WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.560 Well, tonight I'd like us to turn back to the passage that we read from in Romans chapter 00:00:05.560 --> 00:00:06.560 8. 00:00:06.560 --> 00:00:12.040 Today, as you know, there's an awful lot of concern about the world around us. 00:00:12.040 --> 00:00:15.400 The environment's a big issue in the news. 00:00:15.400 --> 00:00:21.039 And with a general election coming up, if it wasn't for all the bonkersness of Brexit, 00:00:21.039 --> 00:00:28.839 I think in many ways this election would be in many ways defined by policies and concerns 00:00:28.839 --> 00:00:32.640 to do with the environment and climate change. 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:38.439 Many people are very concerned about the state of the world. 00:00:38.439 --> 00:00:44.519 And as a result, lots of people are speaking out on behalf of the world. 00:00:44.519 --> 00:00:51.039 People are speaking out on behalf of the universe, trying to call for action and attention and 00:00:51.039 --> 00:00:52.600 care. 00:00:52.600 --> 00:00:55.920 And in many ways that's a great thing. 00:00:55.920 --> 00:01:03.039 And as we'll see, there are so many reasons why we should look after the world around 00:01:03.039 --> 00:01:04.040 us. 00:01:04.040 --> 00:01:10.680 But with all this concern, and with this being such a live topic in the world around us, 00:01:10.680 --> 00:01:13.560 I want us to do something maybe ever so slightly different tonight. 00:01:13.560 --> 00:01:19.040 I want us to ask a question that we probably wouldn't normally ask in church, but it's 00:01:19.040 --> 00:01:22.000 one that I think is worth thinking about. 00:01:22.000 --> 00:01:29.719 And our question is, if the universe could talk, what would it say? 00:01:29.719 --> 00:01:35.239 And it's with this question in mind, I want us to turn back to Romans 8, and especially 00:01:35.239 --> 00:01:41.840 to verses 19 to 22, where it says, for the creation waits with eager longing for the 00:01:41.840 --> 00:01:44.319 revealing of the sons of God. 00:01:44.319 --> 00:01:48.680 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected 00:01:48.680 --> 00:01:53.280 it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption 00:01:53.280 --> 00:01:57.480 and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 00:01:57.480 --> 00:02:04.200 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth 00:02:04.200 --> 00:02:07.200 until now. 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:11.879 Romans 8, as you know, is one of the most amazing chapters in the Bible. 00:02:11.879 --> 00:02:18.120 It's just bursting full of remarkable teaching concerning all the blessings that are ours 00:02:18.120 --> 00:02:19.680 through faith in Jesus Christ. 00:02:19.680 --> 00:02:23.960 So if someone ever asked you the question, well, what difference does it make to be a 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:24.960 Christian? 00:02:24.960 --> 00:02:30.280 A great place to go is Romans 8, because it just lists blessing after blessing after 00:02:30.280 --> 00:02:33.159 blessing that are ours in Jesus Christ. 00:02:33.159 --> 00:02:35.040 We're free from condemnation. 00:02:35.040 --> 00:02:37.040 We have God the Holy Spirit dwelling with us. 00:02:37.040 --> 00:02:43.000 We can come to God as our own Father, and we are promised that we will never, ever be 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:44.080 separated from him. 00:02:44.080 --> 00:02:49.600 The sufferings that we have now are nothing compared to the future blessing that God has 00:02:49.600 --> 00:02:50.600 for us. 00:02:50.600 --> 00:03:00.200 Paul is describing the astonishing difference it makes for us to be united to Jesus as Christians. 00:03:00.200 --> 00:03:07.680 But then all of a sudden, in these three verses, three or four verses, Paul just, he just, 00:03:07.680 --> 00:03:15.680 as he often does, chucks in some incredibly profound and fascinating teaching. 00:03:15.680 --> 00:03:21.240 He dives off on this little tangent and breaks from talking about the blessings that we have 00:03:21.240 --> 00:03:25.760 in Christ, and he starts talking about creation. 00:03:25.760 --> 00:03:34.080 He starts talking about the fact that the Gospel is not just good news for people. 00:03:34.080 --> 00:03:39.719 The Gospel is actually good news for the whole universe. 00:03:39.719 --> 00:03:46.120 And in these little verses here, we're giving a remarkable insight into the implications 00:03:46.120 --> 00:03:50.680 of the Gospel of Jesus Christ for the created universe. 00:03:50.680 --> 00:03:54.360 And as Paul does that, he personifies the universe. 00:03:54.360 --> 00:04:02.480 In other words, he writes as if the universe was able to behave and communicate like a 00:04:02.480 --> 00:04:03.480 person. 00:04:03.479 --> 00:04:10.639 That's why I think Paul is basically saying, if the universe could actually talk, what 00:04:10.639 --> 00:04:13.599 would it say? 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:14.839 So what would it say? 00:04:14.839 --> 00:04:16.319 What does Paul tell us? 00:04:16.319 --> 00:04:19.959 What are the implications of the Gospel for the universe? 00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:24.199 Well, that's what I want us to think about together tonight. 00:04:24.199 --> 00:04:28.300 And I want us to structure our thoughts around two very simple questions. 