Did God really curse ALL of the world: the ground, the plants, the animals and mankind when Adam sinned? Did all aspects of the natural world suffer from the actions of one human?

 

Genesis 3:17 And to Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed be the ground on thy account; with toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;

779. arar ►

Strong's Concordance
arar: to curse
Original Word: אָרַר
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: arar
Phonetic Spelling: (aw-rar')
Definition: to curse


HEB: תֹאכַ֖ל מִמֶּ֑נּוּ אֲרוּרָ֤ה הָֽאֲדָמָה֙ בַּֽעֲבוּרֶ֔ךָ
NAS: You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground KJV: Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed [is] the ground INT: eat at Cursed is the ground because

Septuagint Bible w/ Apocrypha

Chapter
Parallel

Genesis 3:17 (LXX) And to Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and eaten of the tree concerning which I charged thee of it only not to eat—of that thou hast eaten, cursed the ground in thy labours, in pain shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.

Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible

Chapter
Parallel

Genesis 3:17 (RHE) And to Adam he said: Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee, that thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work: with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life.

Wycliffe

Chapter
Parallel

Genesis 3:17 (WYC) Soothly God said to Adam, For thou heardest the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded to thee that thou shouldest not eat, the earth shall be cursed in thy work, that is, for thy sin; in travails thou shalt eat thereof in all the days of thy life; (And God said to Adam, For thou heardest thy wife's voice, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded to thee that thou shouldest not eat, the ground shall be cursed on account of thee, that is, because of thy sin; only after much travail, or much labour, shalt thou get food from it all the days of thy life;)

It appears, (to me, after an exhaustive word study), that the word “cursed” used in Genesis 3:17 can also be interpreted as “reviled” or “speak ill of“ or “execrate” that is “to utterly detest”. So is it therefore possible that the ground outside of Eden was so poor that Adam and his descendants considered and deemed it as cursed? Did Adam in fact revile it and detest working in it compared to the soils of Eden? Is it possible that God did NOT curse or change the soil outside of Eden but that in fact — it was already subpar? Or was the curse localized, being only just outside The Garden of Eden? And were the thorn and thistle plant types and seeds already predominant in the soils outside of Eden? They weren’t created anew as cursed things by God because of Adam’s sin but these pre-existant plants each were simply going to interfere with Adam growing his food to eat. Adam of course would revile and curse them when they thrived while his food crops would require great effort to grow and tend.

 

Is the concept the early church fathers called The Fall & The Curse -- that extended across the entire planet, effecting the entire natural world a reality? Did they misread Genesis 3 and Romans 8 and create a doctrine that does not represent reality? Sin is real. Death is real. But is this evidence of a worldwide curse? Adam indeed brought death upon all his ancestors, we are all sinners after Adam. We all need a Savior. This is not up for debate here.

 

But is all of Nature "fallen", "cursed" or does the natural world simply suffer because mankind, as its caretaker does not properly take care of it, failing to carry out the commands to Adam in Genesis before he rebelled?  Does not Mankind actually abuse the Creation? I need not trot out dozens of examples of how we have failed horribly. If this is true, then the creature, the creation -- longs for the day when Mankind's painful history and utter failure as caretaker is swallowed up in the final victory of God's people -- bringing in the New Heavens and Earth and the Great Millennium 1,000 year reign of the Lord Jesus and his faithful overcomers begins. 

 

If the Earth is not cursed and the natural world is not cursed then this answers questions like, "Was there death before the creation of Adam?" It might be then answered yes after all. The death we see in the fossil record might just be an accepted part of God's world that Adam was ushered into. Adam brought death on all future humans. 

 

 

The scriptures never indicate that he brought an unnatural death upon plants and animals. Where does the Genesis account say that the animals never died? We know that blood was indeed shed by God to make coverings for Adam and Eve. But nowhere in Genesis does it indicate animals and plants possessed eternal life. It doesn't even say Adam and Eve had eternal life. They had to eat, it appears in the Genesis record. The cycle of birth, life, death and decay were never specifically discussed in Genesis. But it doesn't indicate either that this cycle didn't exist. When seeds fell into the ground in Paradise -- they died -- and new plants came forth. Just what did God mean when he gave Adam the job to take care of the Garden and the animals? Animals and plants all reproduced and God told Adam and Eve to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the land. 

 

Genesis 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” MEV

 

I believe that Adam and Eve knew what death was because they understood what God meant when he indicated, if they ate of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, they would surely die. God would not warn them of something that would happen to them due to disobedience -- if it was a penalty related to a something they had no concept of.

 

Below follows some reasons that confirm my bizarre (heretical?) ideas . . .


17-19. unto Adam he said--made to gain his livelihood by tilling the ground; but what before his fall he did with ease and pleasure, was not to be accomplished after it without painful and persevering exertion. ~ from https://www.biblestudytools.com/genesis/3-17-compare.html

As with Eve, Adam's curse is one of hardship in doing the necessary work of life, in doing something that would otherwise have brought great joy and meaning to his existence. Instead of easily producing crops as seeds were planted, as had been the case in the garden up to this point, the ground would be cursed. Adam will suffer great pain in getting the ground to yield edible crops in doing his daily work. And this curse will afflict him all the days of his life. ~ from https://www.bibleref.com/Genesis/3/Genesis-3-17.html

“it: cursed”
אֲרוּרָ֤ה
To execrate


execrate:

verb ex· e· crate ˈek-sə-ˌkrāt

execrated; execrating

transitive verb
1: to declare to be evil or detestable : DENOUNCE
2: to detest utterly

Hebrew Dictionary (Lexicon-Concordance)

Key Word Studies (Translations-Definitions-Meanings)
» H0779 «
#0779 אָרַר 'arar {aw-rar'}

a primitive root; TWOT - 168; v
—Hebrew Word Study (Transliteration-Pronunciation Etymology & Grammar)
1) to curse
1a) (Qal)
1a1) to curse
1a2) cursed be he (participle used pr in curses)
1b) (Niphal) to be cursed, cursed
1c) (Piel) to curse, lay under a curse, put a curse on
1d) (Hophal) to be made a curse, be cursed
—Brown-Driver-Briggs (Old Testament Hebrew-English Lexicon)
A primitive root; to execrate:— X bitterly curse.
—Strong's (Hebrew & Chaldee Dictionary of the Old Testament)
  • #779.
  • אָרַר
  • arar (76c); a prim. root; to curse:—
  • NASB - brings a curse(6), curse(8), curse is cursed(1), cursed(40), cursed be those who curse(1), cursed is everyone who curses(1), cursed woman(1), utterly curse(1).
—NAS Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible with Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek Dictionaries

Copyright © 1981, 1998 by The Lockman Foundation — All rights reserved — http://www.lockman.org

AV - curse 62, bitterly 1; 63
bitterly
Judges 5:23.
curse
Genesis 12:3. Exodus 22:28. Numbers 5:18, 19, 22, 24, 24, 27; 22:6, 12; 23:7. Judges 5:23, 23. Job 3:8. Malachi 2:2.
cursed
Genesis 3:14, 17; 4:11; 5:29; 9:25; 27:29; 49:7. Numbers 22:6; 24:9. Deuteronomy 27:15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26; 28:16, 16, 17, 18, 19, 19. Joshua 6:26; 9:23. Judges 21:18. 1 Samuel 14:24, 28; 26:19. 2 Kings 9:34. Psalms 119:21. Jeremiah 11:3; 17:5; 20:14, 15; 48:10, 10. Malachi 1:14; 2:2; 3:9.
cursest
Numbers 22:6.
curseth
Genesis 27:29. Numbers 24:9.



cursed is the ground on your account: a clear statement that Adam and Eve are now to be consigned to the mortal earth – an earth that is not the fecund earth of Eden. Outside of Eden, a living may only be exacted by toil.

since thorn and thistle will only grow for you, you must cultivate your food: This phrase recapitulates the creation of man in Genesis 2:5-6. Recall the sequence of the narrative’s creation events:
  1. God brought rain to the earth so that wild plants (thorn and thistle) could flourish.
  2. God created man so that cultivated plants (not yet created) could be grown.
  3. God created the Garden of Eden containing plants and trees to be cultivated.
  4. God place man in the Garden.
Accordingly, man was never intended to live outside of the Garden. In the context of the narrative, man does not yet know how to “live off the land”, i.e., as a hunter-gatherer. So, in this phrase, God reminds the man that survival means cultivation of land that heretofore, grows only thorn and thistle.



