Chapter # 8 Paragraph # 3 Study # 3
April 16, 2017
Humble, Texas
(084)
1769 Translation:
20 For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected [
the same] in hope,
21 Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only [
they], but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, [
to wit], the redemption of our body.
24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25 But if we hope for that we see not, [
then] do we with patience wait for [
it].
1901 ASV Translation:
20 For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it,
in hope
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.
22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
23 And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for [
our] adoption, [
to wit], the redemption of our body.
24 For in hope were we saved: but hope that is seen is not hope: for who hopeth for that which he seeth?
25 But if we hope for that which we see not, [
then] do we with patience wait for it.
- I. The Reason For This Eager Anticipation.
- A. The entire creation was subjected to The Vanity.
- 1. Calling the issues of the depravity of The Sin "The Vanity" is an interesting insertion into this doctrine. It reduces The Sin to a completely "empty" posturing. The root term is applied to idols as "gods" which have no actual reality at all. Isaiah's scoffing against the "gods" made of the half of a tree that was not used for firewood comes to mind: completely delusional posturing with absolutely no actual substance or reality. This does not make it ineffectual (great wickedness is done on the basis of the persuasion of the ignorant and erring to believe in such non-existent stuff), but it does raise the ante on the "intelligence" of those who buy into it both to propagate it and to believe in it: truly the Lord knows the reasoning of the "wise" that it is total nonsense (1 Corinthians 3:20).
- a. The focus of "the vanity" is upon the "bondage" that corruption has caused. The interesting reality is this: sinning creates enslavement that cannot be broken by the perpetrator turned into a victim. The perp did the sin; the sin turned on the perp and made him/her its slave. It is like stepping into quicksand; once it has been done there is nothing that can be done by the newly created victim. Unless a Savior comes along, the end is incrementally inevitable.
- b. Interestingly it is this "bondage/glorious liberty" that has Paul's focus of attention.
- 2. This "subjection" is the placing of the entire creation "under" this "vanity" so that it cannot escape the impact of those who are operating on the basis that the "vanity" has "substance". Since this is foolishness, great is the evil perpetrated when the "vanity" is put into the place of "wisdom".
- B. Not "of its own will".
- 1. The creation did not desire or choose to be placed under such great evil.
- 2. The unimaginable number of items "created" by God were all made subject to the reality of the imposition of "vanity" over wisdom by God Who determined the course to include the subjection of all "creation" to the painful suffering of having to endure the "fools" and their pollutions.
- C. But "on the account of Him Who did the subjecting".
- 1. In The Great Plan, God had both a comprehensive body of "goals" as well as an equally comprehensive set of "methods". His "goals" all coalesced under the sharing of His Life with created beings, and His "methods" all coalesced under the imparting of Truth for the purpose of making "faith" a workable methodology.
- 2. Since it has always been God's Great Plan, He did not ask any other for any kinds of "permissions" for either the goals or the methods: He did the subjecting all on His own.
- a. The creation was not given the option of whether, or not, it would be subjected to such a great emptiness as was required in order for great fulness to come to those who believe.
- 1) This raises the issue of the precise nature of The Vanity.
- 2) We have already commented upon Paul's definition of "the bondage of corruption", but there is at least this much more to say: The Emptiness consists at its root of an absolute "emptiness of power" when power is viewed in terms of "settled success". There can be no doubt that The Vanity has power because there are vast regions of wickedness that attest to its "power" to produce activities. But, since every last one of those evidences of power are turned by God into instruments of "good" (Romans 8:28) for those exercised by them to depend upon God and wait for His ultimate response, it cannot be in any sense said that The Vanity has any "power" to accomplish any of its "settled objectives". The statement of Jesus in John 12:31 makes the declaration that His own crucifixion will "cast out" the prince of this world. This "casting out" means that he will have "power" no longer. Since there is no greater "Vanity" than the creation putting its own Creator to death for no legitimate cause, the crucifixion reveals the divine wisdom that destroys the power of those who pursue The Vanity. The ultimate "objective" was erased by the real power of resurrection so that The Vanity has no power to establish "settled objectives".
- b. God knew and knows exactly what He is doing and He answers to no man, angel, or other created thing regarding His doings. Thus, the creation's lack of "power" to decide whether, or if, its "subjection to The Vanity" would be a done deal is really just a potent reinforcement of the "emptiness" of The Vanity.
- D. "In Hope".
- 1. When "The Subjugator" acted to subjugate the creation to the "vanity" of eventual and irreversible defeat, He did so along with promises that the "vanity" would not last beyond its necessary presence. This gave the creation "hope".
- 2. This strongly implies that "hope" is a large part of "The Subjugator's" Plan: it has to do with the original methodological problem of "faith". Adam did not "believe" God, so God determined to recover "trust" for those who would be called "sons of The God". Life is impossible without "trust" since it has everything to do with the development of a close relational interaction between the One Who is Life and those who will share in it by learning from Him.
- 3. The nature of "the hope" is clearly identified: the "creation" will share in the glorious future of the children of God.
- a. This future is focused in this context upon "freedom from The Corruption".
- 1) By use and illustration, "The Corruption" is the disintegration of the entity piece by piece. The physical body is "corrupted" by death because all of its ordered parts begin to disintegrate back to "dust".
- 2) When "The Corruption" is used in realms other than material, the material illustrations help with our understanding. The Corruption of, for example, the relationships that are such an integral part of the soul means that those relationships incrementally disintegrate from "support unto security" to "aggression unto death".
- b. This future is also focused upon "The Freedom of The Glory".
- 1) This "freedom" is the opposite alternative to "corruption". In other words, the "freedom" is the ability to function in ways that are "inevitably successful" and there is no "disintegration" of any kind in any sphere of creation.
- 2) This "freedom" is "of the glory", meaning that it arises out of the sons being perfected in heart and mind so that they are untempted by anything that would bring about the chaos of disintegrative corruption. Their loves and beliefs are totally in line with the Love and Truth of The Father.