To answer your good question, let’s read Romans 8:18-23, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”

Romans 8 is such a special chapter. It begins with ‘no condemnation’ in verse 1, and ends with ‘no separation’ in verses 38-39. In between are verses filled with words of benefit to all believers. In verse 18, the Apostle Paul assures us that no matter what we have to suffer through or endure, the ‘glory which shall be revealed in us’ is far, far greater. The suffering just cannot be compared to the greatness of the glory. In anticipation of that glory, we look for and long for that day of our manifestation as the children of God in glory. That will happen when our blessed savior manifests Himself to the world at the end of the seven-year Tribulation Period. We read in Colossians 3:4, “When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory.”

All creation, or every creature, cries and struggles, eagerly looking for and longing for that coming day when the creature is delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. Creation was put into the place of corruption and death through the fall of man when Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. But it was not subjected to this without hope. The hope of a fallen creation is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is both the Creator of all things and the Redeemer of all those who put their faith in Him. There is a sense of eternity in all men’s hearts, even those who have rejected the Lord Jesus as their savior. We read in Ecclesiastes 3:11, “He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts…” (NKJV). However, it is only those who trust in the Lord who will realize the glory of “the manifestation of the sons of God.”

When the Lord comes in His glory, and establishes His 1000 year reign on the earth, all creation will be delivered from the curse of sin. We read in Isaiah 11:6-9, “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice’ den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.”

May we be encouraged to endure hardships for the sake of the Lord. The day is coming when all suffering will be done away with, and we will sing along with the hymn writer who wrote:

It will be worth it all when we see Jesus,

Life’s trials will seem so small when we see Christ;

One glimpse of His dear face all sorrow will erase,

So bravely run the race till we see Christ. (169.4)