Now consider this exegetical discussion that I found after my previous comments . . .

The curse against Adam spans verses 17 to 19a of chapter three. Then to Adam, Yahweh said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat from it’; Cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it will grow for you. And you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you will eat food. Many have taken this cursing of the ground to be universal in extent; proof that the physical creation in its entirety is cursed (with backing from Romans 8).32 I will comment on Romans 8 later, but if all Creation is cursed it should be readily evident in this, the account of the Curse itself.

The word for curse here is ָא ַרר which depicts the absence of a blessing or a barrier in the way of the blessing (cf. v. 14). Taken as such the blessing of the ground (i.e. abundant crops) would be prevented and absent. The cursing of the ground is seen elsewhere in Scripture. In

32 Sailhammer, “Genesis,” 92ν Fretheim, “The Book of Genesis,” 369-70; Mathews, Genesis 1-11:26, 253.

Genesis 4:11-12, Cain is cursed (ָאַרר ) from the ground which is later defined as "when you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you." So when Cain murdered his brother Abel, God cursed the ground. This meant it would no longer yield abundant crops when Cain tried to cultivate it. It did not mean that the laws of nature were altered in any way.

Another example in Genesis 5:29 is where Lamech prophesies that his son Noah "will bring rest from the toil of our hands arising from the ground which the LORD has cursed". ָא ַרר

This prophecy would make no sense if somehow Noah were to reverse the natural laws to what they were before the Fall. Furthermore, in a passage of conditional curses in Deut. 21:18, the produce of the ground would be cursed (ָאַרר ) if Israel disobeys God in the land He is giving them. If the cursing of the ground in Gen. 3 is to be a permanent one, then how could it be that it could be cursed again?

Therefore, these three passages seem to indicate that the ground that was cursed was local to Adam. The evidence being that the ground was later cursed because of Cain's sin, Noah would bring an end to the curse on the ground, and there would be a possibility the ground could be cursed again if Israel rebels against God in the Promised Land. There is no mention here of a lasting change in the way the physical world operates.


What of the toil that Adam would encounter while working the ground? This is the same word (ַע ּ֫צ ּבת ) used for Eve's pain in childbearing in verse 16. The LXX also translates this word here as

which, as was discussed above, almost always depicts an emotional-spiritual pain, not a physical one. The word may be better translated as 'sorrow' here rather than 'toil' as in the KJV. Thus the translation of “painful labor” in some translations33 seems unwarranted. Perhaps

33 As in HCSB, NET, and NIV.


the NLT's paraphrase "all your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it" conveys the proper message of Adam's sorrow he would feel as he no doubt worked hard to reap just a little in the field that was cursed.

Both thorns and thistles it will grow for you. This phrase has also given proof to some who adhere to the notion of a global curse. They argue that this is the first appearance of thorns and thistles in creation. They are then a new physical creation ushered in to aid in the cursing of the earth. First of all, the word ברא (‘to create’) is not used in this passage; neither are any of the other verbs commonly regarded as denoting a new appearance such as 'be,' 'make,' 'fashion,' etc...

The verb ָצ ַמד speaks of a common ordinary growth of vegetation.34 While the verb is in the hiphil stem denoting causative action on God's part,35 it is unnecessary to demand a creative act. Since God was in His resting stage having completed Creation (Gen 2:1-2), it seems more correct to think of this as a change that made thorn and thistle growth more conducive. Perhaps this acted in tandem with the couple's expulsion later on into a land that was overrun with this kind of vegetation. This would account for Adam's sorrow in his labors to try to cultivate good crops.

And you will eat the plants of the field once again points to man’s offense in eating the forbidden fruit. The word for plants probably covers both wild and cultivated plants in stark contrast to the fruit-bearing trees of the garden supplied by Yahweh. This, then, “anticipates his expulsion from the garden (3:23), outside which he must battle the elements as a toiling farmerέ”36

34 TDOT, s.v. “ָצ ַמד ”
35 Waltke and τ’Connor, An Introduction to Biblical Hebrew Syntax, 433; Barrick & Busenitz, A Grammar
for Biblical Hebrew, 137.
36 Mathews, Genesis 1-11:26, 252.


The final portion spoken to the man is the end of the curse and the beginning of the blessing for the man: By the sweat of your face you will eat food. The curse here is a restatement of v. 17, (in toil you will eat) further stating that his efforts would need to be multiplied. In other words, by the sweat of [his] face means that he would have to work extra hard to cultivate this new cursed ground and that is would not yield the bounty the Garden of Eden did, due to the toil (v. 17) or emotional sorrow that the work will produce. This understanding can also been seen in Genesis 2:5-6, that this land is naturally poorly irrigated. The seasonal waters would make it difficult for Adam to sustain a bountiful harvest. All of this would add to Adam's sorrow.

The blessing portion is also found in this verse. How? First, one must remember the pattern of Yahweh’s pronouncements is curse then blessing. Therefore, it is natural to see that He will continue to do this with the man. Second, hard work is not the result of the Curse. Adam was told in Genesis 2:15 to cultivate and keep the land. In Genesis 1:28 the couple was told to subdue the land. The word used there (כבש) implies that it would not willingly be subdued, but rather “the party being subdued is hostile to the subduer, necessitating some sort of coercion if the subduing is to take place.”37 Hard work in and of itself, then, is not a curse. No doubt cultivating the Garden of Eden would have been easier because thorns and thistles were not present, but it is crucial to understand that the rewards of good honest hard work are a blessing and they are to be enjoyed as a gift from God (Ecc 2:24; 5:19). Therefore, this first part of v. 19 is a curse and blessing.

.כבש .TWOT, s.v 37

I come now to the final part of this pericope that shows a final blessing. The last half of Genesis 3:19 reads, until you return to the ground, because from it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Death is the final straw. But, again, if we are to continue in the pattern set up by Yahweh of a curse then blessing, then this pronouncement of death upon the man must be a blessing because the curse has already been pronounced. How is death here a blessing?

