Permanent Tension

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From the moment in Romans 8:17 when he opens up the incredible destiny of us humans being coinheritors of the universe with God’s Son,
Paul changes the tone of what we are to experience in our daily lives. This comes as a shock, until we see at the end of the chapter that those are the devastating conditions in which we, as sons, operate triumphantly as “summit” people.

For the glory living, which will be our permanency through eternity, is first built strongly on a continual “suffering” condition. That sounds terrifying, until we find by experience that there is glory now in the suffering (Rom. 5:3-5). The coming “exceeding weight of glory” is the product of these earthly “afflictions, which Paul called “light”! (2 Cor. 4:17).

These “sufferings” are first on a physical level. Face it, Paul says, the animal and material creation around us is engulfed in suffering—“red in tooth and claw”—living in permanent tension. And that, Paul continues, is a God-ordained necessary opposite to the “glorious liberty,” which will swallow up the “groanings.” The deliverance will come through the sons of God, but the methods are not explained in detail (8:19-22).

Then Paul makes very plain that physical perfection on our human body level is not for our present life: a warning note to those who offer
complete physical healings and major on a physical healing ministry. Paul tells us that our bodies remain corrupted and mortal. The replacement of corruption by incorruption is only at the Lord’s coming (1 Cor. 15:42-44; 52-55). Meanwhile, let’s not fool ourselves on the physical level. We “suffer” with all the creation, and our “salvation” on that level is by hope, not faith. It is a prospect not within our present reach (8:23-25).