Hi,
Could someone please offer their definition, interpretation on this scripture.
Romans 8:19-22
For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children 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 the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory 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.
You might not believe it, but here goes...
Paul starting in Romans 8:18 to 25 was pointing to the world to come, and the difference between the 'creation' since Genesis 1, and the creation in the world to come. God placed His original perfect creation of the heavens and the earth into bondage for this 2nd world earth age. He ended that old world when Satan was perfect in his ways having followed Him, but then coveted His Throne (see parable about Satan in Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14). So God ended... that old world when Satan first rebelled, and placed His creation for today in a state of imperfection, in bondage to corruption. This is what Apostle Peter was talking about that some are "willingly ignorant" of that old world, "the world that then was..." (2 Peter 3).
I prefer the KJV:
Rom 8:18-25
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
No mistake Paul is comparing this present world with the future world to come.
19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.
That word "
creature" in the Greek is
ktisis. It is the same Greek word throughout this, which later is rendered in verse 22 as "
creation". Today's creation awaits the manifesting of the sons of God, which about the world to come and the glorious type bodies we will have.
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
The creation was made "subject to vanity", not of its own accord, but by God Who subjected this 2nd world earth age creation in the same hope as us.
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Paul describes today's creation as being in "bondage of corruption". In the world to come, today's creation will also be released in the future glorious liberty as us.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
This present creation is imperfect, not how God originally made His original creation at Genesis 1:1. Satan rebelled, so God brought flood waters upon the earth to destroy Satan's rebellion in that old world. THAT... is when God placed His creation in "bondage of corruption." Of course this is not the tradition that is normally taught in Genesis 1, but this Romans 8 Scripture is one of a few that point directly to that old world destruction when Satan fell.
At Genesis 1:2, the earth was already there underneath those 'waters' which God later moved in verses 6 thru 9. Genesis 1:2 "without form, and void" represents the earth laying waste from the destruction God did to end that old world when Satan rebelled against Him. It is the state of the earth at Jeremiah 4:23-28 that repeats that "without form, and void" phrase, which in the Hebrew actually means 'a waste and an indistinguishable ruin".
23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Our spirit inside our flesh body groans while in these temporary flesh bodies, seeking to be released from our flesh. Paul is actually pointing to the future "spiritual body" of 1 Cor.15 with that word "body".
24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
KJV
We don't have hope for something that we can already see manifested. Instead, our hope is for what has not yet come. By this Paul is suggesting that we have patience for this manifesting to come with the next world when Jesus returns.
Here is the Jeremiah 4 view of the "without form, and void" event of Genesis 1:2:
Jer 4:23-28
23 I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.
There's that Hebrew phrase "without form, and void" again (tohu va bohu), which actually means 'a waste and an undistinguishable ruin' per the Hebrew.
24 I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly.
Since mountains are being described, it means the earth was already there, but notice it trembled, and all the hills moved, like a great earthquake.
25 I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.
No man left in that time, and even the birds of heaven fled. The old world when Satan was perfect in his ways was an 'angelic' existence upon this earth. That state is actually what God's Word shows He is going to return this earth to when Jesus returns. Of course those with a carnal mind will not understand this, because they think Christ's Salvation in the world to come will be one of flesh existence, when Apostle Paul revealed it is not.
26 I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by His fierce anger.
That idea of a wilderness is like a barren desert. There were ancient cities on this earth in that old word when Satan served God, and nations also, as shown in the parable of Ezekiel 31 about Satan in that old world. But it was not a flesh body existence, but an angelic type existence upon this earth. This is why God's Garden of Eden is shown upon this earth at Genesis 2. The LORD once actually lived right here on this earth.
27 For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.
28 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.
KJV
That above about the ruin condition of the earth because of God's destruction from His anger, is where Romans 8 links about God having placed His original creation in a state of bondage to corruption for this present creation since Genesis 1:2.
He said He would not make a 'full end', but the land would be desolate (in vanity like Paul said). We of course are led to believe that the way God's creation has been for this 2nd world earth age, that it is already perfect. It still is beautiful, no doubt about that. But it is not perfect; everything decays and dies. People are always sensing the idea of 'perfection', but never actually able to achieve it.
In Isaiah 11, God shows how even the animal kingdom has been affected in vanity for this present world, because in the world to come, the bear will eat straw with the ox.
That phrase "For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black:", is about this present world's violent weather system. What does it mean with the sky clouds above the earth look black, or dark? It means they are full of water, and it's gonna' rain, with storms, tempests, even tornadoes and hurricanes if more violent.
The reason for those violent weather events for today's creation is because the sun beads down upon the ground through holes in the sky around the earth, and evaporates waters on the earth, and heats the ground with warm air rising up into the sky. At the same time cold air up high is heavier, and falls mixing with that warmer air, and causes out storms of this present creation. God says the earth mourns because of these events, and it's pointing what Paul said in Romans 8 about God having placed His "creation" in bondage of corruption.
In Revelation 21, we are told in the future world to come there will be no more 'sea', like oceans. For this present creation, the earth is covered with about 70 % of water upon its surface. So where is all that water going to go?
It will go back up into the sky around the earth, and fill up all those holes in the sky that creates today's violent weather system. At Genesis 1:6-9, the 'waters' of Genesis 1:2 already covering the earth are shown being moved. God moves a portion of those waters up around the earth to make the sky. Then He moves the rest of the waters left upon the earth until the dry land appears (actually re-appears). To bring the flood waters upon the earth to end Satan's rebellion, all those waters were originally up in the sky around the earth, forming a complete canopy of protection around the earth. The earth's vegetation was watered by God's River that flowed out from His Garden, and fed the other rivers of the earth, and that is shown to return to earth in the future world per the Ezekiel 47 chapter.