Simply put: death is hope because it is the end of the suffering and toil brought upon mankind in the curseέ Randy Alcorn puts it this way: “Death ... [was] the only way out from under the Curse—and that only because God has to come up with a way to ... restore mankind’s relationship with himέ”38 While humans live on this earth, there will be toil, sorrow, pain, suffering, and an incapacity to reach the full potential of satisfaction from the hard work they do. However, if a person has put their trust in God alone,39 then death was (and is!) a welcoming reality. The prophet Isaiah makes this point in Isaiah 25:8, “He will swallow up death for all time” which the Apostle Paul picks up in 1 Cor 15:54, to show that “death and all of its apparent victories are undone for God’s childrenέ What looks like a victory for death and like a defeat for us when our bodies die and decay, shall be utterly reversed, so that death dies in absolute defeat and our bodies live again in absolute victory.”40

So, death is a blessingέ τr in the Apostle Paul’s words, “to die is gain” (Phil 1:21) because death only increases and enriches the believer’s fellowship and communion with God his Savior, now having the curse of the toil of unsatisfactory work left on the earth. One might object and

38 Alcorn, Heaven, 104.
39 For a discussion on τT conversion/salvation, see William Dέ Barrick, “Living A σew Life: τld
Testament Teaching About Conversion,” MSJ 11, no. 1 (Spring 2000), 19-38.
40 Lenski, The Interpretation of St. Paul’s First and Second Epistles to the Corinthians, 745.

claim that this is the realized promise of God that in the day Adam or Even eats from the fruit, they will surely die41 (Gen 2:17). A simple response is this: did they physically die at the moment they ate from the fruit? Of course not. Therefore, another death must have been in view. It had to have been spiritual death (cf. Rom 5:12; 1 Cor 15:20-22). John Calvin, commenting on Genesis 2:17, writes that death here is “namely, alienation from God ... as soon as [Adam] revolted from God, the fountain of life, he was thrown down from his former state, in order that he might perceive the life of man without God to be wretched and lostέ”42

For some this might be hard to swallow because death seems so evil and out of place from original creation that is beaming with so much life. I would not deny that death, painful and sorrow-filled is a result of sin, for Adam lived until he was 930. However, in this context, physical death is absent.43 There is no suggestion in Genesis 2 or 3 that man was ever immortal. In fact, immortality is the trait of deity alone (1 Tim 6:16). Again, Calvin rightly noted that without sin Adam’s “earthly life truly would have been temporalέ”44 The difference is that after Adam sinned, he would now pass into heaven through toil and sorrow and possibly through physical injury.45

It must also be stated that those who do not fear God and trust in Him for their salvation

Lit., dying, to die. This phrase in Gen 2:17 is an infinitive absolute that intensifies the ; ֥מֹת ָת ֽמּת 41 meaning of the imperfect verb, showing the absolute certainty of death.
42 Calvin, Genesis, 37.
43 Morris, Genesis Record, 94. 44 Calvin, Genesis, 36
45 The Bible does not directly state that Adam and Eve were forgiven of their sin. The Bible does place the emphasis on Adam's sin (and not on his repentance and forgiveness) because it was through Adam's sin that all mankind was corrupted and brought under the same sentence of death (Romans 5:12-21). Adam turns our attention toward the sin of the human race. Jesus Christ turns our attention to life and righteousness. However, this does not mean that Adam was never forgiven and did not enter Heaven. Many passages in Scripture seem to indicate otherwise 
 
(see Gen 3:15, 21, 22-24; 4:1 [Eve figured Cain would be the head-crusher of the serpent]; 4:26).

alone, their toil and sorrows will never end because they die in their sin, and therefore live in a perpetual state of toil and sorrow. In the Old Testament Hell was called Sheol and was reserved for those who are characterized by sin (Job 24:19; Ps 9:17; 55:15). For the wicked person (a description of one who did not trust in God), death is a scary reality because there is a lack of hope of an end to their earthly toil. In fact, that is the truth. As biblical revelation continues, the New Testament further reveals that Hell (Hades or Gehenna in GK) is a place for eternal punishment of their sin (Matt 11:23; Luke 10:15; cf. Jer 7:32; 19:6). So, those who trust in God will see an end to their toil. Those who have not put their trust in God, will never lack toil and sorrow, even after they die.

CHART OF CURSE & BLESSING
Man (Gen 3:17-19)

CURSE Toil and pain in his work; Unrealized expectations of hard work.

BLESSING Death, the end of toil and pain

~ from The Beginning of Curses ... and Blessings:
An Exegetical Commentary of Genesis 3:16-19
Greg Peterson
OT761 Exegesis of Genesis 1-11 Dr. B. Barrick November 12, 2013


The most well known advocates and proponents of the concept of THE FALL and CURSE upon all of creation after Adam’s sin were:
Iraneus 130 AD
ORIGEN 185 AD
and Augustine of Hippo Born: November 13, 354 AD, Died: August 28, 430 AD

… the Fall of Man is Augustine’s way of trying to explain what he simultaneously observes (empiricism) and contemplates (rationalism): why do humans, who have a capacity of excellence, virtue, and rational thought, often engage in such despicable, despondent, and irrational behavior, and if happiness is our end, then why do we act and think in such a manner that does not result in happiness?  For Augustine, the problem isn’t the body, per se, but (devolved) reason and reasoning.  The body is still good, the body never fell, it was reason that fell insofar that we often reject logos and believe we can simply will our own happiness or “rebel against creation” to find our happiness.

The Fall of Man, as earlier generations of Christians explained, especially St. Irenaeus and Origen of Alexandria, is man’s inability to have a permanent knowledge of beauty and happiness because humans no longer contemplate about truth, and therefore the enduring happiness and wisdom he seeks, but only contemplates about the immediate, temporal, and bodily.  For Irenaeus, the eating of the Tree represented man’s corruption of knowledge, and in Origen, the Fall was man’s preoccupation only material things and thus lost the image of beatific communion.  Augustine follows the same already established tradition in early Christianity that Fall of Man can (and is to) be understood as the fall of reason and its ensarement to only bodily desire (e.g. materialistic hedonism of the kind and like promoted by Epicurus) and contemplative thought on what Aristotle called the material cause.
 

And now, here is another bombshell revelation . . .


To think that the curse on the ground is indicative of our reality today is actually a mistake. For when we read on in Genesis, we find that Yahweh lifts the curse on the ground. After the “uncreation” of the flood, Noah emerges from the ark into a renewed, pristine world, and offers Yahweh a sumptuous sacrifice.

20 And Noah built an altar to Jehovah; and took of every clean animal, and of all clean fowl, and offered up burnt-offerings on the altar.
21 And Jehovah smelled the sweet odour. And Jehovah said in his heart, I will no more henceforth curse the ground on account of Man, for the thought of Man's heart is evil from his youth; and I will no more smite every living thing, as I have done. — Genesis 8:20–21

The lifting of the curse on the ground means that the earth no longer functions as a source of utter frustration for humanity. On the contrary, the earth begins to respond to human cultivation as fruitfully as it did in Eden. Humanity’s agricultural pursuits no longer yield unpalatable brambles. Instead, with human endeavour, the ground can explode in fecundity, allowing humanity to continue the task for which Yahweh originally employed the man in the paradise garden: cultivating the ground. No longer are humans forced to forage for the odd wild plant. The hardship of the past is gone.

