Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Romans 8:21

"that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God." — Romans 8:21 (ASV)

Before passing to the final ministry of the Spirit (vv.26–27), Paul lingers over the concept of future glory in relation to present suffering. His presentation may be seen as an expansion of what he had already written to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 4:17). Weighed in the scales of lasting values, the sufferings endured in this life are light indeed, compared with the splendor of the life to come—a life undisturbed by anything hostile or hurtful. Scripture does not tell us much of what that glory will be, but it assures us that it will be. The glory will be revealed “in us” (or possibly “to us”).

Instead of considering the future simply from the standpoint of the redeemed, Paul enlarges the perspective to include the whole “creation” (GK 3232), which is here personified as longing for the time when the children of God will enjoy the consummation because creation’s own deliverance from the frustration imposed on it by the Fall cannot come until that time. This accords with the superior place given humankind in the creation (Genesis 1:26–28; Psalms 8:5–8). “Eager expectation” is a picturesque term describing a person leaning forward out of intense interest and desire, usually used in Scripture regarding one’s attitude toward the Lord’s coming (e.g., Galatians 5:5; Hebrews 9:28).

The one who subjected the creation to frustration is not named. The most natural interpretation is that God, at the time sin entered the world, did the subjecting. The creation is pictured as not willingly enduring the subjection, yet as having hope for something better—liberation from its “bondage to decay.” The apostle is concerned with the creation only as it relates to humanity. How gracious of God to retain for believers the habitat they have long been accustomed to, only so changed and beautified as to harmonize with their own glorified state.

Verse 23 implies that the expression “whole creation” (v.22) excludes the people of God. Its “groaning” looks back to its subjection to frustration (v.20), whereas the “pains of childbirth” anticipate the age of renewal. In other words, the same sufferings are at once a result and a prophecy. Christ too spoke of the renewing of the world as a “rebirth” (Matthew 19:28).