The World is Waiting for the Freedom of Christians

I know that this is quite the statement from me. But it is not from me at all, I have gathered this from the passage I read this morning in Romans. Paul writes about future glory in Romans 8 and part of that future glory is freedom for creation.

“¹⁹For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope ²¹that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” — Romans 8:19-21 (ESV)

You see, right there in verse 19 Paul writes of the eager waiting by creation. And as you read further, you can see the waiting for the freedom that is experienced by the “children of God”.

Creation, the world itself, has been subjected to evil since Adam and Eve ate from the fruit in disobedience of God. Yes, the world is subjected to evil and has to wait for God’s redemption for the world to be relieved of the evil. That redemption of the world will be fully realized with the rapture and God’s win in the war with evil. So until that day, the world or creation will be waiting for the freedom that I have as a result of the gift of grace and salvation I have accepted from the LORD.

Yes I have freedom and yet the world does not. That is evident by simply watching the state of the world today and each day as we move forward. There is social upheaval, wars over ideologies, displays of “power” through authoritarian regimes, and just bad stuff happening all over. I have the ability to walk away from the evil and find solace in the family of God, as do the rest of my fellow Christians. The world does not have that ability and is subject to all that goes on in and around it.

The world waits on for the freedom of salvation. I can only do my part to bring the gift of the gospel and what salvation imparts to others. I present the gospel and allow others the opportunity to accept the free gift and experience the freedom that comes with it for themselves. Yet, the world must wait on the LORD to establish His freedom in the world as the world is not able to accept the freedom for itself.

What does freedom look like in you? What about your world, is freedom part of everywhere you go? What if you continued to do your part and brought the gospel to all persons and allowed them to accept, knowing that creation, or the world will not experience freedom until that day with Christ comes again?