The Glory of the Children of God

Scripture — Romans 8:18-21 (NRSV)

I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God; for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Devotion

In the Christian seasons of Advent and Christmas, we rightly focus on the glory of God. As the angels in the Christmas narrative proclaim, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace among those whom he favors!” (Luke 2:14). Or, as the Gospel of John expresses the fundamental truth of Christmas, “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).

Thus, the title of this devotion, “The Glory of the Children of God,” may seem a bit out of place at this time of year. But, as I have mentioned previously, Romans 8, a passage majoring in the Advent themes of hope and waiting, does indeed mention “the glory of the children of God.” This suggests that the human experience of glory is worth considering as we make our way through Advent. To do this isn’t easy, however, because the phrase “the glory of the children of God” appears in a portion of Romans 8 that is notoriously difficult to interpret. I’ll do my best to make sense of it briefly.

In what follows, I’m indebted to N.T. Wright’s exposition of Romans 8 in Into the Heart of Romans. Though I had worked things out more or less as Wright does, his explanation made things much clearer to me. Plus he helped me see connections between sections of Romans 8 that can appear to be disconnected. If you’d like to understand this passage of Scripture more deeply, I heartily recommend Wright’s book.

In last Wednesday’s Life for Leaders devotion, I wrote about “Advent and the Created World.” I noted that in Romans 8 creation itself is waiting and longing for something in the future, namely, “the revealing of the children of God” (8:19). Why is the created world in an Advent-like mode of waiting? Romans 8:20-21 explains, “for the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay.” Though God had made all things “very good” (Gen 1:31), when human beings sinned, everything went awry. At that time creation was “subjected to futility” and put in “bondage to decay.” Yet even then there was hope, hope that one day creation would be set free when God’s intentions are restored.

That freedom and restoration have everything to do with “the children of God.” According to Romans 8, it will somehow come through “the revealing of the children of God” (8:19). Or, as it says in verse 21, “creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” The freedom and restoration of creation are essentially connected to “the glory of the children of God.” But how? What does this mean?

In yesterday’s devotion I showed that, according to Scripture, glory is closely related to authority. Psalm 8 reveals that God gave “glory and honor” to human beings which enabled them to have “dominion over the works of [God’s] hands” (Psalm 8:5-6). The glory with which God endowed the first humans, who were created in God’s own image, meant they had authority over the created world (Genesis 1:26-28). But when human beings chose to sin, that glory/authority became corrupted and tarnished. And so did creation. The created world was subjected to futility and put in bondage to decay (Romans 8:20-21).

According to Romans 8, however, this tainted condition is not permanent. At some time in the future “creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay.” On that day the created world “will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). If we understand glory as a reflection of authority à la Psalm 8, then this verse anticipates a time in which human beings will be restored to their original and rightful glory, that is, to their authority over creation. When this happens, creation will be set free from the consequences of human sin. The world will no longer be mired in futility and decay, but will flourish in the way God had planned from the beginning. The glory of the children of God is, at its core, our being restored to the role and authority God had intended for us in creation.

You can see how this understanding of “the glory of the children of God” fits with all that Romans 8 has said so far about glory.

• In verse 17, we will be glorified with Christ in that we will share once again in the rightful authority over creation once entrusted to us. We will rule with Christ over everything (see also 2 Timothy 2:12; Revelation 5:10; 22:5).

• In verse 18, “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory about to be revealed [into or upon] us.” This verse is about more than seeing God’s glory. It’s about being “invested with it,” as N.T. Wright has shown. (See yesterday’s devotion.) Yes, we’ll see God’s glory more clearly. But, even more astoundingly, we’ll share in that glory as God endows us with it.

• In verse 19, creation “waits with eager longing for the revealing of the children of God,” that is, for the revealing of human beings in their restored glory, so that creation can be set free to flourish. This is why creation is so eager.

• In verse 21, creation will “obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” It will be set free from its bondage to decay when human beings are once again vested with the glory/authority God granted to them in the beginning.

So, in the seasons of Advent and Christmas, we should indeed focus on God’s glory, especially the unimaginable glory of God revealed in the birth of Jesus, the Word of God made flesh. But Romans 8, with its Advent emphasis on hope and waiting, stretches our imaginations even further. There will be a time, a time we often identify with the second advent of Christ, when we will be glorified with him (8:17). When this happens, we will assume our rightful place of authority over creation. Then, creation itself will be set free from its sin-induced futility and bondage. The created world and all within it will once again be free to flourish as God had intended from the beginning. That is very good news, indeed, both for us and for all creation.

Banner image by Liana Mikah on Unsplash.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project’s online commentary. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Relationships and Work (Genesis 1:27; 2:18, 21-25).

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