00:04:28.300 --> 00:04:32.720 Question one, what has happened to the universe? 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:38.400 And question two is, what's going to happen to the universe? 00:04:38.400 --> 00:04:43.680 So question one is, what's happened to the universe? 00:04:43.680 --> 00:04:48.879 In these verses, Paul is getting us to think about the universe's story. 00:04:48.879 --> 00:04:54.759 Notice in verse 19, you can see there that Paul talks about the universe now. 00:04:54.759 --> 00:04:56.000 The creation is waiting. 00:04:56.000 --> 00:04:59.319 There's a present tense waiting. 00:04:59.319 --> 00:05:03.959 Then the next verse, Paul talks about the universe's past. 00:05:03.959 --> 00:05:07.279 The creation was subjected. 00:05:07.279 --> 00:05:14.680 And then in verse 21, it says creation will be, and Paul is talking about the future. 00:05:14.680 --> 00:05:19.920 Here in these verses, just these few sentences, our minds have been drawn towards the whole 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:26.439 history of the universe, past, present, and future. 00:05:26.439 --> 00:05:28.720 So what is that story? 00:05:28.720 --> 00:05:31.280 What has happened to the universe? 00:05:31.280 --> 00:05:37.879 Well, one of the really interesting things is that the story of the universe is actually 00:05:37.879 --> 00:05:42.680 the very first history that the Bible gives to us. 00:05:42.680 --> 00:05:46.960 If you go all the way back to the book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible, you'll 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:51.399 discover that that book is divided into 10 sections. 00:05:51.399 --> 00:05:54.439 They're all of different lengths, they're not all the same lengths, but there's 10 clear 00:05:54.439 --> 00:05:56.879 sections in the book of Genesis. 00:05:56.879 --> 00:06:01.439 And each of these sections is introduced by more or less the same phrase, which says something 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:04.719 like these are the generations of. 00:06:04.719 --> 00:06:11.399 So for example, you have, this is the book of the generations of Adam in Genesis 5.1. 00:06:11.399 --> 00:06:12.560 Then 6.9. 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:14.599 These are the generations of Noah. 00:06:14.600 --> 00:06:17.680 In verse 37, these are the generations of Jacob. 00:06:17.680 --> 00:06:21.439 And there's 10 of these in Genesis dividing the book up. 00:06:21.439 --> 00:06:25.200 Do you know what the first one is? 00:06:25.200 --> 00:06:29.200 Whose story comes first in Genesis? 00:06:29.200 --> 00:06:32.879 Well, the answers in Genesis 2 forward. 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:38.439 These are the generations of the heavens and the earth. 00:06:38.439 --> 00:06:45.600 The first story we're told is the story of the universe. 00:06:45.600 --> 00:06:50.319 That story has a beginning, a middle, and an end. 00:06:50.319 --> 00:06:54.519 The beginning is revealed to us in the very first two chapters of Genesis. 00:06:54.519 --> 00:06:57.759 The start is wonderful. 00:06:57.759 --> 00:07:02.159 Genesis 2, the second chapter of the Bible, gives us this beautiful description of the 00:07:02.159 --> 00:07:04.920 perfect world that God has created. 00:07:04.920 --> 00:07:09.640 If you haven't read it for a while, go and read it when you get home, it's just a beautiful 00:07:09.640 --> 00:07:12.840 description. 00:07:12.840 --> 00:07:18.200 And here we see the beauty and wonder of what God has created. 00:07:18.200 --> 00:07:24.200 God is bringing life and order and beauty and coherence into the world. 00:07:24.200 --> 00:07:26.280 The beginning is wonderful. 00:07:26.280 --> 00:07:32.040 And the high point of that beginning, the crown, if you like, of that created realm 00:07:32.040 --> 00:07:39.960 is the creation of humanity, man and woman together, God's family being established, 00:07:39.960 --> 00:07:45.760 and them as the people of God, as the family of God, dwelling in the creation that He's 00:07:45.760 --> 00:07:50.680 made to serve Him, glorify Him, bear God's image together. 00:07:50.680 --> 00:07:55.680 It's a brilliant beginning. 00:07:55.680 --> 00:07:59.040 But the middle is a disaster. 00:07:59.040 --> 00:08:05.560 In Genesis 3, as I'm sure you know, humanity created as the high point of creation falls 00:08:05.560 --> 00:08:08.840 and rebels against the Creator. 00:08:08.840 --> 00:08:15.520 And that fall of humanity, when we sinned against God, that didn't just change our 00:08:15.520 --> 00:08:19.720 history, it changed the history of the universe as well. 00:08:19.720 --> 00:08:23.759 The result is that the universe is now under a curse. 00:08:23.759 --> 00:08:29.639 Genesis 3 says that to Adam, he said, because you've listened to the voice of your wife 00:08:29.639 --> 00:08:33.799 and have eaten of the tea which I commanded you, you shall not eat of it, cursed is the 00:08:33.799 --> 00:08:38.480 ground because of you. 00:08:38.480 --> 00:08:45.279 And if you carry on reading into Genesis 4, 5 and 6, you'll discover that the order and 00:08:45.279 --> 00:08:53.720 beauty of chapters 1 and 2 disintegrates into horrible chaos. 00:08:53.720 --> 00:09:00.680 You find murder, domination, arrogance, fear, hostility. 00:09:00.680 --> 00:09:06.360 The world that was created very good is now very broken. 00:09:06.360 --> 00:09:11.560 And that shift from order to chaos is still very evident around us today. 