Just to underscore the point, with the curse now lifted, Noah decides to become a novice farmer. Evidently, the earth responds to his rookie efforts a little too well:


20 And Noah began [to be] a husbandman, and planted a vineyard.
21 And he drank of the wine, and was drunken, and he uncovered himself in his tent. — Genesis 9:20–21a

The wish of Noah’s parents, that he give them relief from the hardship of the curse, came true. Accordingly, from Noah onwards, humanity pursues agricultural farming and pastoral farming with great success.
From this, there are three implications I’d like to reflect on.
  1. The earth is not cursed. It is, rather, a source of wellbeing for humanity, and it is a human responsibility to care for it. The current environmental issues we face on the planet are not because of God, but because of our own irresponsibility.
  2. Work is not a curse. When Yahweh put the man in the paradise garden of Eden, he commissioned him to work it. There was no sense that the man simply had to snap his fingers to achieve his work goals. There was, rather, the expectation of hard work, but with commensurate reward. As the man cultivated the earth, so it would yield to him, and reward his efforts. The curse that God placed on the man was that the earth would no longer yield to him, making his work futile (“the sweat of your nose” could also be translated as “the sweat of your frustration”). But this situation was temporary, as the Noah narrative indicates. Work is part of God’s good intention for humanity, and decent reward for decent effort should be the way we operate. Indeed, as Abel’s example demonstrates, God is pleased when we work well and honour him.
  3. We need to stop preaching that the earth is cursed. This includes rethinking the meaning of passages like Romans 8:18–21:

18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy [to be compared] with the coming glory to be revealed to us.
19 For the anxious looking out of the creature expects the revelation of the sons of God:
20 for the creature has been made subject to vanity, not of its will, but by reason of him who has subjected [the same], in hope
21 that the creature itself also shall be set free from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. — Romans 8:18–21

This passage is often preached with reference to Genesis 3, and it’s not hard to see why. But if Paul knew his Bible (and he most certainly did—especially the early chapters of Genesis!), he was probably not arguing that the earth continued to be cursed into his own day. Perhaps Paul was specifically looking at the curse on the earth in a typological manner—a precedent, rather than an ongoing reality. Or perhaps Paul saw creation as having an inherent nature of aimlessness—cycles of life and decay, which imbue it with a metaphorical desire to break out of the cycle—to attain an eternal destiny that can only be achieved in God’s greater purposes in Christ. Perhaps there is another explanation. Either way, I don’t think it’s tenable to view Paul as arguing that the curse on the earth was ongoing.

All this is not to suggest that humanity and the world is not “fallen.” Once sin entered the world, it could not be taken back, and we continue to live with the consequences of sin—our own, as well as that of others. Rather, it’s simply to say that we should read the Bible more closely than we do, and base our theology on its entire witness, not just parts of it. As we read Genesis, we see God lift the curse on the ground, and so we should distinguish that curse from the evident tendency to death and decay that we (still) see in the world around us.

But what about Romans 8:18-25?? Doesn’t Paul refer to the “Curse” of Genesis 3 and go on to elaborate on the “Curse” and “The Fall”? Doesn’t this passage prove there was a curse upon the Earth, upon all Creation? Let’s reconsider this teaching.

Romans 8:18-25 (ESV)
The Whole Creation Groans
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

Perhaps no other passage in the entire Bible has been used more to support the notion that the entire Creation was cursed at the time of the Fall than these verses in Romans 8. Many have used these verses to suggest that geologic evidence is tainted and we cannot use it accurately to determine earth history. Some say this passage suggests the ushering in of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics. There is no doubt that Paul here portrays a sad state for the Creation in that it was subjected to futility against its own will. But does this passage actually refer back to the Fall in Genesis 3? Is the reference back to Adam direct, or possibly indirect? We will spend a good amount of time breaking these verses apart to get to Paul’s true intentions.

First let us look at the context. In Romans 8, Paul is discussing the difference between a mind set on the flesh and one set on the Spirit. All who are led by the Spirit are called sons of God (v. 14). If we are children of God, we suffer with Christ (God’s Son), that we might be glorified with Him (v. 17). But Paul is convinced that the sufferings of this present life are not worthy to be compared with the glory that will be revealed to us (v. 18). The word for suffering here is pathema, which is a special word primarily used for the sufferings of Christ and the Christians who join in the sufferings of Christ.

Paul switches subjects then in verse 19 to the ktisis (creature, creation). It is this ktisis that anxiously awaits the revealing of the sons of God. But what is the ktisis? Ktisis is used 19 times in the NT. The ESV translates as “creation” 16 times, “creature” 2 times, and “institution” in 1Pet. 2:13. The KJV, however, translates as “creation” 6 times, “creature” 11 times, “building” 1 time, and “ordinance” in 1Pet. 2:13. The two versions agree in only 8 out of the 18 instances outside of 1Pet. 2:13. The word is used 4 times in our passage in Romans 8, but only once do the two translations agree (v. 22). Why the discrepancy? It should be obvious that there is some interpretation involved in choosing “creation” or “creature”. Context will be our guide.

This ktisis is anxiously awaiting the revealing (apokalupsis), which refers back to the revealing (apokalupsis) in verse 18. This is the revealing of the sons of God in glory. Remember the sons of God are those who are led by the Spirit (v. 14). These sons of God will be revealed in glory when Christ is revealed in His glory (Col. 3:4) at His coming. That begs a question which Paul addresses next. Why is the ktisis anxiously awaiting the revealing of the sons of God in glory? The answer is three-fold.

First because the ktisis was subjected to futility (v. 20). Second, it is in bondage to corruption (v. 21). Finally, it is groaning in the pains of childbirth (v. 22). It is these three reasons given by Paul that have been the root of fierce debate over the fallen state of Creation. Do these comments indicate that the Creation is cursed as many claim? First of all, it is significant to understand that the word “God” is not mentioned except as the object in the prepositional phrase “sons of God” although He is the probable antecedent of the “Him” in verse 20. It is also noteworthy that neither Adam, Eve nor the serpent (the three characters in the Fall/Curse narrative in Genesis 3) are mentioned directly or indirectly in this entire passage. So what do these three present conditions of the ktisis tell us?
In verse 20 we read that the ktisis was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it. It is pretty well accepted that the “Him” refers to God. Rather than the typical third person personal pronoun autos, the accusative definite article ton is used. While this usage is more common in the nominative, it is most likely a good translation although possibly the NIV renders it best with “the one” depicting a relative pronoun. The NET and NCV insert the actual word “God” here which is wrong. The NLT paraphrases the whole as “subjected to God’s curse” which is interpretive and very misleading even though that is the interpretation favored by most YECs. Neither “God” (theos) nor “curse” (katara or anathema) are used in this passage.

In any case “the One” (i.e. God) subjected the ktisis. The word for “subjected” is hypotasso and it is used 38 times in the NT. The other 8 uses of hypotasso in the active voice have God or Christ as its subject. It stands to reason then that God is the subject here as well. According to TDNT, in the compulsory sense (as is the case here by the presense of ouch ekousa (not willingly)), the word carries the meaning of “either power or conquest on the one side or lack of freedom on the other” (TDNT, vol. 8 p. 41). The context tells us that it is the latter here. The ktisis had its freedom taken away when it was subjected to futility.

The word for futility here is mataiotes. It is used 3 times in the NT and 54 times in the LXX. In addition to verse 20 here, it is also used by Paul in Eph. 4:17 and Peter in 2Pet. 2:18. The ESV translates both Pauline uses as “futility” and in 2 Peter they render “folly”. The older English versions translate mataiotes in Rom. 8:20 as “vanity”. The NIV “frustration” and the NCV “useless” miss the mark and the NLT’s use of “curse” may be misleading. Does this passage actually say that the ktisis was subjected to God’s Curse? We need to look at the semantic range of mataiotes and note its other occurrences.

In Eph. 4:17 Paul urges Christians to not walk as the Gentiles do in the mataiotes of their minds. He defines this in the next verses as being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of their ignorance and their hard hearts. They have become callous and given over to impurity. The mataiotes in this case refers to the sinful thoughts and deeds of the unbeliever. In 2Pet. 2:18 Peter also uses the term to describe unbelievers who speak words of mataiotes enticing others by fleshly desires and sensuality, promising freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption (douloi tes phthoras: interestingly the same phrase as in Rom. 8:21). In both of these other uses, mataiotes refers to a debased condition of the mind of the unbeliever with a warning given to Christians to walk in an opposite manner.

