Alright folks, today we're looking at Romans 8:19-25. And this might be a little out there, but bear with me and let your imagination have a little more freedom than you normally give it, after all it does us good to imagine, especially since we tend to not use our imagination much spiritually, which is pretty sad since God is so great that the only real way to conceive of Him is with that same imagination. All that being said, let’s start.
8:19: The world is waiting for the end. It has had enough of this charade, this numbing down of everything since the fall, and it can’t wait until the day we’re reunited with God and things are set right. Think much about how the earth feels about what we did, and are doing to it? Not to get all tree-huggery (huggery isn’t a word, but we’re using our imaginations remember?), but the truth is all of earth is God’s creation. We tend to think that just humans are God’s creation, but earth, stars, water, birds…all qualify. We’re all part of creation…and we’ve all been drastically affected by the fall, some more so than others. We can’t remember what things were like pre-fall, but what if the rest of creation could? Hmmmmm….
8:20-21: Sin came into the world, and what did it bring with it? Death. We always think that just meant for us…but what about the animals and environment? Who paid the first penalty for sin? The animals. Check out Genesis 3:21. God made Adam and Eve clothing out of animals, and death entered the world. And not only have we paid, but so has creation. It was not created for death and decay, but because of sin we now have that in the world. Ever wonder what the world was like before sin, and what kind of changes and limitations were put in it because of sin? What if animals used to be able to talk, but because of sin couldn’t anymore? Think it’s out there…then what about Balaam’s donkey? Either that was one smart ass (sorry, couldn’t resist) or perhaps God allowed it to be as it used to be. Who knows, but makes you wonder. And if because of sin death and decay entered in, have you ever thought about how that could have muted things, even wonderful things. What if the beautiful blue sky we see, is just a sad faded representation of what blue is really supposed to look like? And the green grass a sad mottled representation of what green was supposed to be? To quote the famous song, “Things that make you go HMMMMM.”
8:22: And here’s why I don’t think I’m so far out there (be quiet Michelle), creation itself longs for the day when it is set free and restored to what it once was. That’s got to beg the question, what was it like before? Even now the world struggles with itself like it is, knowing that it is messed up and not how it should be, how it will be. And how much does our sin of greed compound that as we for all intents and purposes rape creation for “things,” further scarring and decaying what was once perfect (by the way, it was God who said that) for our own pitiful little gains now? What will things look like when it’s all fixed and made perfect again?
8:23: Ok, here’s where we can let the imagination really run. Think of the closest you’ve felt to God through the Holy Spirit, be it a time of solitude, prayer, worship, or joy. That is like the preview, the trailer for what creation will be like when Jesus comes back and everything is restored to its pre-sin status. All the results and side-effects of sin will be removed, and instead it will be like it was always designed to be. By the way, take this passage as further proof that we won’t be sitting on a cloud mindlessly strumming a harp in eternity, but will in all likelihood be tearing through a new and virgin earth created as God always planned and designed, in the company of that same Creator reveling in the joy of being and being in the presence of rightness and goodness and love and joy and pleasure and belonging and holiness and truth. And that won’t be a vacation that will end far too soon, but will constitute our being for eternity. We will get to live on and experience Earth 2.0, and here’s where it gets really crazy, we get to experience it in Body 2.0. That’s right, we get new bodies (further proof that we won’t be some boring non-corporeal beings in the ether) that don’t have any of the problems ours do now like cancer, asthma, tiredness, migraines, back pain, bad breath, dandruff, arthritis, Alzheimer’s (I love the irony that people will one day forget that Alzheimer’s ever existed) and every other rotten decaying death bringing thing we must currently contend with because we choose to be sinful beings instead of living in covenant relationship with the God who loved and made us. Who knows, maybe these new bodies will be able to do things like fly, run 90 mph, lift a mountain, hear a flea speak, taste sunshine. I don’t know…but all those things would be pretty cool. I do know those new bodies will be able to worship better, if for no other reason that they get to be in the presence of the One that deserves that worship. Man, one day things are going to be very COOL!!!!!
8:24-25: But not yet…well, crap! Would be great if all this got to happen tomorrow, but we don’t know when it will happen. So we dwell now, in this corrupt, dirty, shrinking world we call home, missing out on what it means to be created by the Living God and walking in intimate relationship with Him, and for now we see through a glass but darkly of what it will be like. So why even hang that beautiful idea out there, why tease with a promise of someday? Because without that promise, we’d just die now. Without that promise, why go on? Without that promise, we’d have no reason to hope. And hope is the elixir that builds in us faith, and faith is what gives us the strength to go on in this buggy place, until the perfect comes. So here’s the plan: wait patiently, and with confidence that the God who created you, saved you by Jesus’ blood, and encourages you through the Holy Spirit will one day, “set right what once went wrong” (Yes that’s from Quantum Leap, but it’s GOOD!). And then life will really start…which is good because I’ve always wanted to experience real life.