00:09:11.560 --> 00:09:17.000 We can still see that the universe was created as a thing of beauty and there are many aspects 00:09:17.000 --> 00:09:20.360 of the world that are absolutely beautiful still. 00:09:20.360 --> 00:09:24.320 From the stars in the galaxy to the flowers in the field to the beautiful hills of Scotland, 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:29.399 to the farmland around us here in Edinburgh, there's so much that's stunning around us, 00:09:29.399 --> 00:09:35.039 but at the same time the world around us is broken. 00:09:35.039 --> 00:09:41.279 And that can hurt us and hurt the people around us. 00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:50.240 And for most people in the world, life is a toil in order to survive. 00:09:50.240 --> 00:09:57.759 And alongside that brokenness we see around us, we see that our relationship to the creation 00:09:57.759 --> 00:10:01.120 has shifted from order to chaos. 00:10:01.120 --> 00:10:08.120 Back in Genesis 1.28, where it describes how God created men and women in his image, in 00:10:08.120 --> 00:10:15.360 these verses, humanity was given a special role to have dominion and rule over the created 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:16.360 realm. 00:10:16.360 --> 00:10:20.440 And that dominion is an exercise of responsibility. 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:28.200 The idea in which we as the high point of creation are to look after the world that God has given 00:10:28.200 --> 00:10:29.200 us. 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:35.480 It's not an excuse to abuse the world, it's a privileged place of responsibility where 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:41.560 we are to care for the world that God has given to us. 00:10:41.560 --> 00:10:45.759 But we've done the opposite of that, haven't we? 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:49.559 Christy has abused the world that God has made. 00:10:49.559 --> 00:10:55.240 Through our sin we've rejected God's command to care for the creation that we've been given. 00:10:55.240 --> 00:11:00.200 And instead we've thought that our sense of authority and status over the creation means 00:11:00.200 --> 00:11:05.159 that we can use it and abuse it for our own gain. 00:11:05.159 --> 00:11:13.159 And that's why history is so full of massive environmental damage that continues to this 00:11:13.159 --> 00:11:14.159 day. 00:11:14.159 --> 00:11:18.120 And it's a really interesting question. 00:11:18.120 --> 00:11:23.000 Why do humans destroy the world? 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:26.959 It seems so foolish because this is where we live, this is where we get our food, this 00:11:26.959 --> 00:11:30.759 is where we get our air, this is where we get everything that we need to survive. 00:11:30.759 --> 00:11:36.360 There is nothing for us to gain from wrecking the world around us. 00:11:36.360 --> 00:11:39.120 But we do it. 00:11:39.120 --> 00:11:44.679 Now a lot of people are seeing the folly of that and are working hard to stop it, but 00:11:44.679 --> 00:11:48.639 the reason they have to do that is because humanity at large keeps making that same 00:11:48.639 --> 00:11:49.639 mistake. 00:11:49.639 --> 00:11:51.840 And you think, why? 00:11:51.840 --> 00:11:54.360 Why would we do that? 00:11:54.360 --> 00:12:00.320 And the biblical answer is that sin has brought chaos into the world and it's distorted our 00:12:00.320 --> 00:12:01.840 thinking. 00:12:01.840 --> 00:12:08.159 And within our sinful hearts is a desire to rebel against the responsibility that God 00:12:08.159 --> 00:12:11.240 has given us to look after the world. 00:12:11.240 --> 00:12:12.240 Today it's really interesting. 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:18.959 Today it's the environmentalists who have to be the rebellion, don't they? 00:12:18.959 --> 00:12:24.600 They have to speak in terms of being a rebellion because abusing the environment is almost 00:12:24.600 --> 00:12:27.480 seen as normal. 00:12:27.480 --> 00:12:30.600 The Bible tells us that the real truth is the other way around. 00:12:30.600 --> 00:12:37.480 Looking after our environment is the norm that God expects and abusing creation is part 00:12:37.480 --> 00:12:41.480 of the whole rebellion of sin. 00:12:41.480 --> 00:12:46.680 And it's a great reminder that laying aside any political thoughts or anything like that, 00:12:46.680 --> 00:12:50.960 just from a purely biblical point of view, caring for the environment is honoring to 00:12:50.960 --> 00:12:53.120 God. 00:12:53.120 --> 00:12:57.399 And it's a great thing for us to remember and for us to try to do. 00:12:57.399 --> 00:13:04.159 If you're on a community cleanup, if you're careful to avoid dropping litter, if you are 00:13:04.159 --> 00:13:10.039 curious about your electricity consumption, you are not just doing that to satisfy the 00:13:10.039 --> 00:13:13.839 activists, you're actually doing that to honor God. 00:13:13.839 --> 00:13:19.399 He's given us a world that we are to look after. 00:13:19.399 --> 00:13:24.240 So creation is descended from chaos, from order into chaos. 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:28.279 The beautiful world made by God is broken. 00:13:28.279 --> 00:13:33.919 Creation, as Genesis 3 says, is under a curse. 