◄ What Does Romans 8:19 Mean? ►

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth, and all that He made was good. Finally, He made man in His own image and likeness to rule over God's earthly kingdom – to till it, to care for it, to make it fruitful, and to use it as nourishment: "God saw all that He had made and it was very good."

But man sinned, which resulted in the earth being cursed so as to bring forth thorns and thistles, for man must now labour to till the earth through painful toil and with the sweat of his brow - and since that time, nature has groaned under its curse, which was a terrible product of man's original sin.

But the scarlet thread of redemption started to stream throughout earth's history, because fallen man found grace in the heart of God, for the redeeming blood His Son was pre-ordained to be poured out from Emmanuel's veins in bringing many sons to glory. We are those sons of the Father, for we have become a new creation in Christ.

But the Church is not the only recipient of God's gift of redemption, nor are we the only part of God's creation that was affected by sin, for the whole of God's creation has been groaning together with labour pains under the weight of sin's curse.

The whole of nature is red in tooth and claw, as thorns and thistles, earthquakes and floods, blistering heat, raging famines, roaring seas, and pestilences in diverse places exemplify the pain and groaning of the creation cursed through sin and waiting in anticipation for its redemption.

Soon, after the Bride has been raptured and God's wrath has been poured out on the world, creation will be redeemed. Creation's groanings will cease and "the wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf, ox, and a young lion will graze together, and a little child will lead them."

Soon, Satan will be bound for a thousand years and the earthly kingdom welcome the Lord Jesus as king, on the throne of His father David.

Soon: "They will not hurt or destroy in all God's holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea," and the redeemed of Israel will walk there, and the ransomed of the LORD will return from their exile.

In that day, the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. Waters will break forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. 

Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus! AMEN.