For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.  For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. Romans 8:18-22 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

There has been a lot of political talk in recent years about “hope” and “change”.  Dear reader, do you have any hope that anything significant in the world system will really change, meaning, for the better?  Have you found yourself wondering why things are the way they are?  Are you looking for change, and what do you think “change” would look like?  Do the words “Babylonian captivity” mean anything to you?  Check out this conversation from The Matrix (1999)(courtesy of imdb.com):

Morpheus: I know *exactly* what you mean. Let me tell you why you’re here. You’re here because you know something. What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life, that there’s something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I’m talking about?

Neo: The Matrix.

Morpheus: Do you want to know what it is?

Neo: Yes.

Morpheus: The Matrix is everywhere. It is all around us. Even now, in this very room. You can see it when you look out your window or when you turn on your television. You can feel it when you go to work… when you go to church… when you pay your taxes. It is the world that has been pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth.

Neo: What truth?

Morpheus: That you are a slave, Neo. Like everyone else you were born into bondage. Into a prison that you cannot taste or see or touch. A prison for your mind.

We propose to you that what Morpheus referred to as the “Matrix” is actually the world-wide Babylonian captivity that has enslaved the world for many centuries.  It is a monetary, religious, political and military system coordinated and controlled by many very wealthy elites whose rule has now been judicially declared terminated in Father’s divine court.  We are happy to announce that “change” is coming!  It is a change that was prophesied about two millennia ago, when the apostle Paul wrote the above words to the believers who then lived in Rome, Italy, during the Roman empire.

Our post today is to discuss what this “change” will look like.  As stated in an article by Kevin Jackson, entitled The Slave Mentality, slave mentality is acquired slowly, bit by bit, over an extended period of time, and constitutes “the worst kind of prison:  the prison of the mind.”  He says, “Escape is as simple as walking away, yet few people leave.”  If all you have known for your entire life is a slave mentality, and one that you cannot see, taste or touch because the world has been pulled over your eyes, how will you free your mind from it?

First, know that the author of this change, and its revealer, is none other than Jesus the Messiah.  It is He who will free your mind–all you have to do is ask Him to do so.  Here is what He said about himself:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor.
He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives,
And recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed,
To proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.  Luke 4:18-19 NASB

A coming “glory” is going to be revealed “in us”.  Setting aside briefly the question of “who”, a more important question is “what”.  Paul begins by telling us in verse 18:

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to (Greek: eis–into) us.

Paul describes this glory change by first saying that present sufferings (for him, it included the Roman Empire) are not worthwhile enough to form the basis of a comparison.  So unique is this glory that it is incomparable–there is simply nothing to which to compare it.  That sounds like a change worth hoping for!

Paul secondly says it is something “that is to be revealed into us”, or in other words, a revelation or an “unveiling”.  The Greek word “eis” means motion from the exterior to a stopping point on the interior.  Think of drawing a straight line from the outside of a circle into the middle of the circle and stopping–that’s the idea of “eis”.  In other words, this is not something someone is going to think up in their own mind.  Instead, it is something revealed, seen, and understood.

In short the glory change seems to be unveiled as it is moving into us.  The next verse makes it clear that all creation (not just mankind, or even some of mankind) is anxiously watching, and even longing for this unveiling.  Please note that Paul has directly connected the glory change to the revealing of someone he calls “the sons of God.”

For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 

It seems clear that Paul has equated “the glory that is to be revealed into us” and “the revealing of the sons of God.”  Since God first determined to make mankind in His image, He has planned to reveal His own glory through mature sons of whom Jesus was the first-born.  These sons will not be divine as Jesus was, but will be redeemed sons of fallen Adam.  The glory will be that which inhabited Eden before the fall.

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into (Greek:  eis) the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

The entire creation is anxiously watching and longing because of the stakes, which for us Paul says are an insufficient basis for comparison.  However, creation has taken the brunt of Adam’s sin, since God put the sin debt upon the earth, causing it to groan and travail.  So whatever else may be said about our “present sufferings”, here are 2 points:  one, they do not merit comparison to the glory change, and two, they are not connected to the involuntary subjection that was placed upon the creation by God and which has lasted since Adam was ejected from the Garden of Eden.

When Father subjected creation, he also gave it hope!  Talk about merciful!  A hope not speculative, but instead certain and inevitable, of a coming freedom that will be found only in this “glory”.  We are talking about a glory change that will not only free all of mankind, but also all of the creation!

Say goodbye to slave mentality, and hello to freedom mentality! In part 2 we’ll examine the source of this glory and how the awesome light that radiates from Father’s presence sets creation free.

Baruch ata Adonai.  I will love you, Lord my strength.  I belong to you and I will bless you while I live, and I will lift my hands up in your name.

 

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