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:41.519 And Paul in Romans 8 uses three phrases to describe the condition that the world, the 00:13:41.519 --> 00:13:43.599 universe, is now in. 00:13:43.599 --> 00:13:45.559 We can see that in these verses. 00:13:45.559 --> 00:13:50.559 He says, creation is subjected to futility. 00:13:50.559 --> 00:13:56.679 Creation is in bondage to corruption and creation is in the pains of childbirth. 00:13:56.679 --> 00:14:01.159 Now, these three phrases are fascinating. 00:14:01.159 --> 00:14:06.000 Could you ever choose any of these phrases to describe the universe if you were asked 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:07.000 to talk about it? 00:14:07.000 --> 00:14:11.519 Imagine a politician stood up and they were asked, what do you think about climate change? 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:16.600 Well, I think the creation is in the pains of childbirth. 00:14:16.600 --> 00:14:18.679 Nobody speaks like that. 00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:19.879 Nobody even really thinks like that. 00:14:19.879 --> 00:14:22.839 So why is Paul choosing these phrases? 00:14:22.839 --> 00:14:25.079 And what does he mean by them? 00:14:25.080 --> 00:14:31.600 Well, first of all, he says that creation was subjected to futility. 00:14:31.600 --> 00:14:33.480 Now that word futility is very interesting. 00:14:33.480 --> 00:14:35.879 It basically means vanity. 00:14:35.879 --> 00:14:39.440 You'll remember that there's a famous phrase that runs through the book of Ecclesiastes 00:14:39.440 --> 00:14:43.879 in the Old Testament, vanity of vanities, all is vanity. 00:14:43.879 --> 00:14:49.160 And in the Greek Old Testament, it's the same word that Paul uses here that's been translated 00:14:49.160 --> 00:14:50.920 futility. 00:14:50.919 --> 00:14:58.439 It's conveying the idea of emptiness or nothingness or pointlessness. 00:14:58.439 --> 00:15:07.759 In other words, Paul is telling us that the creation has become so broken, it's no longer 00:15:07.759 --> 00:15:10.639 fit for purpose. 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:15.919 This world that was originally created to be a wonderful habitat where we could live as 00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:19.279 God's people, bearing God's image, has been ruined. 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:21.279 It's no longer fulfilling its purpose. 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:25.360 It's no longer fulfilling the role that it was meant to have. 00:15:25.360 --> 00:15:29.240 As Paul says, it's been subjected to futility. 00:15:29.240 --> 00:15:35.759 The curse imposed in the aftermath of the fall has brought a frustration and a hindrance 00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:41.360 and an emptiness into the great purpose that the universe originally had. 00:15:41.360 --> 00:15:46.959 And our experience of life backs this up every day. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:57.240 Because how often, as you live in this universe, do things happen that seem to make no sense? 00:15:57.240 --> 00:16:01.320 How often is life frustrating? 00:16:01.320 --> 00:16:07.400 How often do you find people looking around and thinking, I just can't make sense of the 00:16:07.400 --> 00:16:08.800 world. 00:16:08.800 --> 00:16:12.400 I can't make sense of life. 00:16:12.400 --> 00:16:16.639 There's a futility all around us. 00:16:16.639 --> 00:16:21.240 And that futility comes from the fact that we have rejected God. 00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:25.960 And that's why the people who reject God, the people who ultimately say there's no 00:16:25.960 --> 00:16:34.000 God, the people who really think that through and who take that to its logical conclusion, 00:16:34.000 --> 00:16:36.399 what do they end up thinking? 00:16:36.399 --> 00:16:44.679 You take the atheist who rejects God and who moves logically towards the conclusion of 00:16:44.679 --> 00:16:45.679 that presupposition. 00:16:45.679 --> 00:16:48.679 Where does it take them? 00:16:48.679 --> 00:16:55.319 You find them saying everything's meaningless. 00:16:55.319 --> 00:17:01.199 Everything's futile. 00:17:01.199 --> 00:17:09.279 Without God, we are simply tiny specks on a tiny planet who live for a tiny period and 00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:12.679 who ultimately don't matter. 00:17:12.680 --> 00:17:17.759 And so instead of humanity looking at the universe thinking, wow, what an incredible 00:17:17.759 --> 00:17:20.440 environment God has made for us. 00:17:20.440 --> 00:17:27.560 People look at the universe and they say, is there any meaning to this at all? 00:17:27.560 --> 00:17:33.000 Paul is recognizing that the curse of creation has meant that the world around us has lost 00:17:33.000 --> 00:17:36.519 a key aspect of its purpose. 00:17:36.519 --> 00:17:39.240 It's subjected to futility. 00:17:39.240 --> 00:17:44.880 And that loss of purpose manifests itself every day in terms of the next thing that Paul 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:45.880 says about the world. 00:17:45.880 --> 00:17:50.240 He says it's in bondage to corruption. 00:17:50.240 --> 00:17:53.480 This phrase is highlighting the fact that the world is rotting. 00:17:53.480 --> 00:17:56.200 That's what we mean when we talk about corruption. 00:17:56.200 --> 00:18:00.680 The world is rotting and it cannot escape. 00:18:00.680 --> 00:18:05.079 As Paul says, creation was subjected to futility not willingly. 