VIII. THE REDEEMERS RETURN IS NECESSITATED BY THE LAMENTATION OF ALL CREATION.
The effects of the Fall have been far-reaching -
"By one man sin entered the world" (Rom. 5:12). Not only was the entire
human family involved but the whole "Kosmos" was affected. When Adam and Eve
sinned, God not only pronounced sentence upon them and the Serpent but He
cursed the ground as well - "And unto Adam He said, Because thou hast hearkened
unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded
thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it, Cursed is the ground for thy
sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life: thorns also
and thistles shall it bring forth to thee" (Gen. 3:17, 18). These words
suggest a solemn and far-reaching line of thought - Sin not only brings
punishment to the actual transgressor but it also involves others in its
terrible consequences. The punishment which was meted out to the
antediluvians was not limited to the human family, it fell upon the lower
orders of creation as well - all were swept away by the flood! The
judgments which God sent upon the haughty Pharaoh extended to the fishes in the
rivers and the cattle in the fields as well as to all his subjects! When the
Angel of Death passed through the land of the Nile, he slew all the first-born
of beasts as well as the first-born of the Egyptians (Ex. 12:12). When
Jehovah's wrath visited the land of Palestine in the days of Israel's apostasy
it descended upon the animal kingdom as well as the human, for we read, "How do
the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have
no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate" (Joel 1:18). And
again, "How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither
for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed,
and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end" (Jer.
12:4).
To what extent the entire universe has suffered
the evil consequences of sin it is impossible to say, but certain it is that
they are not limited to our earth. Adam was not the first offender, for before
his fall Satan also had apostatized from his Maker. What other worlds were
affected by Satan's fall Scripture does not inform us, yet we may infer
from those principles which are revealed in God's Word that the awful
consequences of Satan's rebellion were far-reaching in their scope.
Astronomical observation reveals the fact that there are numbers of far-distant
worlds upon which no life exists, while Scripture speaks of "wandering stars."
The moon is a ruined planet where Death holds absolute sway and death is the
wages of sin. If then Adam's transgression brought down upon the earth
which he inhabited a curse from God, may we not soberly conclude that the fall
of the highest of all God's creatures brought down a Divine curse upon those
worlds over which he may have exercised a delegated rulership? Be this as it
may, Scripture does reveal the fact that the consequences of sin have
reached far beyond the four corners of our earth. We read "The heavens
are not clean in His sight" (Job 15:15), and again, in Rom. 8:22 we are
told, "For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in
pain together until now."
In the last mentioned Scripture we learn that the
whole creation is in pain and misery. Surely this is abnormal. Surely
things were not like this at the beginning, nor were they;' and surely things
will not continue thus for ever, nor will they. We quote now the entire
passage in which the above statement is found - "For I reckon that the
sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory
which shall be revealed to usward. For the earnest expectation of the creation
waiteth for the revealing of the Sons of God. For the creation was subjected
to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of Him who subjected it in hope
that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption
into the liberty of the glory of the children of God" (Rom.8:18-21, R. V.).
The order of thought here appears to be as follows:- The whole of God's
creation, which is directly concerned and connected with our earth, (The "whole
creation" can not be taken absolutely for the unfallen angels must be
excluded) suffered the consequences of Adam's sin, being brought under the
bondage of corruption as the direct result. But this "bondage" is not to last
for ever. A hope is set before creation: a promise has been
given that it shall be "delivered" and in expectation of the fulfillment
of this promise and the realization of this hope creation now "waits." The
"hope" of creation is linked with "the manifestation of the sons of God" and
"the liberty of their glory." The sons of God will be manifested or revealed
with their Redeemer at the time of His Return for it is written "When
Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear
with Him in glory" (Col. 3:4). It is at the Second Coming of Christ, His
return in "glory" that His people shall enter into the liberty of their
glory. Then will it be that creation shall be delivered from its present
bondage of corruption. Thus we learn that though the whole creation has
suffered in consequence of sin, yet shall it soon share in the glorious
benefits of the Death of Christ who came to put away sin by the sacrifice of
Himself. How clear then is the need of our Redeemer's Return! None
but creation's Creator (John 1:3) can emancipate it from its sufferings. Hence
we say that the present lamentations of Creation necessitate and demand the
personal Return of our Lord.