There’s one passage in the Bible that tells us where we are right now, what exactly we are called to do, and what is going to happen as a result. Seriously. Thirteen verses that tell us what’s happening right now, what we’re called to do about it and in it and through it, and what’s going to happen because of it.
Today, you might not know any of these things for sure. You might be confused or uncertain about one or two or all three of these things.
Where are we? You tell me! We’re in the middle of a global pandemic that reminds us of the disease and death of 1918. We’re on the front edges of an economic depression that will feel like the 1930s. The racial injustice and violence and demonstrations feel like the 1960s. And the extreme reactions to all of it — the judging, labeling, choosing up sides, hate — feels like we’re headed for a civil war like the 1860s. I don’t know what’s happening. It feels like chaos and like everybody’s lost their ever-lovin’ minds.
And what are we supposed to do? I have no idea! Am I supposed to post on Facebook or Instagram? Or retweet something? No way! Are you crazy? You’re taking your life in your own hands if you try to say or do anything. Whatever I do won’t be enough, it won’t be woke enough, it’ll be misunderstood or taken out of context. I don’t need that. Somebody needs to do something, but I don’t know who and I don’t know what.
And what’s going to happen? Nobody knows. You’ve probably noticed, the experts change their minds every twelve minutes. They can’t agree on anything. All of it seems so arbitrary. Like it’s not based on facts or truth or science — it’s all on gut. It’s all emotional. So there’s no predicting any of it.
We need a Word from God. We desperately need the truth of God’s Word to tell us where we are, what we’re called to do, and what’s going to happen. We need that clarity and confidence. And I feel very strongly that the middle of Romans 8 gives us that Word. I believe these thirteen verses — Romans 8:18-30 — is God’s Word to us today regarding our current situation.
“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.” ~Romans 8:20-22
The world is in pain. That’s where we are. That’s what’s happening. Creation is groaning out of frustration. The rocks and trees, the animals and birds, the rivers, the people — it’s all subjected to frustration. All of creation is a slave to decay. The whole world is in bondage to corruption. And it’s groaning. Right up to the present time. Right now.
And it’s groaning because of sin. Everything got messed up when we decided we know better than God. We know what’s best for us, better than the One who made us. So when that one man, Adam, went against the will of the Creator, all of creation was infected with his sin. Everything that exists is somehow corrupted by sin.
This goes back to Genesis 3: the groans and the pains of childbirth, the hard work and sweat and frustration, women and men struggling against each other for power and control. And when sin entered the picture, so did death. Everything decays. Nothing is permanent. Every thing that’s living dies. Everything you know, everything you experience, even the really good things — all of it is distorted and twisted. Relationships, work, our bodies, our marriages, the people and things we love — it’s all corrupted by sin and death. Right up to the present time. This is what’s happening right now. This is where we are.
What’s front and center for us right now is the racism in the United States. The discrimination and injustice against minority peoples that’s built into our fallen nature and built right into the systems and structures of this country. It’s breaking news right now. But we know racism is not new. It’s not novel. It’s always been there and it’s never going away.
And violence. Poverty. Selfishness. Greed. Lust. Power. Control. The sins of our society and our own individual sins. They separate us from our God, they divide us against each other, and they devour our bodies and souls.
So people are hurting. People are dying. People are crying out in pain. That’s where we are. The world is in pain.
Peace,
Allan
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