00:18:05.079 --> 00:18:09.960 It wasn't what the world wanted, the beautiful world that God made to thrive is now being 00:18:09.960 --> 00:18:10.960 spoiled. 00:18:10.960 --> 00:18:11.960 It's rotting. 00:18:11.960 --> 00:18:13.679 It's decaying. 00:18:13.679 --> 00:18:15.960 And that manifests itself in lots of ways. 00:18:15.960 --> 00:18:17.799 We see it in the environment. 00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:23.399 The thriving nature that God created is actually constantly battling against decay and disease 00:18:23.399 --> 00:18:24.960 and ruin. 00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:28.000 So animals become extinct. 00:18:28.000 --> 00:18:29.519 Diseases continue to spread. 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:34.960 New ones emerge and seem to be harder and harder to overcome. 00:18:34.960 --> 00:18:40.600 Interpayable damage is being done to the world around us. 00:18:40.600 --> 00:18:43.039 It also happens in terms of behavior. 00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:44.880 The animal world is hostile. 00:18:44.880 --> 00:18:50.600 It's brutal sometimes when you see what animals do to each other. 00:18:50.600 --> 00:18:57.079 But humanity is not much better. 00:18:57.079 --> 00:19:03.720 And you look after it over the ages of history and we can only hang our heads in shame in 00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:09.759 terms of how humans have treated one another. 00:19:09.759 --> 00:19:17.519 I suppose all you really need to do is take your phone out and look at the news headlines 00:19:17.519 --> 00:19:24.960 and ask the question, is the world rotten? 00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:32.360 That corruption, that rotting is dominating nature at this present time. 00:19:32.359 --> 00:19:35.319 The creation is a slave to that corruption. 00:19:35.319 --> 00:19:36.319 It's in bondage. 00:19:36.319 --> 00:19:40.319 It's an illness from which creation cannot recover itself. 00:19:40.319 --> 00:19:46.079 And that corruption is bringing sorrow and pain and hardship and suffering into our lives 00:19:46.079 --> 00:19:47.519 as well. 00:19:47.519 --> 00:19:54.959 And all of this is because creation is not now how it was made to be. 00:19:54.959 --> 00:19:58.839 And it is not now how it wants to be. 00:19:58.839 --> 00:20:03.720 And that's brought forth before us in the third phrase that Paul uses to describe the 00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:04.720 universe. 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:05.720 You can see it at the bottom. 00:20:05.720 --> 00:20:12.119 He says, the whole creation has been growing together in the pains of childbirth. 00:20:12.119 --> 00:20:20.439 Paul uses the remarkable image of childbirth to describe the world around us just now. 00:20:20.439 --> 00:20:25.079 And that's teaching us two very important things. 00:20:25.079 --> 00:20:30.919 Number one, childbirth is sore. 00:20:30.919 --> 00:20:36.839 And so the current state of creation is not one of peace or harmony or tranquility. 00:20:36.839 --> 00:20:40.159 It is one of agony. 00:20:40.159 --> 00:20:45.279 It's being likened to the severe pain of a woman in labor. 00:20:45.279 --> 00:20:48.559 Childbirth is sore. 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:56.519 And secondly, childbirth is a precursor to something wonderful. 00:20:56.519 --> 00:21:02.679 And so although the pain of labor is immense, it leads to great joy, amazing joy when a 00:21:02.679 --> 00:21:04.779 precious baby is born. 00:21:04.779 --> 00:21:10.799 So while the image of childbirth is conveying present agony and distress, it's also expressing 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:15.279 the fact that something really good is coming. 00:21:15.279 --> 00:21:17.960 And that brings us to the second big question we want to ask. 00:21:17.960 --> 00:21:19.680 We've asked what's happened to the universe. 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:23.440 Now we need to ask what's going to happen to the universe. 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:24.559 Remember what we said. 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:27.600 We're talking about the story of the universe. 00:21:27.600 --> 00:21:30.960 The universe had a wonderful beginning. 00:21:30.960 --> 00:21:36.039 It's got a tragic middle. 00:21:36.039 --> 00:21:39.680 But there's also an end. 00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:44.640 And interestingly, even back in Genesis, there are hints of this. 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:53.759 In Genesis chapter 3, immediately after humanity fell, God spoke to the serpent, the means 00:21:53.759 --> 00:21:58.560 through which the devil brought this tragedy to pass. 00:21:58.560 --> 00:22:03.360 And God spoke to the serpent saying, you are going to be crushed, pointing to the fact 00:22:03.360 --> 00:22:08.420 that ultimately the kingdom of God will have victory over the kingdom of evil. 00:22:08.420 --> 00:22:12.560 And then a few verses after that, Adam names his wife. 00:22:12.560 --> 00:22:14.280 And what did he call her? 00:22:14.279 --> 00:22:16.240 He called her Eve. 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:20.519 And the reason he called her that is because the meaning of that name conveys the fact 00:22:20.519 --> 00:22:22.960 that she is the mother of the living. 