5.2 Set Creation Free
© 2018 Christ Revealed Bible Institute
The Ninth Most Important Verse
Romans 8:18-21. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits 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; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Our eyes are set right now on one thing alone – to know Jesus-Sent. God has hinged everything upon one thing. God proves Christ true in the earth and in all creation.
Proof. God requires the most important verses in the Bible to be fulfilled by the Lord Jesus Christ in our lives at one pinpoint of time and place, in the fullness of times, and in our human flesh, right here on this earth, right now in this age. That PROOF is the casting off of the curse in all of its shadow from off of all creation, heaven as much as earth. That PROOF is the defeat of death; it is the setting of all creation free into glorious liberty.
We can understand the significance of this ninth most important verse in the Bible only by understanding story. God is the great story-teller; His story is Christ. The Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us is Story.
The Enemy in the Story. There is no story without an enemy, however, an accuser. The accuser, the serpent word, is essential to the telling of God’s great story, Christ. Christ is without the accuser, yes, but we could never have known Him that way. We know God by Jesus-Sent laying down His life for us; we know Jesus-Sent as He wins by love over every single accusation spoken against God. In the end, we will see that the accuser in all of his accusation is only a servant of the Holy Revelation of God.
The Story. One of the “just as” verses in the Bible applies directly to this knowing Jesus-Sent, the task resting upon us to set all creation free. As the Father has sent Me, I also send you (John 20:21). “Just exactly as” means that we are the revelation of Jesus-Sent.
– Here is the story. The entire creation, both heaven and earth, labors under the darkness of the curse, the vanity of not knowing God. All creation is groaning in open travail right now. All creation longs and weeps for freedom. All who have died in Christ, having lost their physical bodies, are groaning for wholeness right now. All heavenly creatures, caught under the vanity of not knowing God, groan for freedom.
All Groaning. All humans on this earth are groaning for freedom right now. All the shadows wandering in Hades, both human and angelic, are longing and groaning for freedom right now. All the fabric of the heavens, all the substance of earth and stars, all groan and labor, waiting with all tears for the hour of their release.
Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body (Romans 8:23). – For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life (2 Corinthians 5:4).
The Story God Is Telling. Everything groans and travails for the defeat of death and for the full release of the rivers of living water out of our bellies. We also groan by the Holy Ghost for that same swallowing up of life. This is the story God is telling; this is Jesus-Sent.
Every story is about a hero who leaves the comfort of home behind and goes on a far journey. On that journey the hero gathers friends and companions; he battles enemies along the way and enjoys places of rest and refreshment. These companions join with and follow their hero; though sometimes they are a silly distraction.
Restoring the Kingdom. Then the day comes when the hero returns to fight for his people and his kingdom, to deliver them from the oppressor. In that final showdown, at the point where everything counts, those companions who were once a silly distraction, give their all out of the bond of love. The hero faces the enemy at the point of the lie and defeats him. He restores the kingdom and brings joy and life to all.
Here is the most important thing Jesus asked of God. Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am (in the Father) …that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them (John 17:24-26).
Setting Creation Free. The unveiling of Jesus Christ and the unveiling of the sons of God are the same thing – to know Jesus-Sent, that we are just like Him, He sent in us and we sent in Him. Our eyes are set in full right now on the great sending of the Son, on the telling of the Great Story of God. We reveal to all creation the God who fills us full and set all creation free into the glorious liberty flowing out of us. We give ourselves with all our hearts to the laying down of our lives for our friends – all creation – as the very revelation of Almighty God.
However, to give ourselves fully to this Great Story of God, we must know its end. God tells us the end of all creation very plainly.
The End of All Things. Then comes the end, when He delivers the kingdom to God the Father… For He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death… Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all (1 Corinthians 15:24-28 – feel free to read this in context).
There are many other verses that say the same thing. The Greek word aeon, mis-translated “eternal” (a mighty tare in the field, just as Jesus said) is correctly translated “a period of time.” The end result of God’s Story is God all in all – all creation restored back to the Father. Jesus was sent to seek and to save what was lost. Jesus will return to the Father having won all things to Himself.
Man as God Revealed. The entire Story turns, however, on the defeat of the Lie. The Lord Jesus defeats the lie through us. But in order to see the lie defeated, we must know what it is – “Did God really say that?” – NOT ON THIS EARTH! NOT IN HUMAN FLESH!
And we must know the truth that defeats the lie: Christ Himself proving the will of God on this earth through a complete and fused union with us, Christ Himself revealing His very life in our mortal flesh. All creation is eagerly waiting for the moment in the fullness of times when God takes the cover from off (apokalupsis – reveals) the sons of God, and God Himself in Person in fullness is seen and known by all as both the insides and the outsides of His elect, man as God revealed.
The Capstone. And all creation will know that God is meek and lowly of heart, gentle and kind, filled with life and joy and goodness. All creation will know that God carries each one, sharing all their hurts and joys, all their grief and laughter, all their dreams and hopes, that God carries me, personally and really, all the way through death into life. All creation will be set free into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
Romans Chapter 8 is the most important chapter in the Bible, filled with critical truth to our life and to the victory of Christ in the earth. It is the capstone of Paul’s great explanation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
A People Who Believe. Romans 8:29 is the most important verse in the Bible, yes, but how can it be that this focus of the gospel and of the heart of God, the manifestation of the sons of God, has been ripped right out of the heart and view of all Christianity? How can it be any other than the serpent who has done this?
The accuser of God and of the brethren is cast down. And THEY overcame him. – I have found a man after My own heart who will do all My will. All creation will be overwhelmed with joy and wonder as God shows Himself as He really is through a gentle-hearted people who simply believe in Jesus, that what God says about Christ their only life is actually true. A people who lay down their lives for all!
Heresy? Do you see how our reading of all the rest of the Bible alters significantly when we place Romans 8:19, fully supported by 1 Corinthians 15:28, as the rule over every other verse? For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the manifestation of the sons of God. – When all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.
You realize, of course, that these two verses have zero meaning in most Christian thinking. In fact, even to consider these verses as in any way valid for us now is viewed by most as heresy. All things made subject to Jesus? God all in ALL? This is Paul’s gospel, the only thing he taught about the end of everything.
Which Image Shows Us God? You see, what is being altered is much more than how we read all the verses of the Bible. Our very knowing of “what is God” is altered simply by our choice of which “verses” rule. What is God?
Does the highest angel of heaven, all outward perfection and radiant glory, show us a God of arrogance who thinks more highly of Himself than anyone else? Or does a Man stumbling under a cross He cannot carry, laying down His life to win all things back to the Father, show us a God who is meek and lowly of heart and who thinks more highly of all others than He does of Himself?
What is God?