Of the 54 uses in the LXX, 39 are found in the Book of Ecclesiastes. The other 15 occurrences are in the Psalms and Proverbs. In Ecclesiastes, the ESV renders mataiotes “vanity” or the adjectival “vain” almost unanimously. In the Psalms there is a wider range of words used in the translation. It may be helpful to explore the vanities of Ecclesiastes to see how Solomon in all his wisdom used the word to describe the things he studied.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Vanity as a summary with no referent
Everything that is done under the sun
Filling the heart with pleasure and chasing desires
The fate of the fool and the wise are the same
The fool inherits the fruit of the labor of the wise
The hard work of the wise
The collecting and gathering of the sinner
The fate of man and beast are the same
The endless rivalry between a man and his neighbor
The unhappiness of the people with a wise king
The increasing of dreams and words
The dissatisfaction with money for the one who loves money That a good man does not have a proper burial
The [few] years of life
The laughter of a fool
That the evil deeds of the wicked are soon forgotten
That bad things happen to good people (and vice versa)
8 times 2 times 3 times 2 times 5 times 1 time 1 time 1 time 1 time 1 time 2 times 1 time 1 time 6 times 1 time 1 time 2 times

There is one commonality as we peruse this list of King Solomon’s vanities: they all pertain to human activity. None of the 39 uses of mataiotes in Ecclesiastes refer to the natural world and how it operates. The same is true in the other uses in Psalms and Proverbs. I believe this is significant and, coupled with the other two passages in the NT where the word is used, it appears that Paul’s use here would suggest that the ktisis was subject to the shortcomings and futility of man rather than itself being the recipient of a direct curse. In other words we could say that the curse upon mankind has made the ktisis anxiously long for the day when that curse would be lifted. Not because it has been cursed, but because man cannot fulfill his purpose of taking dominion over the ktisis as is the proper function.

Next in verse 21 we read that the ktisis will be set free from its slavery to corruption (Gr. tes douleias tes phthoras). For phthora, the NRSV and NIV render “decay” instead of “corruption”. The word itself is used 7 other times in the NT, but is part of a larger family of similar words. In general it means a destruction or corruption of something. To use the word decay is misleading as some have taken this to mean the institution of the 2nd Law of Thermodynamics where everything is certain to undergo physical breakdown and decay. It should be clear that that is not what Paul has in mind here. In 2Pet. 2:19 we find the similar phrase douloi...tes phthoras (slaves of corruption), speaking of the unsaved who would entice believers. Two other significant passages containing the word are 2Pet. 1:4 where is says that through Christ we have escaped from the phthora that is in the world because of sinful desires and in 2Cor. 11:3 where Paul says that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent we may be “led astray” (phtheiro) from Christ. These are significant not only because Genesis 3 is directly referenced but because it states that phthora was in the world prior to the Curse (i.e. through Satan). Eve had the sinful desire before she sinned (Gen. 3:6). It is therefore not a product of sin. However it is a quick path to sin, and now a product of the Curse is our bondage (doulos) to this corruption. Indeed after the Fall, phthora had multiplied exponentially on the earth. By Noah’s time we see that the land is filled with corruption (the verbal form phtheiro) (Gen. 6:11). In verse 12 God looked on the land and saw that it was filled with corruption (kataphtheiro) for all flesh had corrupted (kataphtheiro) their way on the land. In an interesting use of wordplay, God then tells Noah in verse 13 that He will destroy (kataphtheiro) the land because of them.

To summarize the use of phthora and its related words, this most often refers to a warped or corrupted state of the human mind to which we have become slaves after the Fall in Genesis 3. In another passage that refers to Adam, Paul says in 1Cor. 15:42-49 that our bodies are corrupt (phthora), but when they are raised they will be incorruptible (aphtharsia). It is sown a natural body but raised a spiritual body in power. This resurrection is made possible through our life- giver, Jesus Christ. So then, phthora relates to the corruption we have become slaves to since the Fall.

Paul speaks of a time when we will no longer be slaves to corruption, and it is this time for which the ktisis anxiously awaits. There is no hint in any portion of Scripture that this is a reference to some introduction of physical decay or some deviation from the way the previously perfect Creation operates. That is an interpretation not based on Scripture.


The third condition of the ktisis mentioned in Romans 8:22 is that it has been groaning in the pains of childbirth until now. At first reading this may conjure up memories of Genesis 3 where to Eve God says “I will greatly increase your pain in childbirth” (Gen. 3:16). But we should note that two different Greek words are used for “pain”. Paul uses the words sustenazo and sunodino for “groaning” and “pains in childbirth”. The two words are used only here in the Bible. Collectively they indicate a groaning and travailing in suffering (metaphorically as in a woman sighing during childbirth). The LXX translates lupe for the “pain” Eve was to expect during childbearing. That speaks of more of an emotional pain or sorrow than it does a physical one. The word stenazo is used in Romans 8:23 and is a related word to sustenazo. Stenazo is used 5 other times in the NT and carries a meaning of a sighing as a result of oppression from which a man longs to be set free according to TDNT (vol. 7, p.601). This is directly seen in verse 23 where Paul says we “groan” (stenazo) as we eagerly await the redemption of our bodies. Our bodies were cursed with death at the Fall (Gen. 2:17; 3:19). Our beings are full of vanity and corruption from which we sigh in agony, waiting to be set free from this bondage. Paul likens this to the suffering and sighing of the ktisis. The word group clearly relates this groaning to human beings in its other usage, and not to any other species or natural process.

To summarize the unfortunate triune state of the ktisis, Paul says it was subject to futility (mataiotes), it is in bondage to corruption (phthora) and it is suffering and groaning (sustenazo) as a woman in childbirth. These three terms are used exclusively in describing human activity and emotion in the other uses in Scripture. None of the three terms have any direct tie to the account of the Fall and Curse in Genesis 3 as many have suggested. It is only indirectly at best that the parallel can be seen with the Curse, and only when viewed as a result of fallen man being unable to fulfill his original duty of taking dominion over the Creation.

It is because of fallen man and his futility that the ktisis has been subject to futility. It is because of fallen man and his corruption that the ktisis is in bondage to corruption. And it is because of fallen man and his groaning that the ktisis experiences groaning. It is clear that the ktisis experiences these things only because of man, not because of a direct curse from God. Nowhere in either Genesis 3 or this passage in Romans 8 do we find any Scriptural evidence that the ktisis itself is cursed.


Now we get to the issue of “what is the ktisis?” Though the terms apply strictly to human beings and their fallen state, it is clear that the ktisis is not a “creature” or human as the KJV translates. When Paul writes in verse 23, he is speaking of human beings. Therefore the previous verses describing the ktisis use analogical language to relate it to the condition we are in as we wait for freedom from this bondage from the Fall. The ktisis is not a person, but the Creation personified. This is so we can understand our condition and understand what it is doing to the Creation. We are fallen and the Creation longs for the day when we will be set free at the revealing of the sons of God in glory.

Just as Creation eagerly awaits that day, so we too eagerly await with perseverance (v. 25). This is our hope and this is our salvation (v. 24). It is a mistake to conclude that these verses speak of a cursed Creation. The Creation is still good (1Tim. 4:4), it just longs for the day when we will finally take dominion as we were originally commanded (Gen. 1:28). If Creation is cursed it is only cursed with having to patiently bear us and our futility and corruption until Christ comes and frees us both.

Dan Leiphart 2009

And now this observation . . .


For the earnest expectation - ἀποκαραδοκία apokaradokia. This word occurs only here and in Philippians 1:20, “According to my earnest expectation and my hope,” etc. It properly denotes a state of earnest desire to see any object when the head is thrust forward; an intense anxiety; an ardent wish; and is thus well employed to denote the intense interest with which a Christian looks to his future inheritance.