00:22:22.960 --> 00:22:28.839 And that's incredibly significant because the fall meant that humanity was dead. 00:22:28.839 --> 00:22:33.720 But God says, Adam says, my wife is going to be called Eve because she's mother of the 00:22:33.720 --> 00:22:41.319 living, expressing the fact that through the generations of humanity that were to be born, 00:22:41.319 --> 00:22:47.200 there was hope of life and hope of restoration. 00:22:47.200 --> 00:22:51.639 And Paul reinforces this point when he says that creation was subjected to futility as 00:22:51.639 --> 00:22:55.200 part of God's righteous judgment in the aftermath of the fall. 00:22:55.200 --> 00:23:01.599 But that subjection was in hope. 00:23:01.599 --> 00:23:06.919 So that means that even within the brokenness of the universe now, there's an end in view 00:23:06.919 --> 00:23:10.480 and there is a hope of something better. 00:23:10.480 --> 00:23:17.120 And the Bible tells us that God's great plan is to recreate the universe so that the world 00:23:17.120 --> 00:23:22.120 we live in now is going to be restored and renewed to what it was meant to be. 00:23:22.120 --> 00:23:27.360 You'll remember that way back in the beginning we said we're told the stories of the heaven 00:23:27.360 --> 00:23:30.839 and the earth as Genesis' first history. 00:23:30.839 --> 00:23:35.839 If you then jump to the very end of the Bible and read verses 21 and 22 of Revelation, you 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:42.799 hear the story of the new heavens and the new earth where God's new creation is being 00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:49.480 inaugurated and the universe is restored to everything that God wants it to be. 00:23:49.480 --> 00:23:53.480 That's the great hope of Christianity that for every single one of us who trusts in Jesus, 00:23:53.480 --> 00:24:00.319 we can look forward to the hope, to the peace, the joy, the beauty, the wonder, the paradise 00:24:00.319 --> 00:24:02.480 of the new creation. 00:24:02.480 --> 00:24:06.000 That's the great hope that God has for us. 00:24:06.000 --> 00:24:11.799 That's the great end point of the story of the universe. 00:24:11.799 --> 00:24:20.960 But in these verses on the screen, Paul tells us something absolutely remarkable about what 00:24:20.960 --> 00:24:25.200 the creation is hoping for. 00:24:25.200 --> 00:24:30.160 It says, the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God, for 00:24:30.160 --> 00:24:35.960 creation was subjected to futility not willingly but because of him who subjected it in hope, 00:24:35.960 --> 00:24:39.560 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption, obtain the 00:24:39.560 --> 00:24:44.200 freedom of the children of God. 00:24:44.200 --> 00:24:51.240 So if the universe could talk and you said to the universe, what are you hoping for? 00:24:51.240 --> 00:24:52.240 What would you say? 00:24:52.240 --> 00:24:55.240 Well, you think, well, it's hoping for Jesus to return, isn't it? 00:24:55.240 --> 00:24:57.800 That's of course what it would say. 00:24:57.799 --> 00:25:05.480 The universe is longing for the return of Jesus, longing for the restoring work of God, longing 00:25:05.480 --> 00:25:08.279 with anticipation for all that God is going to do. 00:25:08.279 --> 00:25:14.599 Now no doubt that's true, but it's not what Paul says. 00:25:14.599 --> 00:25:21.200 If the universe could talk and you could ask, what are you hoping for? 00:25:21.200 --> 00:25:32.319 It would say, I'm hoping for the revealing of the sons of God and I'm waiting to obtain 00:25:32.319 --> 00:25:39.039 the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 00:25:39.039 --> 00:25:45.279 Now that's, there's something really, really important there. 00:25:45.279 --> 00:25:57.720 The universe's focus is not on God directly, the focus is on you as Christians, sons of 00:25:57.720 --> 00:26:02.279 God, children of God, that's you as Christians. 00:26:02.279 --> 00:26:08.519 If you are one, that will be you if you become one. 00:26:08.519 --> 00:26:11.720 Why is that? 00:26:11.720 --> 00:26:18.120 Why does Paul make such a direct link between the restoration of creation and the family 00:26:18.120 --> 00:26:19.480 of God? 00:26:19.480 --> 00:26:27.880 Why is there such a clear link between the universe and you in these verses? 00:26:27.880 --> 00:26:37.559 Why does the universe long for the day when your salvation is fully completed at the return 00:26:37.559 --> 00:26:42.079 of Jesus? 00:26:42.079 --> 00:26:47.000 Well I think the answer is as follows. 00:26:47.000 --> 00:26:51.079 We just said a moment ago that creation has lost its sense of purpose. 00:26:51.079 --> 00:26:54.879 As we said, it's subjected to futility. 00:26:54.879 --> 00:26:59.440 In other words, right now the universe is not what it was meant to be. 00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:07.399 So that means we have to ask the question, what was the universe meant to be? 00:27:07.400 --> 00:27:10.920 What do you think? 00:27:10.920 --> 00:27:19.160 The answer is that the universe was made to be your home. 00:27:19.160 --> 00:27:26.320 The universe was made to be a wonderful environment where humanity could live as the family of 00:27:26.320 --> 00:27:28.759 God. 00:27:28.759 --> 00:27:35.400 Therefore the reason that creation is longing for the future is because the universe longs 00:27:35.400 --> 00:27:40.920 to be a perfect home for you. 00:27:40.920 --> 00:27:48.440 The whole purpose of creation is to be a perfect environment for you to live in as God's people. 