Into the Heart of Romans
A Deep Dive into Paul’s Greatest Letter
The Liberation of Creation (3|4)
Pages 120-127
Psalm 8 (NIV) LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants, you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Colossians 3:1-4 (NIV) Since then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
1 John 3:2-3 (NIV) Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Some ancient Jewish readers saw Psalm 8 as pointing to the Messiah, while Genesis 1 teaches that all humans are made in God’s image with royal dignity. Where do you see the dignity and calling of being an image-bearer reflected in your own life or in the lives of others?
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 (NIV) Therefore, we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. How do/does Paul’s words about present (momentary) troubles being incomparable to the “eternal weight of glory” challenge or encourage you in the hardships you face today?
Paul teaches that creation’s “frustration” (verse 20) comes not from any flaw in the world itself but from the failure of God’s image-bearers to steward it wisely. Where do you see signs of creation’s “frustration” today, and how might you sense God calling you to participate in God’s work of restoring stewardship?
Paul teaches that creation will be set free from “ its slavery to decay” when God’s children are glorified, that is, when renewed humans finally take up their intended authority over the world. What does this mean? Where do you see hints of “creation longing for freedom”?