Of the creature - τῆς κτίσεως tēs ktiseōs.” Perhaps there is not a passage in the New Testament that has been deemed more difficult of interpretation than this Romans 8:19-23; and after all the labors bestowed on it by critics, still there is no explanation proposed which is perfectly satisfactory, or in which commentators concur. The object here will be to give what appears to the writer the true meaning, without attempting to controvert the opinions of critics. The main design of the passage is, to show the sustaining power of the gospel in the midst of trials, by the prospect of the future deliverance and inheritance of the sons of God. This scope of the passage is to guide us in the interpretation.

The following are, I suppose, the leading points in the illustration.
(1) The word “creature” refers to the renewed nature of the Christian, or to the Christian as renewed.
(2) He is waiting for his future glory; that is, desirous of obtaining the full development of the honors that await him as the child of God; Romans 8:19.
(3) He is subjected to a state of trial and vanity, affording comparatively little comfort and much disquietude.
(4) This is not in accordance with the desire of his heart, “not willingly,” but is the wise appointment of God; Romans 8:20.
(5) In this state there is the hope of deliverance into glorious liberty; Romans 8:21.
(6) This condition of things does not exist merely in regard to the Christian, but is the common condition of the world. It all groans, and is in trial, as much as the Christian. He therefore should not deem his condition as especially trying. It is the common lot of all things here; Romans 8:22, But,
(7) Christians only have the prospect of deliverance. To them is held out the hope of final rescue, and of an eternal inheritance beyond all these sufferings. They wait, therefore, for the full benefits of the adoption; the complete recovery even of the body from the effects of sin, and the toils and trials of this live; and thus they are sustained by hope, which is the argument which the apostle has in view; Romans 8:23-24. With this view of the general scope of the passage, we may examine the particular phrases.

(The opinion which is perhaps most generally adopted of this difficult passage, is what explains κτίσις ktisis of the whole irrational creation. According to this view, the apostle, having adverted to the glory that awaited the Christian, as a ground of joy and comfort under present sufferings, exalts our idea of it still higher by representing the external world as participating in, and waiting for it. “This interpretation is suitable to the design of the apostle. Paul’s object is not to confirm the certainty of a future state, but to produce a strong impression of its glorious character. Nothing could be better adapted to this object, than the grand and beautiful figure of the whole creation waiting and longing for the glorious revelation of the Son of God, and the consummation of his kingdom.” Hodge. In the original it is the same word that is rendered alternately “creature” and “creation.”

And the meaning of the passage depends, in great measure, on the sense of this single word. Generally speaking, it signifies anything created. The particular kind of creation is determined by the context alone. Of course, whatever sense we may attach to it, must be continued throughout the whole passage, as we cannot suppose the apostle uses the same word in two different senses, in one place, without any intimation of the change. To what then does κτίσις ktisis refer? It is maintained by those who adopt the view noticed above, that it cannot refer to angels, either elect or fallen, since the former have never been subject to the bondage of corruption, and the latter are not waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God; that it cannot allude to wicked people, for neither do they anxiously look out for this manifestation; that it can no more refer to saints or renewed people, since these are expressly distinguished as a separate class in Romans 8:23; and that, therefore, it must be understood of the whole manimate and irrational creation.

It is further argued, that every part of the context may be explained consistently with this view. The passage is supposed to present a very bold and beautiful instance of the figure called prosopopoeia, by which things inanimate are invested with life and feeling, a figure which is indeed very common in Scripture, and which we need not be surprised to find in this place, amid so much that is grand and elevating; Joel 1:10, Joel 1:20; Jeremiah 12:4; Isaiah 24:4, Isaiah 24:7. According to this interpretation of κτίσις ktisis then, the general sense of the apostle may be thus given. The whole irrational creation is interested in the future glory of the sons of God, and is anxiously waiting for it. For then the curse will be removed from the very ground, and the lower animals relieved from oppression and cruelty. The very creation, on account of the sin of man, has been subjected to the curse, and has become “vain” or useless in regard to the original design of it, having been made subservient to the evil purposes and passions of man.

This state of subjection to vanity is not willing, but by restraint. Violence is imposed, as it were, on external nature. But this shall not continue. There is hope in the heart of the subject world, that ὅτι hoti it shall be delivered from this bondage, and participate in the liberty of the children of God. This representation may seem strange and unusual, but “we know” certainly, adds the apostle, that it is so; that “the whole creation πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις pasa hē ktisis, groaneth and travaileth in pain throughout every part. Even we, who are saints of God, and have been favored with the earnests of future bliss, feel the general oppression, and groan within ourselves, while we wait for the period of deliverance, in which the very body shall be ransomed from the grave and fashioned like unto Christ’s glorious body.)

Of the creature - The word here rendered “creature” κτίσις ktisis, occurs in the New Testament nineteen times, and is used in the following senses:
  1. Creation; the act of creating; Romans 1:20,
  2. The creature; what is created or formed; the universe; Mark 10:6; Mar 13:19; 2 Peter 3:4; Romans 1:25; Romans 8:39.
(3)The rational creation; man as a rational being; the world of mankind; Mark 16:15; Col 1:23; 1 Peter 2:13.
(4)Perhaps the church, the new creation of God taken collectively;Colossians 1:15; Colossians 1:15; Revelation 3:14.
(5)The Christian, the new creation, regarded individually; the work of the Holy Spirit on the renewed heart; the new man.

After all the attention which I can give to this passage, I regard this to be the meaning here, for the following reasons, namely.
(1) Because this alone seems to me to suit the connection, and to make sense in the argument. If the word refers, as has been supposed by different interpreters; either to angels, or to the bodies of people, or to the material creation, or to the rational creation - to people (mankind); it is difficult to see what connection either would have with the argument. The apostle is discoursing of the benefits of the gospel to Christians in time of trial; and the bearing of the argument requires us to understand this illustration of them, unless we are compelled not to understand it thus by the proper laws of interpreting words.
(2) The word “creature” is used in a similar sense by the same apostle. Thus, 2 Corinthians 5:17, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature” καινὴ κτίσις kainē ktisis. Galatians 6:15, “for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.”
(3) The verb create is thus used. Thus, Ephesians 2:10, “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works.” Ephesians 2:15, “having abolished in his flesh the enmity ...for to make in himself of twain one new man:” Greek, “That he might create κτίσῃ ktisē the two into one newman.” Ephesians 4:24, “the new man, which is created in righteousness,” etc.
(4) Nothing was more natural than for the sacred writers thus to speak of a Christian as a new creation, a new creature. The great power of God involved in his conversion, and the strong resemblance between the creation and imparting spiritual life, led naturally to this use of the language.
(5) Language similar to this occurs in the Old Testament, and it was natural to transfer it to the New. The Jewish people were represented as made or created by God for his service, and the phrase, therefore, might come to designate those who were thus formed by him to his service. Deuteronomy 32:6, “hath he not made thee, and established thee?” Isaiah 43:7, “ ... Everyone that is called by my name; for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.” Isaiah 43:21, “this people have I formed for myself.” From all which reasons, it seems to me that the expression here is used to denote Christians, renewed people. Its meaning, however, is varied in Romans 8:22.
 
Waiteth for - Expects; is not in a state of possession, but is looking for it with interest.