00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:52.640 And so creation longs for the full salvation of the people of God. 00:27:52.640 --> 00:27:56.480 It longs for the resurrection on the last day when our bodies are reunited with our 00:27:56.480 --> 00:28:02.000 souls and we are eternally free from the decay of sin and from the effect of the curse. 00:28:02.000 --> 00:28:07.960 On that day the universe, the creation, will finally be able to fulfill its purpose and 00:28:07.960 --> 00:28:10.160 be what it was always meant to be. 00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:15.000 It will be a perfect home for the people of God. 00:28:15.000 --> 00:28:16.440 It all makes perfect sense. 00:28:16.440 --> 00:28:21.359 That was, you remember the created work, God created the world and the crown of that creation 00:28:21.359 --> 00:28:26.000 was humanity who was made to live there. 00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:30.559 And creation is longing to return to that role. 00:28:30.559 --> 00:28:35.359 No wonder creation is longing for the revealing of the sons of God because that will be the 00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:39.359 day when the curse is gone and order will return. 00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:48.279 The universe longs for your salvation because the universe was made for you. 00:28:48.279 --> 00:28:56.759 It was made to be a home for you and it longs for the day when that purpose will finally 00:28:56.759 --> 00:28:58.559 be fulfilled. 00:28:58.559 --> 00:29:03.399 And I think that is utterly amazing. 00:29:03.399 --> 00:29:05.879 The universe is longing for you. 00:29:05.879 --> 00:29:08.679 I'm not making any of this up, it's saying it there. 00:29:08.679 --> 00:29:11.799 Romans writes it, the universe is longing for you. 00:29:11.799 --> 00:29:17.359 Creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of and put your name in there. 00:29:17.359 --> 00:29:25.359 It's longing for you because you are its purpose. 00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:27.839 Creation was made for you. 00:29:27.839 --> 00:29:36.000 Now, surely that tells you how special you are in the sight of God. 00:29:36.000 --> 00:29:45.519 If you go back to Genesis, one thing that's abundantly clear is that humanity is special. 00:29:45.519 --> 00:29:46.519 Humanity is different. 00:29:46.519 --> 00:29:49.059 It's not just another part of creation. 00:29:49.059 --> 00:29:51.639 Humanity is the occupant of creation. 00:29:51.639 --> 00:29:56.319 God made this universe so we could live in it as His family and we could know Him and 00:29:56.319 --> 00:29:57.960 serve Him and love Him. 00:29:57.960 --> 00:30:03.519 There's a sense in which the whole universe is an extraordinary gift from God to us. 00:30:03.519 --> 00:30:08.960 It was made for us as a place where we could live. 00:30:08.960 --> 00:30:14.399 And there's a crucial point that arises out of all of this that I want us to notice as 00:30:14.399 --> 00:30:16.240 we close. 00:30:16.240 --> 00:30:23.159 All of this is reminding us of the fact that a non-biblical worldview, an understanding 00:30:23.160 --> 00:30:29.200 of the universe that's not based on the Bible, will always ultimately devalue humanity. 00:30:29.200 --> 00:30:32.080 A non-biblical worldview will devalue humanity. 00:30:32.080 --> 00:30:33.640 Now, what do I mean by that? 00:30:33.640 --> 00:30:36.400 Well, just think about it together. 00:30:36.400 --> 00:30:43.200 So some people reject God and they look at the universe and they basically conclude 00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:48.240 that everything is pretty much pointless, including us. 00:30:48.240 --> 00:30:54.960 We're just another cog in this massive machine that originates from who knows where and is 00:30:54.960 --> 00:31:00.839 going who knows where and it's just a big, big machine. 00:31:00.839 --> 00:31:02.640 We are pointless. 00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:06.519 Ultimately we are nothing more than a thing. 00:31:06.519 --> 00:31:12.359 Now a lot of people hold that view, but if you think about it too much, it will lead 00:31:12.359 --> 00:31:15.120 you to a horrible depression. 00:31:15.120 --> 00:31:16.720 And we've seen that. 00:31:16.720 --> 00:31:24.000 We look at the great thinkers, the great philosophers of the 20th century, they took that to their 00:31:24.000 --> 00:31:27.759 logical conclusion and they couldn't bear it. 00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:34.360 Other people hold that view, but they try their best to forget about it and pretend 00:31:34.360 --> 00:31:41.120 that it's not like that and seek to create some kind of illusion of meaning in life. 00:31:41.120 --> 00:31:45.440 They avoid the question of what life's purpose is because they can't bear the answer. 00:31:45.440 --> 00:31:52.240 So some people do that, they just reject God and everything is pretty much pointless. 00:31:52.240 --> 00:31:55.039 Other people are different. 00:31:55.039 --> 00:32:00.320 Other people will try to find some kind of meaning in the universe. 