Charles Spurgeon Commentary Romans 8:19-22

"For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." — Romans 8:19-22 (ASV)

For the earnest expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who has subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now.

We live in a world that is under a curse – a world that was made subject to bondage through human sin. What does this cold mean?

What do these fogs mean? What does the general mourning and sighing of the air all through the winter mean? What do the disturbances, convulsions, and catastrophes that we hear about on all sides mean? It is the creation groaning, travailing, waiting – waiting until there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, because the former things shall have passed away.

For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

See how it often weeps in the superabundant rain that seems like a minor deluge. Note how, at times, creation's very bowels seem to be tossed and torn with pain and agony by volcanoes and earthquakes. Mark the tempests, tornadoes, hurricanes, and all kinds of ills that sweep over the globe, leaving devastation in their track; and the globe itself is wrapped in swaddling bands of mist, and does not shine out like its sister stars in its pristine brightness and splendour. The animal creation, too, wears the yoke of bondage.

How unnecessarily heavy have men often made that yoke!