Frustration - Part 1

Romans 8v19-22

4^th January 2014

Paul writes:

Romans 8v19
The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.

I know plenty of non-Christian people, and not one of them would describe himself as waiting "in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed". But Paul says that all of creation is, in fact, waiting for just that, even though it doesn't realise it.

That makes no sense at all to the average atheist. But the average atheist is far more unhappy than he would ever admit. In fact, he has no idea of the sort of happiness, which we call joy, that God gives to Christians. He knows nothing of the fullness of the Holy Spirit, nothing of experiencing God in worship, prayer, Bible study and Christian fellowship. In fact, he finds the idea of such things unutterably boring. He knows nothing of walking with God and knowing His presence, comfort, wisdom, leading, forgiveness and healing.

Life is much tougher for the average atheist than he admits or even realises. And life is much tougher for the average Christian than he will admit, for fear of letting the side down.

Why is life so tough? Why is there so much disappointment? Paul tells us:

Romans 8v20-22
For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.

Here's an important aspect of the Christian world-view (that is, the truth). The universe has been subjected to frustration. Other translations say "futility" or "vanity".

Although few if any non-Christians would agree with verse 19 that they're waiting for the Christians to be revealed, many would agree with verse 20 that the universe doesn't seem quite right. We hear about earthquakes, floods, disease, famine and the more obviously man-made disasters like war, murder and rape, and we have some sense that things shouldn't really be like that, that the world has gone wrong.

Christians and non-Christians alike try to do something to alleviate the suffering and to reduce the likelihood of such disasters happening again, but it's difficult, it's frustrating and our efforts are often futile.

• Various politicians called the First World War was "the war to end wars". They believed that we'd never be stupid enough to start another one. But the Second World War broke out just 21 years after the First World War finished. And a day hasn't gone by since when there wasn't a war somewhere on earth.
• Atomic energy provides power, heating and light for millions of people. But it was also used to make bombs that destroyed two Japanese cities.
• We spend vast amounts of money seeking cures for various diseases. And we've made huge progress. Human life expectance has grown dramatically over the last century. But there's still a lot of disease about. And the place you're most likely to catch an infection is a hospital.
• The Internet has been a huge benefit to mankind. Ordinary working people have access to vast stores of knowledge and wisdom. For the price of an Internet connection, you can read the Bible in many different translations, you can study Hebrew and Greek, you can read great theological works by Luther, Calvin, Augustine and many others. You can learn a skill, read great works of literature, research all kinds of subjects. But the Internet is also the source of unimaginable depravity: pornography, terrorist manuals, character assassination of good people, instructions on suicide, gambling sites that destroy people's financial well-being, and many other horrors.

I'm sure we can all think of plenty more instances. So much of what we attempt just doesn't work out the way we intend.

And we find the same in our own individual lives. People spend a lot of money - often more than they have - trying to be happy. But a new car, or a holiday, or a bigger house, or new clothes don't make us happy. Or, at least, not for long.

We're not all honest enough to admit that life on earth is frustrating, and much of our effort seems futile, but that's the truth.

But some will be surprised to read Paul say that this frustration/futility/vanity was "by the will of the one who subjected it" - God. Paul doesn't say when or how God chose to subject the universe to this frustration of being so much less, so much greyer, so much sadder, so much dirtier, than it could be. But I think it's a reference to:

Genesis 3:17-24
To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."
...
And the LORD God said, "The man has now become like one of us, knowing good and evil. He must not be allowed to reach out his hand and take also from the tree of ife and eat, and live for ever." So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

There's always a penalty for sin. The penalty for Adam's sin included the ground being cursed. And it still is. The penalty included the need to work hard to make a living. And it included death. Our government now provides a reasonable standard of living even for those who don't work, but being unemployed doesn't make you happy. The government provides hospitals for the sick, but they can't abolish sickness, and they can't abolish death. We don't live in the Garden of Eden any more.

And yet God has a hope. And God's hope is certain to come to pass. God's certain plan is that "the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God."

And I hope to talk about that plan next time.