation “anxiously anticipating” the Adamic curse to be lifted from it as a result of the manifestation of the sons of God with Christ at His Second Advent and subsequent millennial reign.
“Of the creation” is the noun ktisis (ktivsi$) (ktis-is), which refers to that which has been created by God out of non-existing material, including the orderly arrangement of the heavens and the earth and all things in their complex order and composition as created by God, created in perfect order and subject to the laws God established to govern its operation (Matt. 13:35; John 21:25; Acts 17:24).
The noun ktisis refers to the totality of animate and inanimate objects that are contained in the first, second and third heavens and the earth: (1) Stars, satellites, and planets that compose the stellar universe. (2) Earth’s sun and moon. (3) Vegetation on the earth (4) Marine life (5) Bird life (6) Terrestrial life.
This would not include unregenerate human beings or non-elect angels since they are antagonistic towards Christ and are not eagerly anticipating the revelation of the sons of God at Christ’s Second Advent.
Romans 8:19, “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.”
“Waits eagerly for” is the verb apekdechomai (a)pekdevxomiai) (ap-ek-dekh-oh-my), which is used of the creation which is under a curse “eagerly awaiting” the Second Advent and subsequent millennial reign of Christ when the sons of God will reign with Christ on the earth literally and the curse will be lifted.
Apokaradokia stresses “anxiety” involved in the anticipation of the revealing of the sons of God whereas the verb apekdechomai emphasizes the “eagerness” involved.
“The revelation” is the noun apokalupsis (a)polkavluyi$) (apo-ka-loop-sis), which denotes the unveiling of something previously hidden.
Therefore, in Romans 8:19, the noun refers to the “revelation” of the sons of God at the Second Advent of Christ.
“Sons” is the noun huios (ui(ov$) (hwee-os), which emphasizes the legal aspect of the Christian’s relationship with God and is thus directly related to justification and adoption.
We saw this word used by Paul in Romans 8:14 where it emphasizes that the Christian has been accepted into the family of God in a legal sense through justification and adoption, Roman style.
Romans 8:14, “Because, all of us who are, as an eternal spiritual truth, led by means of the Spirit, who is God, these are, as an eternal spiritual truth, God’s sons.”
In Romans 8:16, Paul uses the noun teknon, “children,” which emphasizes the Christian’s relationship from the perspective of the spiritual birth.
Romans 8:16, “The Spirit Himself, as an eternal spiritual truth, bears witness to our human spirit that we are, as an eternal spiritual truth, God’s children.”
Romans 8:19, “For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.”
“Of God” is the noun theos (qeov$), which refers to the Father since the word is used in relation to the huios, “sons.”
The word functions a “genitive of possession” indicating all the Father “owns” the Christian in the sense that legally the Christian has been adopted Roman style into the family of God by the Father.