Romans chapter 8

Ok, so there's been a slight hiatus while I've been at GenCon. I didn't have access to a computer there. Back to it now!

vs 20

So God built-in a frustration in his creation. Well, built-in may not be the best term. That depends on how you think God acted with regards to foreknowledge of sin. I mean, did God create the universe as perfect and then let sin break it, and then subject it to frustration? Or was that frustration built-in in the the foreknowledge that sin was coming? Who can say.

The point being that creation has been bound up and prevented from doing what it ought.

And this has been done in hope. In hope of what? Well, the next verse will tell us. I hope.

vs 21

Creation is meant to enjoy the freedom and glory of those whom God has adopted. Of course, we are subject to the same frustration - we can't fully enjoy that freedom or glory yet either. So creation waits until it is freed from bondage to the decay that came from sin. Think about that - sin is so powerful, not only did it cause death in us, separation from God, but also broke the universe and made it start spiralling into a death of its own.

However, creation shares a hope with us. It will be freed from bondage and brought into glory. So does creation die first and get remade, as most of God's children do? Or does it get renewed, a theory that seems to appeal to the green-hearted recycling culture that much of modern Christianity has adopted? This verse alone doesn't tell us enough about that. Sufficed to say that we have hope, and so does it.

vs 22

So it has therefore been in expectation of something coming.

vs 23

And so are we expecting something - some more final mark of our adoption, which comes when our bodies are redeemed. With all the talk in chapter 7 about the sinful nature, I wonder if Paul isn't talking about our bodies being redeemed along the lines of cleansed of the sinful nature, so that we can be in true union with God. Or perhaps he is talking more about the cleansing of creation, because our bodies are part of that creation. Of course, our minds, hearts and souls are too. The idea of creation is not a merely materialist one.

vs 24

This verse seems a little forced in its situation. If there were a question about hope being posed, then it would seem a far more reasonable thing to say. But it seems out of place here. Nevertheless, it holds true in what it says - hope that is seen is not hope. Compare this definition with that of faith in Hebrews 11, and I think we have two ideas being described with different words. I think what the writer to the Hebrews calls "faith", Paul calls "hope".

vs 25

Although I've read these words many times, for the first time the word 'patiently' has jumped out at me. How patient am I for the return of Christ or my union with God? To be honest, I don't live waiting patiently for the fruit of my hope to come. I yearn for it. I never thought that was wrong. Indeed, Paul seems to yearn for it himself in other letters. So why the patience here? Perhaps it is in the context of our inability to do anything to hasten its coming.

vs 26

In the same way as what? I think Paul is harkening back to the groaning of creation, the groaning of ourselves, and now the groaning of the Spirit. Which is interesting, because if those three groans are linked, and this third groan takes on the meaning of the first two - almost a creaking under pressure of giving way to allow the new to flood forth - then in fact the Spirit's intercessions are far more pointed than I have originally thought. I always thought that groan here was just a noise that words couldn't express. Some sort of holy talk that we can't discern. But in fact, in the same way that a groaning plank is expressing its displeasure at being overloaded and preparing to break, the groaning Spirit of God expresses the weight of our prayers to him, which perhaps inevitably are calling for liberation from death and decay.

vs 27

So in essence, we can't screw up in our prayers and alienate ourselves from God, because he searches the hearts of us, and the mind of the Spirit so that our hearts, which even chapter 7 says want to do God's will, can be brought into line with God's will.

vs 28

What a great and misunderstood promise. This doesn't change anything that has happened to us, and doesn't prevent bad, horrible, painful things from happening. It doesn't stop us asking why, and it doesn't stop us from hurting or feeling bad or detached from God. Good in this sense is something we almost cannot understand, because it is so far removed from what we think of as good. We think of good as enjoyable, pleasant, nice. We don't think of those things that cause pain, suffering, anguish, hurt, embarrassment, loss, grief, or other bad things as good. And yet they continue to happen to us. This must mean that good is not intrinsic to pleasantness and enjoyment, contentment or happiness. Good exists in sadness and pain. If it didn't, then this verse would be a lie.

vs 29

And the image of God's Son is not one that exists without pain, torment, separation, loss and grief. I know that I personally have very much separated my Christianity from its roots of suffering. That can't be healthy.

vs 30

It is not pleasure, enjoyment, niceness or happiness that we are called to, but justification, and glorification. With those will come joy, no doubt, but of an entirely different nature to happiness.