19 For the creation eagerly waits with anticipation for God’s sons to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility — not willingly, but because of him who subjected it — in the hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.
In the previous verses, Paul had been addressing the hope that Christians have in their salvation through the gospel of Jesus, and what comfort that brings to them when they endure trials and suffering in this life. In today’s verses, Paul continues in that discussion, highlighting the oppression creation is under, brought about by human sinfulness.
Paul, putting on full display the longing under which creation awaits relief from the effects of sin, says we are waiting, “…for God’s sons to be revealed.”? (v. 19) Remember, early in Chapter 8, Paul had addressed those who are saved by faith in Jesus as God’s sons. So, in these verses, Paul is speaking of the day when Christ will return. On that day, no one will be left wondering who is in Christ, and who is not. On the day when Christ returns, we will know who are the sons of God, and who are not. Each person’s allegiances will be clearly visible, yet on that day every knee will bow. In the meantime, what is wrong with God’s creation such that it is anticipating its own restoration? In Genesis chapter 3, God cursed the earth after Adam sinned:
“And he said to the man, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’: The ground is cursed because of you. You will eat from it by means of painful labor all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.”” — Genesis 3:17-19
“How long will the land mourn and the grass of every field wither? Because of the evil of its residents, animals and birds have been swept away, for the people have said, “He cannot see what our end will be.”” — Jeremiah 12:4
Creation longs to be free from bondage to the curse of sin just as sinners are made free in Christ. Creation longs to again be able to reflect God’s glory perfectly, as it once did before the fall.
“Heaven must receive him until the time of the restoration of all things, which God spoke about through his holy prophets from the beginning.” — Acts 3:21
“But based on his promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.” — 2 Peter 3:13