All Creation Waits
I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God, for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its enslavement to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labor, and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
-Romans 8:18-25
I came of age at a time when the American church was gripped by a sort of apocalyptic fervor. I think the tail end of the 1980s-era “Satanic panic” and the uncertainty of Y2K created the perfect environment for things like the Left Behind series to explode. If you did not live through it, it is hard to explain just how assured many of us evangelicals were that we could be taken up to heaven at any moment, leaving behind nothing but a pile of clothes and a population of terrified non-believers. Imagine my surprise, then, when I began my theological education and learned that the theology underpinning this entire movement — the rapture — was a pretty new concept developed by an Irish minister who stitched together fragments from a few scattered scriptures. It was considered a fringe belief until two world wars and the advent of the atomic age convinced many in the twentieth century that the end might actually be nigh.
I think one of the more damaging aspects of this theological movement, apart from terrifying my young self, is that it separates humanity from creation in a way that is deeply unbiblical. It fostered a belief in a spiritual realm and reality that would supersede the physical world. In this way of thinking, our souls were destined to be taken up into the spiritual realm of heaven, while the physical world was marked for destruction. But this sharp spirit/material dualism is not the hope Scripture gives us. The Bible does not tell the story of God giving up on creation. It tells the story of God refusing to abandon what God has made.
In fact, Scripture speaks again and again about God’s desire to restore all of creation to its proper relationship with the Creator. Humanity is not singled out for salvation while the majority of the work of God’s hands is simply fuel for the fire. No! Humanity is the firstfruits of God’s redemptive work, which is meant to spread to all creation. This is why Paul says that creation itself is waiting with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God. Creation, Paul says, has been subjected to decay, but not without hope. It too will be set free and share in the freedom and glory of God’s children.
That matters for how we see the natural world. If creation is disposable, then beauty is only temporary scenery on our way somewhere else. But if creation is part of God’s redemptive purpose, then the world around us becomes something much more sacred. The forests, oceans, rivers, mountains, animals, and fields are not merely background to the human story. They are fellow creatures, caught up with us in the brokenness of sin and death, and also caught up with us in the promise of renewal. This is why the Revelation of John of Patmos envisions both a new heaven and a new earth. It is the totality of creation that will be redeemed.
Creation is just as bruised and damaged as we are, and it shares in our hope. Our hope is not escape, but total renewal. We are not called to abandon the world to decay, but to partner with God in the work of its care and redemption. So when we stand in awe of a mountain, or grieve the pollution of a river, or marvel at the life hidden in a forest, we are not being distracted from spiritual things. We are learning to see the world as God sees it: beloved, wounded, and awaiting a promised redemption.
Rev. Ryan Young