00:32:00.320 --> 00:32:06.640 So some people will go so far as to treat the universe itself as some kind of God. 00:32:06.640 --> 00:32:11.880 So nature or faith is something that has authority over us. 00:32:11.880 --> 00:32:17.960 But our great role is to try and live in harmony with that. 00:32:17.960 --> 00:32:22.520 Others wouldn't necessarily explicitly call the created realm a God. 00:32:22.520 --> 00:32:25.120 They wouldn't call the universe a God. 00:32:25.120 --> 00:32:27.040 They're not pantheists in that sense. 00:32:27.040 --> 00:32:32.200 But they would still regard nature as something that we should serve. 00:32:32.200 --> 00:32:36.280 So nature is more important than humanity. 00:32:36.279 --> 00:32:42.000 And today there are many people who are incredibly sincere and incredibly well meaning, who are 00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:46.920 passionate about caring for the environment or looking after animals or trying to do good 00:32:46.920 --> 00:32:50.720 to the world around us and in so many ways that's a great thing. 00:32:50.720 --> 00:32:57.480 But the crucial point is that all of these approaches are devaluing humanity. 00:32:57.480 --> 00:33:01.720 The view that says the universe is ultimately pointless is effectively saying that humanity 00:33:01.720 --> 00:33:07.640 is of no more value than a stone or a rat or a germ. 00:33:07.640 --> 00:33:12.880 The view that makes a God of the universe devalues humanity because it says that we 00:33:12.880 --> 00:33:19.799 are subordinate to nature and ultimately the universe is more important than us. 00:33:19.799 --> 00:33:24.720 The view that says we must care for the environment, for the sake of the environment also devalues 00:33:24.720 --> 00:33:29.440 humanity because it makes us servants of the universe. 00:33:29.440 --> 00:33:31.920 All these views are devaluing humanity. 00:33:31.920 --> 00:33:41.400 The Bible says something very, very different because the best that the world can say is 00:33:41.400 --> 00:33:48.440 that we can find purpose looking after the universe. 00:33:48.440 --> 00:33:59.320 The Bible says the universe finds its purpose in looking after you. 00:33:59.319 --> 00:34:04.399 The Bible tells us that we are not pointless objects in a pointless universe. 00:34:04.399 --> 00:34:08.480 Nor are we subordinate creatures under the rule of the universe. 00:34:08.480 --> 00:34:13.239 Nor are we servants who need to try and find purpose and meaning in this universe. 00:34:13.239 --> 00:34:18.480 The Bible tells us that you are far, far, far more special than any of that. 00:34:18.480 --> 00:34:25.559 You have been created to be a child of God and the universe was created to be the place 00:34:25.559 --> 00:34:30.920 where you can all live. 00:34:30.920 --> 00:34:33.559 And sin ruined that. 00:34:33.559 --> 00:34:46.320 But Jesus came to fix it and creation is longing, longing for the day when finally it can be 00:34:46.320 --> 00:34:54.599 the perfect home for God's perfect family. 00:34:54.599 --> 00:35:01.039 And this is where we see that it is in the message of the Gospel that the whole universe 00:35:01.039 --> 00:35:03.440 fits together. 00:35:03.440 --> 00:35:09.839 The whole of creation is centered on God's plan to make a perfect place for his family 00:35:09.839 --> 00:35:14.839 to live together where he himself could dwell with them. 00:35:14.839 --> 00:35:20.839 That's God's great plan for you. 00:35:20.840 --> 00:35:31.240 And that's why when the Bible speaks about hell, what word does it often use? 00:35:31.240 --> 00:35:45.480 It uses the word outside because hell is outside all of that and separated from it. 00:35:45.480 --> 00:35:53.360 But the new creation will be a perfectly restored universe where the universe is everything that 00:35:53.360 --> 00:36:02.039 God wants it to be for us and we will be everything that God wants us to be for him. 00:36:02.039 --> 00:36:04.920 Isn't that amazing? 00:36:04.920 --> 00:36:08.079 Think about all the amazing stuff that God has made. 00:36:08.079 --> 00:36:15.240 He's made massive galaxies to reflect His glory. 00:36:15.239 --> 00:36:20.799 He's made stunning flowers to show His creativity. 00:36:20.799 --> 00:36:27.119 He's made fruit and food that tastes amazing. 00:36:27.119 --> 00:36:31.000 He's made the warmth of the sun that feels incredible. 00:36:31.000 --> 00:36:34.079 He's made beautiful rolling hills for us to walk on. 00:36:34.079 --> 00:36:41.239 He's made the amazing sound of birds for us to listen to. 00:36:41.239 --> 00:36:50.599 It's the dream home and it's for you. 00:36:50.599 --> 00:36:57.959 And God wants every one of you to be part of that. 00:36:57.959 --> 00:37:06.759 And all he asks is that you trust him. 00:37:06.760 --> 00:37:15.120 And I think if the universe could talk tonight, it would say, I'm trusting Jesus and all my 00:37:15.120 --> 00:37:18.160 hope is in Him. 00:37:18.160 --> 00:37:24.440 And I think the universe would say, I seriously hope you're trusting Him too. 00:37:24.440 --> 00:37:28.080 Amen. 00:37:28.080 --> 00:37:31.520 Let's pray. 00:37:31.519 --> 00:37:44.039 Father, we realize that your plans for us are far bigger, far more amazing, and far more 00:37:44.039 --> 00:37:50.639 beautiful than we have ever really imagined or understood. 00:37:50.639 --> 00:37:55.679 And all we can say, Lord, is thank you. 00:37:55.679 --> 00:38:00.920 Thank you for this universe. 00:38:00.920 --> 00:38:04.200 Thank you for your great plans for it. 00:38:04.200 --> 00:38:13.599 Thank you that we can look forward to an amazing home where we will be forever with you, our 00:38:13.599 --> 00:38:15.599 amazing God. 00:38:15.599 --> 00:38:32.639 Amen.