Exposition of Romans 8-11, Chapter 8 · Verse 21
VERSE 21. Becauſe the Creature it ſelfe alſo, &c.
The Hope ſpoken of in the Verſe going before, is declared here what it is: or why the Creature is in Hope; namely, becauſe GOD hath purpoſed the deliuerance of it.
The ſumme is; that, the Creature ſhall not alway be ſubiect to vanity, but ſhall hauehave a manumiſſion from bondage. Of the which deliuerance three things are declared. Firſt, Who. The Creature; that is, This world. Secondly, from what: from Corruption; which is, a bondage. Thirdly, into what eſtate; into the glorious libertie of the Sonnes of God. Some here note the time of the deliuerance of the Creature; namely, when the children of God ſhal be wholly ſet free: For though they hauehave here a freedome vntounto righteouſneſſe from the bondage of ſinne; yet they hauehave not the freedome of glory, which is from the bondage of miſery. But it is better taken for the ſtate it ſelfe, which ſhall be glorious: not the ſame with the childrē of God, but proportioned according to it's kind with them:
For it befits the liberty of the faithfull, that as they are renewed, ſo alſo ſhould their habitation. And as when a Nobleman mourneth, his ſeruants alſo are clad in blacke: ſo it is for the more glory of man, that the creature, his ſeruāt, ſhould in its kinde partake of his glory.
doctrine The Creature ſhall bee freed from Corruption into Glory. Acts 3.21.
Ʋſe 1.The World is not Eternall: it is a Creature, and being of a bodily matter, as it had a beginning, ſo ſhall it hauehave an end.
Ʋſe 2.The manner how the Creature ſhall be reſtored, is difficult to determine: and ſome hauehave iudged this to be one of the difficulties at which Peter aimes at. 2. Pet. 3.There are three opinions.
1. The firſt opinion holdeth, that this Earth and viſible Heauen, euen the whole Nature of theſe things, ſhall periſh. This Heauen and Earth being appoynted by God to bee the habitation of man, while he is Viator, and therfeore that there ſhall be no need of it when he ſhall be Comprehenſor. For this opinion are alleaged diuers Scriptures.Iob 14.12.
2. The ſecond opinion is, that ſome of the Creatures ſhal be aboliſhed: and ſome reſtored. The Heauens and the Elements to remaine, the reſt to periſh.Pſal. 102.26. Eſay 51.6. Mat. 24.33. 2. Pet. 3.10,12.
3. The third opinion, that all Creatures ſhall be reſtored. Eſay 65.17. 1. Cor. 7.31, &c.(Remembred, that wee ſpeake not of reaſonable Creatures, nor of the Heauen of Heauens in this queſtion.) This opinion hath alſo ſome Scriptures, but principally this now in hand.
The ſecond opinion I thinke to be vnlikely: for as it is vncomely to build a faire houſe, not to be inhabited: So to hauehave theſe Heauens and Earths to remaine without any Inhabitants. Beſides, this Earth to be without her ornaments, and to be naked and bare, were rather a defrauding then a reſtoring. Farther, I ſhould imagine, that Reſtoring ſhould hauehave reference to the ſtate it had before the fall: not when it was naked and voyd, but when it was in all it's beautie.
The firſt opinion to me alſo ſeemes as vnlikely as the ſecond: For the Scriptures, they may conueniently be expounded to ſpeake of the end of the World, by ſimilitude, &c. and it is not probable that the Lord would Annihilate ſuch a monument of his power. It is true, that the bodies of Chriſt and men will bee monuments of his power: but why not other alſo, ſeeing it pleaſed God to create variety of things for this end? Alſo, if theſe things ſhould bee reſolued into nothing, where ſhould the Diuels be, and the Reprobate? In Heauen they ſhall not bee; neither ſhall they bee no where, vnleſſe they hold alſo that they ſhall be annihilated, which is not by any meanes to be affirmed. Further, that place is againſt this opinion, 1. Cor. 7.31. Vtra que hoc Coelū & Terra, per cā quā nunc habent imaginē tranſcunt. ſed tamen per eſſentiam ſine fine ſubſiſtunt. Greg. 17. Mor. cap. 5.The figure of this world paſſeth. Which is not to bee vnderſtood of the ſubſtance, but of the qualitatiue reſpect (as I may ſo terme it) vntounto this preſent eſtate of it: As a ſtone doole being plucked vp, ceaſes to be a doole, but not a ſtone. Now, whereas ſome may ſay, that from that place may bee concluded as well, that the Sphericall figure ſhall be changed: it is but a cauill, and Figure neede not ſo to be ſtretched. Alſo this place makes directly againſt it. And whereas they ſay that it is deliuerance inough for the Creature, if it ceaſe to ſerue Man, & hauehave an end of vanity by Annihilation: I affirme it not to be enough, becauſe this verſe notifies, not onelyonly ſuch deliuerance, but alſo a farther eſtate which it ſhall hauehave after ſuch deliuerance, namely, to communicate in ſome degree with the Children of GOD in Glory.
Therefore I take the third opinion to bee moſt probable; if the reſtoring be onelyonly to ſome ſingulars of all kinds. And whereas it may bee obiected why theſe of the kinds, rather then other? I would aske them alſo, why at the Deluge, theſe of the kinds rather then other, were preſerued in the Arke?
But it is not ſafe walking in the darke without a light. Wee know not how it ſhall be, but this I am ſure of, that all things ſhall be moſt wiſely and excellently brought to paſſe.
Vſe 3.Seeing all theſe things ſhall bee diſſolued, what manner of perſons ought wee to be in all holy conuerſation and godlineſſe? 2. Pet. 3.11.If our ſeruants ſhall be changed, why are we yet intangled in old things? Let vsus become new Creatures, that we may be worthy Inhabitants of the new Heauens and new Earth which ſhall be.
Vſe 4.Glorious liberty is proper to the Children of God: what ſhall become of the wicked? Alaſſe! they ſhall be holden in the bondage of euerlaſting torments. They ſhall bee worſe then many bruit Creatures: for many of them ſhal ceaſe to be: and therefore to be miſerable. They ſhall neuer ceaſe to be, that they may neuer ceaſe to be miſerable. As they now follow the liberty of the fleſh: ſo then they ſhall bee in the bondage of euerlaſting puniſhment.