The manifestation of the sons of God - The full development of the benefits of the sons of God; the time when they shall be acknowledged, and received into the full privileges of sons. Here Christians have some evidence of their adoption. But they are in a world of sin; they are exposed to trials; they are subject to many calamities; and though they have evidence here that they are the sons of God, yet they wait for that period when they shall be fully delivered from all these trials, and be admitted to the enjoyment of all the privileges of the children of the Most High. The time when this shall take place will be at the day of Judgment, when they shall be fully acknowledged in the presence of an assembled universe as his children. All Christians are represented as in this posture of waiting for the full possession of their privileges as the children of God. 1 Corinthians 1:7, “waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thessalonians 3:5; Galatians 5:5, “for we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” 1 Thessalonians 1:10.
 
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Barnes, Albert. "Commentary on Romans 8:19". "Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/romans-8.html. 1870.

Re Romans 8:20 . . .

For the creature - The renewed creature; the Christian mind. This is given as a reason for its aspiring to the full privileges of adoption, that the present state is not one of choice, or one which is preferred, but one to which it has been subjected for wise reasons by God.
Subject to vanity - The word “subject to” means placed in such a state; subjected to it by the appointment of another, as a soldier has his rank and place assigned him in an army. The word “vanity” here ματαιότης mataiotēs is descriptive of the present condition of the Christian, as frail and dying; as exposed to trials, temptations, and cares; as in the midst of conflicts, and of a world which may be emphatically pronounced vanity. More or less, the Christian is brought under this influence; his joys are marred; his peace is discomposed; his affections wander; his life is a life of vanity and vexation.
 
Not willingly - Not voluntarily. It is not a matter of choice. It is not what is congenial to his renewed nature. That would aspire to perfect holiness and peace. But this subjection is one that is contrary to it, and from which he desires to be delivered. This describes substantially the same condition as Romans 7:15-24.
 
But by reason - By him διά dia. It is the appointment of God, who has chosen to place his people in this condition; and who for wise purposes retains them in it.
 
Who hath subjected the same - Who has appointed his people to this condition. It is his wise arrangement. Here we may observe,
 
(1) That the instinctive feelings of Christians lead them to desire a purer and a happier world, Philippians 1:23.
(2) That it is not what they desire, to be subjected to the toils of this life, and to the temptations and vanities of this world. They sigh for deliverance.
(3) Their lot in life; their being subjected to this state of vanity, is the arrangement of God. Why it is, he has not seen fit to inform us fully. He might have taken his people at once to heaven as soon as they are converted. But though we know not all the reasons why they are continued here in this state of vanity, we can see some of them:
  1. Christians are subjected to this state to do good to their fellow sinners. They remain on earth for this purpose: and this should be their leading aim.
  2. By their remaining here the power of the gospel is shown in overcoming their sin; in meeting their temptations; in sustaining them in trial; and in thus furnishing living evidence to the world of the power and excellency of that gospel. This could not be attained if they were removed at once to heaven.
  3. It furnishes occasion for some interesting exhibitions of character - for hope, and faith, and love, and for increasing and progressive excellence.
  4. It is a proper training for heaven. It brings out the Christian character, and fits it for the skies. There may be inestimable advantages, all of which we may not see, in subjecting the Christian to a process of training in overcoming his sins, and in producing confidence in God, before he is admitted to his state of final rest.
  5. It is fit and proper that he should engage here in the service of Him who has redeemed him. He has been ransomed by the blood of Christ, and God has the highest claim on him in all the conflicts and toils, in all the labors and services to which he may be subjected in this life.
In hope - See the note at Romans 5:4. Hope has reference to the future; and in this state of the Christian, he sighs for deliverance, and expects it.
 
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Barnes, Albert. "Commentary on Romans 8:20". "Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/romans-8.html. 1870.

And another view:

For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
 
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly: According to Louw and Nida, the word "vanity" (mataio/thti) means "pertaining to being useless on the basis of being futile and lacking in content" (Vol. 1 625). Or they say "state of being without use or value, emptiness, futility, purposelessness, transitoriness … the creation was subjected to frustration Romans 8:20" (BDAG 621). Sanday and Headlam add:
 
Vanity is the refrain of the Book of Ecclesiastes that is … without result, ineffective, which does not reach its end—the opposite of complete or perfect. The word is therefore appropriately used of the disappointing character of present existence, which nowhere reaches the perfection of which it is capable (208).
 
When Adam and Eve sinned (Genesis 3:1-6), God subjected all of mankind to futility (Genesis 3:14-24), that is, Adam and Eve were separated from the tree of life. As a result, they and all of their offspring were subjected to all the processes that lead inexorably to death. Paul has argued this point at length already in Romans 5:12-21.
 
but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope: Mankind did not desire to be subjected to these processes that lead to death, but this was the just consequence of Adam’s sin that passed upon all men universally. God, however, subjected mankind to this futility "in hope" from the beginning. Even as God pronounced the sentence upon Adam and all mankind, He gave humanity hope and the first prophecy of the coming Messiah in His rebuke of Satan: "And I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel" (Genesis 3:15 NKJV). The notion that this passage (Romans 8:19-23) is a reference to all creation lower than the level of humanity "yearning in hope" is contrary to reason. Plants, animals, rocks, and dirt cannot in any sense yearn in hope.

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Editor Charles Baily, "Commentary on Romans 8:20". "Contending for the Faith". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/ctf/romans-8.html. 1993-2022.

And still another view . . .

THE GLORIOUS HOPE ( Romans 8:18-25 )
8:18-25 For I am convinced that the sufferings of this present age cannot be compared with the glory which is destined to be disclosed to us. The created world awaits with eager expectation the day when those who are the sons of God will be displayed in all their glory. For the created world has been subjected to chaos, not because of its own choice, but through him who passed the sentence of such subjugation upon it, and yet it still has the hope that the created world also will be liberated from this slavery to decay and will be brought to the freedom of the glory of the children of God; for we know that the whole creation unites together in groans and agonies. Not only does the created world do so, but so do we, even though we have received the first-fruits of the spirit as a foretaste of the coming glory, yes, we too groan within ourselves earnestly awaiting the full realization of our adoption into the family of God. I mean the redemption of our body. For it is by hope that we are saved; but a hope which is already visible is not a hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, then in patience we eagerly wait for it.

Paul has just been speaking of the glory of adoption into the family of God; and then he comes back to the troubled state of this present world. He draws a great picture. He speaks with a poet's vision. He sees all nature waiting for the glory that shall be. At the moment creation is in bondage to decay.
 
"Change and decay in all around I see."
 
The world is one where beauty fades and loveliness decays; it is a dying world; but it is waiting for its liberation from all this and the coming of the state of glory.
 
When Paul was painting this picture, he was working with ideas that any Jew would recognize and understand. He talks of this present age and of the glory that will be disclosed. Jewish thought divided time into two sections--this present age and the age to come. This present age was wholly bad, subject to sin, and death and decay. Some day there would come The Day of the Lord. That would be a day of judgment when the world would be shaken to its foundations; but out of it there would come a new world.
 
The renovation of the world was one of the great Jewish thoughts. The Old Testament speaks of it without elaboration and without detail. "Behold I create new heavens and a new earth" ( Isaiah 65:17). But in the days between the Testaments, when the Jews were oppressed and enslaved and persecuted, they dreamed their dreams of that new earth and that renovated world.
 
