Joy to the … world?

Romans 8.18-23 The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the
glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the
revealing of the sons of God. … We know that the whole creation has been groaning
together in the pains of childbirth until now. 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.

Here in Romans 8, we see Paul marshal a laser-specific metaphor to describe both our
condition in these current bodies and the condition all of creation is in:

Labor pains.

He says childbirth is a metaphor for the trials of this life and the suffering creation
experiences. In other words, our eventual resurrection—i.e. “the redemption of our
bodies”—is like the moment of giving birth…which comes only after the hardship of
labor.
 
Such a rich and cool metaphor!
 
Think about it:
 
Is labor painful and difficult?
 
Yes, 1,000,000%. It is excruciating.
 
So (often) is life.
 
But notice: how are labor pains different from other pains? What’s unique about the pain
of contractions, labor, etc.? How are those pains different than, say, a headache, or a
sprained ankle?
 
For one, labor pains are not chronic. They do not last forever. They are definitely not
finite.
 
Not only that, but they’re full of purpose, aren’t they? They are not arbitrary or
meaningless. There’s a very knowable and important reason behind them. Everyone in
the delivery room, from the mom to the husband to the doctor to the nurses,
understands labor pains in light of the soon-to-come birth.
 
And, crucially (this is the part that thrills me to consider, especially fresh on my mind
after the recent birth of our son), labor pains build toward something. They’re climactic.
There’s an obvious destination they lead to. A goal. A result the mom and everyone else

are breathlessly looking forward to (just stop and realize how much more excruciating
labor pains would be if nobody knew why they were happening or what they were for).
 
And so it is with our lives, and the adversity and misadventures we encounter!
 
The worst thing a woman could believe in the throes of labor is that all her horrible pain
was for naught. Yet how often do we slip into that mindset with our lives?
 
Because a woman knows that her joy will overwhelmingly eclipse her pain, and that a
few hours of labor—as eternal as they must feel—pale in comparison to years and
decades of having a child, she is able to bravely dig deep and persevere through the
agony.
 
Paul says that not only do we “groan inwardly” with the pains of childbirth, but
similarly all of creation groans together with us in those pains, and “waits with eager
longing” for what’s to come.
 
Amazing! The entire natural world is waiting with bated breath, enduring its current
circumstances, knowing that all-surpassing joy is coming.
 
Just like each contraction brings a woman one step closer to birth, each sorrow and trial
that we experience goes in the history books, never to occur again, and brings us that
much closer to the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21), when pain and death will be
forever done away with (1 Corinthians 15:24-26; Revelation 21:4).
 
“The sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be
revealed to us” (Romans 8:18).
 
“This light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all
comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).
 
The Creator has not given up on his handiwork. Like a dramatic but astoundingly
beautiful symphony, all of creation is laboring toward a crescendo, a resolution, a
climax, a glorious outcome!
I love the way Isaac Watts captures this glorious future in the classic hymn, “Joy to the
World”:

Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let Earth receive her King;
Let every heart prepare him room,
And heaven and nature sing,
And heaven, and heaven, and nature sing.
Joy to the world! the Saviour reigns;
Let men their songs employ;

While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains
Repeat the sounding joy,
Repeat, repeat the sounding joy.
 
Over and over and over in scripture we read that there is so much to look forward to.
Even though none of us can fully understand the future and what exactly will happen,
what we can and should bank on is this: thanks to the resurrection of Jesus and his
climactic victory over the grave, righteousness and justice and truth will ultimately win
out. There’s so much good ahead!
 
“The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover
the sea” (Habakkuk 2:14).
 
When life is excruciating, cling to the hope of what is to come. There is purpose in your
pain.
 
The entire universe (including your very own body) is straining toward a wonderful
outcome.
Joy is on the way.
 
Delivery is coming!

Garrett Haley is a native Texan and serves as a deacon at his local assembly in Lubbock, TX. He enjoys reading, writing blog posts, traveling, leading church discussion groups, and pondering life’s deep questions. Preaching on occasion and organizing church get-togethers are a couple of his other favorite areas of service.