All Creation Groans
Adria Stevens // UGA Student & College Intern
As I was preparing to write this blog post, I was sharing some ideas with another intern, and she said “Wow it seems like we are all writing about similar things.” At first I started panicking, searching my mind for a new blog post idea. I can’t write about the same thing as other interns! I have to bring something new, something creative, something that makes me look good. Then she snapped me out of my spiral into pride by saying, “but I guess we are all writing about the gospel, so that is bound to happen.” In the brief moment between her statements I completely lost focus of the gospel I wanted to write about. I lost sight so quickly of the good news that fuels every blog post, every interaction or activity, each mundane day that we live. So in this blog post, I am not promising anything you have not heard, any grand epiphanies, or life changing quotes that will change the way you view things (if you want any of that I encourage you to look straight to the Word). But I am hoping to share a bit of my heart and what God has been teaching me about the gospel lately.
One of the most life changing things I am involved in is leading a 10th grade girl’s D-Group. I signed up last minute on a whim, but was not prepared for what God was going to do in my life through his Word and through these girls. Each week, as I prepare a chapter of Romans to facilitate the group, I am deeply challenged by Paul’s words. And each week, as I come before my D-group over dinner, I am so thoroughly reminded of the life changing power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. These 15 and 16 year old girls summarize and meditate on difficult passages of scripture and show me how the gospel takes root and transforms; it is for them and for me and for you. As we read Romans 8 together, we were especially amazed by this passage:
Romans 8:18-25
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing 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 will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we await for it with patience.”
Paul says that the current sufferings are “not worth comparing” to the glory we will experience one day. Paul didn’t say that our sufferings don’t exist, in fact Paul was experiencing far worse suffering than most of us ever will, but he continually encourages us to redirect our thoughts to future glory. One of my girls thoughtfully brought up this verse, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2). Each moment of suffering and pain mirrors the groans of all of creation, and reminds us of God’s sovereignty and His future plans for us. My roommates and I jokingly say, “ugh and all this because of the fall,” when any inconvenience arises, but there is a level of truth to that. All of creation around us shows the fallen nature of our world. A really unique picture of what creation will be like is found in Isaiah 11:6-9 which says:
“The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.”
When Jesus comes back, creation will be changed. No more predators and prey, no more death and pain. Nature is longing for this transformation that will come just as we are longing to be glorified one day. (A side note: I love the reference that the “earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea,” reminding us of how the “spirit of the Lord hovered over the waters,” in Genesis).
Now how can we wait for this as Paul states? It can be hard to want to keep going in this world when we are promised such a beautiful and unmatched eternity. Well the answer is not far from the root of this idea, it is found yet again in the gospel. I have been focusing on the post-resurrection life, and the future to come. However, turning back to just before the crucifixion and resurrection can bring us immense peace.
Isaiah 53:3-5 states,
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”
We can take comfort in the fact that Christ experienced both deep emotional pain and physical agony. He did not just sometimes experience sadness, but He was “acquainted with grief.” He was not just lonely, but “despised and rejected by men.” He was smitten by His own father, totally alone in the world, far more alone than we have ever been. Yes, He rose again and has promised us an inheritance as co-heirs with Him in eternal life, but He also lived and breathed as a human being. We don’t serve some far-off God who fruitlessly attempts to understand our cries, but we serve a God who humbly came to experience our suffering, take it on, and promise us not just salvation but adoption into His family. How can we hear these truths and not be comforted in the arms of our Savior?
Jesus wept because He was a man, but raised because He is God. We can take comfort in the fact that we serve and communicate with a God who not only loves us, but fully knows and understands us. We can look forward to even better communion with Him one day, a day in which creation cries out, not in anguish, but in praise of the Savior who has restored!
Adria is an English major at UGA. She is a Watty college intern and is involved in the Jones tribe! She leads a D-Group at Watty and is passionate about diving into the truth of Word and sharing that with other people!
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