How will creation be set free?

Explanation:

Paul explains in Romans 8:20 that the creation, which refers to sub-personal creation such as the earth, plants, animals, and stars, has been subjected to futility in the hope that it will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. So how will sub-personal creation obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God? Paul writes that creation will be set free from its bondage of corruption. That strongly suggests that sub-personal creation will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God by being restored. That is, creation will obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God not by being destroyed, but by being restored and transformed.⁵

Counterargument:

When Paul says that the sub-personal creation will be set free from bondage to decay, he likely has in mind the period known as the millennium. That is, Paul likely has in mind that there will be a first resurrection when believers are raised to reign with Christ for one thousand years in a creation that has been transformed and freed from bondage to decay (Revelation 20:4–6).⁶ Then, after the thousand-year reign, the creation may be destroyed and a new heaven and earth created.

Response to counterargument:

There are two problems with this counterargument. Given the apocalyptic genre of Revelation, it is not clear that Revelation 20:4–6 ought to be pressed for the kind of literalism offered above. Second, regardless of what one thinks of whether believers will reign with Christ for a literal thousand years, when Paul describes the creation being set free from bondage, there is simply no way to rule out that this refers to the eternal state of the new heavens and earth.⁷ That is, we know from Revelation 21:1–22:7 that there will be a new heavens and earth where believers will dwell with God. And this new heavens and earth may be this world transformed by being set free from its bondage to decay. So when Paul says the creation will be set free from its bondage to decay, it is plausible that he describes the transformation of this universe, which results in a new heavens and earth for eternity.

Explanation:

How will creation obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God? Likely, Paul means that the creation will be restored and transformed by being set free from its bondage to decay. In other words, God will not annihilate the current universe and create a new one for believers in the future, but he will transform the existing one. We can deduce this because there are other passages that hint at the idea that the creation will be restored. For example, in Isaiah 11:6–8 we read that when the branch of Jesse (Jesus) reigns, the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the cow shall graze with the bear, and the child shall play near the cobra’s nest. In other words, creation will be set free from its bondage to decay and restored. Likewise, in Colossians 1:20 we read that through Christ all things, whether in heaven or earth, will be reconciled to himself.⁸ In other words, creation will be restored.

Counterargument:

The passages offered are consistent with God’s annihilating the current universe and creating a new one. We want to know how the creation will be set free from its bondage to decay. According to this argument it will be set free by being restored, and the argument offers Isaiah 11:6–8 and Colossians 1:20 in support of this. Unfortunately for this view, another way for creation to be restored is by God annihilating the current universe and creating a new heavens and earth, which is also consistent with Isaiah 11:6–8 and Colossians 1:20. For if God destroys this universe and creates a new one, the wolf can dwell with the lamb, the bear with the ox, and so on. Further, when Paul in Colossians 1:20 refers to all things being reconciled to Christ, he has in mind that Christ has already done this through his death on the cross. In other words, the reconciliation is not a future event when the creation is transformed but has already happened. Of course, that does not rule out creation being transformed or destroyed and recreated, so Colossians 1:20 is simply not relevant to the question of how creation will be set free from its bondage to decay.

Response to counterargument:

While it is true that Isaiah 11:6–8 and Colossians 1:20 are consistent with the creation being both transformed and destroyed and recreated, there is nothing in this counterargument to favour the creation being destroyed. That is, this counterargument has not shown that the creation will be destroyed and recreated. Rather, it has simply pointed out that Isaiah 11:6–8 and Colossians 1:20 are consistent with multiple interpretations. Of course, since creation being restored is not ruled out, Isaiah 11:6–8 and Colossians 1:20, while not proving this interpretation, do support it.

Explanation:

When Paul says that the creation will be set free from its bondage to decay, we know that he means the universe will be completely destroyed by God. For there are other passages in Scripture that describe the destruction of the universe. In 2 Peter 3:10 we read that the day of the Lord will come like a thief, the heavens will pass away, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved. That suggests that God will destroy this universe before he creates a new one. Likewise, in Revelation 21:1 and Revelation 21:4–5 we read that the first heaven and earth pass away so that there is a new heaven and earth.¹¹ Since the former things have passed away, there will be no more crying, for God has made all things new. In other words, God has destroyed the old creation and made a new one.

Counterargument:

Peter does not say that God will destroy all of creation and create a new one. Rather, he says that the heavens will come to an end and the heavenly bodies will be dissolved. Still, it may be part of the transformation process of the creation for the heavens to pass away and the heavenly bodies to be dissolved. Of course, even if some elements will pass away and be dissolved, this does not mean that the entire universe will be destroyed. Likewise, when John writes that the first heavens and earth have passed away so that there is a new heavens and earth, he likely has in mind the same process that humans endure. And Scripture never says that humans will be completely destroyed, and then new humans will be created. Rather, we learn that the old sinful nature passes away and humans gain a new spiritual body at the resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:42, 1 Corinthians 15:50).¹² Similarly, the old creation passes away and is transformed at the resurrection. Thus, the creation is freed from its bondage to decay by being transformed and restored, not destroyed.

Explanation:

When Paul says the creation will be set free from its bondage to decay, he likely has in mind that creation will be destroyed and there will be a new creation. We can detect this because we learn about the new creation in several passages, including Isaiah 65:17 and Isaiah 66:22.¹³ Of course, creation has to do with God making something out of nothing, so if there is going to be a new creation, this implies that the old creation is set free from its bondage to decay by being destroyed. The old creation being destroyed makes room for the new creation out of nothing.

Counterargument:

That creation implies creating out of nothing is an unjustified assumption. We know from other passages that the transformation of an existing thing can also be referred to as a new creation. For example, Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5:17, If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. Likewise, in Galatians 6:15 Paul says that neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but a new creation. He is referring to believers being recreated by the Holy Spirit. So Paul refers to existing humans who believe in Christ and are renewed by the Holy Spirit as a new creation. So it is not the case that a new creation is always created out of nothing, which means that the new creation may not refer to this creation being destroyed and a new creation being made from nothing.

The weakness of this view is that it does not contend with the natural meaning of Romans 8:21. That is, this view tries to build a case by considering other New Testament passages that suggest that the universe will be destroyed and recreated, but in doing so it fails to contend with the meaning of Romans 8:21. For in Romans 8:21 Paul simply seems to say that the creation will be set free, not that it will be destroyed.