"The vine shall yield its fruit ten thousand fold, and on each
vine there shall be a thousand branches; and each branch shall
produce a thousand clusters; and each cluster produce a thousand
grapes; and each grape a cor of wine. And those who have
hungered shall rejoice; moreover, also, they shall behold marvels
every day. For winds shall go forth from before me to bring every
morning the fragrance of aromatic fruits, and at the close of the
day clouds distilling the dews of health" (Baruch 29:5).
"And earth, and all the trees, and the innumerable flocks of
sheep shall give their true fruit to mankind, of wine and of
sweet honey and of white milk and corn, which to men is the most
excellent gift of all" (Sibylline Oracles 3: 620-633).
"Earth, the universal mother, shall give to mortals her best
fruit in countless store of corn, wine and oil. Yea, from heaven
shall come a sweet draught of luscious honey. The trees shall
yield their proper fruits, and rich flocks, and kine, and lambs
of sheep and kids of goats. He will cause sweet fountains of
white milk to burst forth. And the cities shall be full of good
things, and the fields rich; neither shall there be any sword
throughout the land or battle-din; nor shall the earth be
convulsed any more with deep-drawn groans. No war shall be any
more, nor shall there be any more drought throughout the land,
no famine, or hail to work havoc on the crops" (Sibylline
Oracles 3: 744--756).
 
The dream of the renovated world was dear to the Jews. Paul knew that, and here he, as it were, endows creation with consciousness. He thinks of nature longing for the day when sin's dominion would be broken, death and decay would be gone, and God's glory would come. With a touch of imaginative insight, he says that the state of nature was even worse than the state of men. Man had sinned deliberately; but it was involuntarily that nature was subjected. Unwittingly she was involved in the consequences of the sin of man. "Cursed is the ground because of you," God said to Adam after his sin ( Genesis 3:17). So here, with a poet's eye, Paul sees nature waiting for liberation from the death and decay that man's sin had brought into the world.
 
If that is true of nature, it is still truer of man. So Paul goes on to think of human longing. In the experience of the Holy Spirit men had a foretaste, a first instalment, of the glory that shall be; now they long with all their hearts for the full realization of what adoption into the family of God means. That final adoption will be the redemption of their bodies. In the state of glory Paul did not think of man as a disembodied spirit. Man in this world is a body and a spirit; and in the world of glory the total man will be saved. But his body will no longer be the victim of decay and the instrument of sin; it will be a spiritual body fit for the life of a spiritual man.
Then comes a great saying. "We are saved by hope." The blazing truth that lit life for Paul was that the human situation is not hopeless. Paul was no pessimist. H. G. Wells once said: "Man, who began in a cave behind a windbreak, will end in the disease soaked ruins of a slum." Not so Paul. He saw man's sin and the state of the world; but he also saw God's redeeming power; and the end of it all for him was hope. Because of that, to Paul life was not a despairing waiting for an inevitable end in a world encompassed by sin and death and decay; life was an eager anticipation of a liberation, a renovation and a recreation wrought by the glory and the power of God.
 
In Romans 8:19 he uses a wonderful word for eager expectation. It is apokaradokia ( G603) and it describes the attitude of a man who scans the horizon with head thrust forward, eagerly searching the distance for the first signs of the dawn break of glory. To Paul life was not a weary, defeated waiting; it was a throbbing, vivid expectation. The Christian is involved in the human situation. Within he must battle with his own evil human nature; without he must live in a world of death and decay. Nonetheless, the Christian does not live only in the world; he also lives in Christ. He does not see only the world; he looks beyond it to God. He does not see only the consequences of man's sin; he sees the power of God's mercy and love. Therefore, the keynote of the Christian life is always hope and never despair. The Christian waits, not for death, but for life.

Bibliographical Information
Barclay, William. "Commentary on Romans 8:20". "William Barclay's Daily Study Bible". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/dsb/romans-8.html. 1956-1959.

More from Barnes . . .

Because - This is the ground of his hope, and this sustains him now. It is the purpose of God that deliverance shall be granted, and this supports the Christian amidst the trials to which he is subjected here. The hope is, that this same renewed man shall be delivered from all the toils, and cares, and sins of this state.
 
The creature itself - The very soul that is renewed; the ransomed man without essential change. It will be the same being, though purified; the same man, possessed of the same body and soul, though freed from all the corruptions of humanity, and elevated above all the degradations of the present condition. The idea is everywhere presented, that the identical person shall be admitted to heaven without essential change, 1Co 15:35-38, 1 Corinthians 15:42-44. That this is the hope of all Christians, see 2 Peter 3:13.
 
From the bondage of corruption - This does not differ materially from “vanity,” Romans 8:20. It implies that this state is not a willing state, or not a condition of choice, but is one of bondage or servitude (see Romans 7:15-24); and that it is a corrupt, imperfect, perishing condition. It is one that leads to sin, and temptation, and conflict and anxiety. It is a condition often which destroys the peace, mars the happiness, dims the hope, enfeebles the faith, and weakens the love of Christians, and this is called the bondage of corruption. It is also one in which temporal death has dominion, and in the bondage of which, believers as well as unbelievers shall be held. Yet from all this bondage the children of God shall be delivered.
 
The glorious liberty - Greek, The freedom of the glory of the children of God. This is,
(1) “Liberty.” It is freedom from the bondage under which the Christian groans. It will be freedom from sin; from corruption; from evil desires; from calamity; from death. The highest “freedom “in the universe is that which is enjoyed in heaven, where the redeemed are under the sovereignty and government of their king, but where they do that, and that only, which they desire. All is slavery but the service of God; all is bondage but that law which accords with the supreme wish of the soul, and where commands accord with the perfect desires of the heart.
(2) This is glorious liberty. It is encompassed with majesty; attended with honor; crowned with splendor. The heavenly world is often described as a state of glory; Note, Romans 2:10.
Of the children of God - That the children of God shall enjoy.

Copyright Statement
These files are public domain.
Bibliographical Information
Barnes, Albert. "Commentary on Romans 8:21". "Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible". https://www.studylight.org/commentaries/bnb/romans-8.html. 1870.

More tidbits . . .

On the assumption that I have argued correctly, it has become apparent that Augustine’s original ‘perfect’ world was not creation in general but the Garden of Eden or womb of the race. Needless to say, it constituted paradise (cf. Ezek. 28:11-16). And the fact that it re-appears in enhanced form in Revelation 22 confirms this and should not surprize us. It was regained by Jesus who alone achieved perfection. As he himself intimated, he descended in order to ascend (John 3:13; 6:62) with his sheep behind him (John 10:4; Rom. 8:28-30).
The creation or harsh outside world that confronted Adam in Genesis 3 when he emerged from the Garden of Eden, the womb of the race, is essentially the same as the one sketched by Paul in Romans 8:18-25 and is part of our present experience. Its futility, corruption and eventual destruction were part of the divine purpose from the start and like the law (Dt. 8:2,16, etc.) designed to test mankind (Gen. 1:26-28, cf. Rom. 2:7,10). Death and decay are natural, that is, divinely intended, and are characteristic of this ‘evil’ age (Rom. 8:18; 2 Cor. 4:16-18) from which we must escape either by law-keeping, which is impossible, or by faith in Jesus (Gal. 1:4). In light of this, sin and curse must be seen as exacerbating factors, signs of human failure (cf. Heb. 12:1). While change has occurred and continues to occur, not least in our own bodies, it is the result of the passage of time, . . . natural corruption and deterioration including wear and tear (cf. Mt. 6:19f.; Col. 2:22; Heb. 1:10-12). But alongside this there has been blessing and the positive contribution of faithful man in his maturity, that is, his commitment to civilisation, the well-being of human society and final salvation in Christ, who alone conquered the world (John 16:33; Heb. 2:9), achieved perfection (Heb. 5:9) and proved worthy (Rev. 5:9,12-14).

 

And I think that is enough for anyone to chew on a while! You honestly might need to rethink your views on the Fall and the Curse. I have!

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