A Bible Reading: Romans 8:18-22
I consider that what we suffer at this present time cannot be compared at all with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. All of creation waits with eager longing for God to reveal his children. For creation was condemned to lose its purpose, not of its own will, but because God willed it to be so. Yet there was the hope that creation itself would one day be set free from its slavery to decay and would share the glorious freedom of the children of God. For we know that up to the present time all of creation groans with pain, like the pain of childbirth.
A thought
This passage from Romans 8 links together three strands of thought that seem significant to me at this time.
The comparison between the suffering of today and the glory that is to come has been an encouragement to Christians throughout the centuries and should be an encouragement to us today. Indeed, our sufferings are small when compared even to the sufferings of others around the world, with or without Coronavirus, let alone when compared to the glory that God has in store for us.
There is also a link in these verses with the concept of freedom. I have been reflecting on the freedom that we have in Christ, both from the chains of sin and sickness and also within the confines of our physical circumstances. Here St Paul links the freedom that we have in Christ with freedom from the effects of sin that the whole of creation is yearning to share with us.
All of this links in with our readings about Noah last Sunday and tomorrow, where God not only saves mankind from the flood but also saves a breeding pair of every animal and bird on the land. God is an environmentalist.
The salvation brought by Jesus is universal. It is for us individually as we put our faith in him. It is also for our communities as we reach out to them with the love of Christ. It must also impact our environment which is yearning to be liberated from the chains of sin and corruption, as sung by ‘Fisherfolk’ in the 70s, ‘All creation’s straining on tiptoe just to see the sons of God come into their own’
A Prayer
Thank you, Lord Jesus for the freedom that you give us through faith in you and for the glory that we will one day share with you. Help us to look beyond ourselves to our communities and to all of creation, that together we might share in your freedom and in your glory.
Amen.
On Tiptoe