Romans 8:18-25

TEXT Creation Groans It is difficult to read this passage in Romans 8 without hearing it through our 21st Century filters. We are surrounded by messages about global warming and how to live a "greener" life. Christians with an environmental conscience have put What Would Jesus Drive? bumper stickers on their economy cars. And little 'ol Oak Ridge has two-count-'em-TWO recycling dumpsters! We might be tempted to say that in the first century, Paul couldn't have had any of this in mind. But wait a minute. If this passage connects with the one above it (and I think it does) then Paul is certainly calling us to consider how our new spiritual nature connects with the rest of creation. Paul is plainly saying that the creation's groaning is illustrative of our own eagerness to see our bodies redeemed. Our adoption occurs in this life and the Spirit intercedes for us in this life. God seems interested in us returning to the place where he called the creation of humans "good." Could he care less about the rest of creation that he created "good." This seems like the minimal application of this text to me. God desires that as we grow in our adoption and put to death the misdeeds of our body, that selfish consumption dies too. Children of God will car pool, recycle and simplify. We will open the door for others and pick up other people's trash as well as our own. Christians can make do and repair things, avoid impulsive purchases, and downsize. "Our present sufferings" in verse 18 are not persecutions and illnesses. They are the sufferings associated with self-discipline. Perhaps self-control is one of those things we can't leave behind.