All Creation Is Waiting

Paul writes, “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now” (Romans 8:22). Creation means everything God made: the sky, the sea, the animals and the land. Long before Paul, the prophet Isaiah spoke about a world that wears out and a God who never does.

Very good at first. When God finished making the world, it was very good. There was no sickness, no sadness and no death.

What changed. When Adam and Eve sinned, God said the ground would bring forth “Both thorns and thistles” (Genesis 3:18). Sin did not only hurt people. It hurt the whole world.

Not their fault. The trees and animals did nothing wrong. The world is broken because of people’s sin.

Look up. God said through Isaiah, “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, And look on the earth beneath” (Isaiah 51:6). God wanted His people to look carefully at the world around them.

Like smoke. “For the heavens will vanish away like smoke” (51:6). Smoke is there one moment and gone the next.

Like old clothes. “The earth will grow old like a garment” (51:6). A garment is a piece of clothing. Clothes wear thin and get holes, no matter how carefully we treat them.

Only God is forever. Mountains, oceans and even the sky above us will not last forever. Only God lasts forever.

What lasts. “But My salvation will be forever, And My righteousness will not be abolished” (51:6). The world wears out, but God’s rescue never does.

Said again. Two verses later God said it once more: “But My righteousness will be forever, And My salvation from generation to generation” (51:8). From generation to generation means for every family line, one after another: grandparents, parents, children and their children too.

Do not be afraid. God spoke these words to people who loved His law and were being insulted for it (51:7). He told them not to be afraid. His promises last longer than anything people can say or do.

The gospel. The real problem is sin, in the world and in us. Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again on the third day (1 Corinthians 15:3-4). Everyone who trusts Him is forgiven and will share in the new world God is making.

What to do. When you see something broken or sad in the world, remember that God has not given up on it. Tell Him about it, and trust Him to make it right.

Paul says creation “will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). The prophets gave joyful pictures of God setting things right.

Mountains singing. “For you shall go out with joy, And be led out with peace; The mountains and the hills Shall break forth into singing before you, And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands” (Isaiah 55:12).

A picture of joy. Trees do not have hands, and mountains do not have voices. Isaiah uses a picture to show how happy God’s world will be when He makes it new.

No more thorns. “Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree, And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree” (55:13). A brier is a prickly bush. Cypress and myrtle are beautiful, sweet-smelling trees.

The curse undone. Thorns came because of sin. In God’s promise, the thorns are replaced. God will undo the damage sin has done.

A forever sign. “And it shall be to the Lord for a name, For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off” (55:13). Everything new will show how good God is.

Like Eden. “He will make her wilderness like Eden, And her desert like the garden of the Lord; Joy and gladness will be found in it, Thanksgiving and the voice of melody” (Isaiah 51:3). Eden was the perfect garden God first made.

All creation sings. “Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; Let the sea roar, and all its fullness” (Psalm 96:11).

The trees rejoice. “Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it. Then all the trees of the woods will rejoice” (96:12). Why? “For He is coming” (96:13).

The King is coming. The psalm says the Lord is coming “to judge the earth” (96:13). He will judge “with righteousness,” and He will set everything right.

Peace through the cross. Paul wrote that God was pleased “to reconcile all things to Himself” through Jesus, “having made peace through the blood of His cross” (Colossians 1:20).

The gospel. Jesus died for our sins and rose again on the third day. His empty tomb is the first sign of the new creation. Everyone who trusts Him will share that new world.

What to do. The next time you see a sunrise, a tree or the sea, praise God. When you see thorns, remember that God has promised a world without them.