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"For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of
God" (Rom. 8: 19).
And in verses 20 and 21:
"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 shall be delivered from the
bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God" (Rom. 8: 20,
21).
The Emphatic Diaglott version reads as follows:
"For the creation was made subject to frailty (not voluntarily, but by Him Who placed
it under;) in hope that even the creation itself will be emancipated from the slavery of
corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God" (Rom. 8: 20, 21).
When he faced the charge of transgressing the Lord's commandment, Adam had no
basis for "hope". He had sinned, and he expected death as a penalty. The Lord, however,
spoke of "a seed", and even though it was decreed that sorrow would accompany the
activities of both the man and the woman, the bearing of children and the sweating for
bread were something quite different from the expected penalty. Moreover, the cherubim
at the door of the Garden symbolized not only man's lost dominion, but also God's
pledge of ultimate restoration.
Amid the groan of creation, and the sufferings that come in the wake of sin, there is a
real hope, a hope founded upon the finished work of the promised "Seed". God created
man in His Own image, and He was grieved, intensely grieved, at his fall. He bore the
burden from the time of Adam to the birth of the Saviour at Bethlehem, and He in turn
bore it until His own sacrifice removed it for ever.
"Hope" is not only associated with man, but also with God Himself. In the Epistle to
the Romans He is called "the God of patience", "the God of hope", and "the God of
peace" (Rom. 15: 5, 13; 16: 20).
At God's right hand the Saviour is "expecting"
(Heb. 10: 13), and His believing people can share together with Him that intense desire
and longing that we found revealed in Job 14: May the light of this blessed expectation
illuminate the darkness of present grief, until that day comes when we shall actually
experience the joy "that cometh in the morning".
"In all their affliction, He was afflicted."