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A Groaning Creation


“For we know that the whole creation groans together


and travails in pain together until now.”


(Romans 8:22)


It is probably a puzzle to many why on the one hand we live in a wonderful and beautiful world and on the other we have pain and sorrow in abundance.

Taking the first point first we know that if we look up in the sky in the daytime we see a varied scenario: clouds moving across the sky making changing patterns; a Sun which sheds its light on us and gives warmth to us all (Ecclesiastes 11:7). On a stormy day we will quite likely see a beautiful rainbow. At night, when the sky is clear we may see and wonder at the stellar heavens (Psalm 8:3/4). There are the northern lights which may be seen sometimes by those who live in or near the arctic circle. On the earth we have a varying landscape: mountains, hills, valleys and flat lands. There are rivers and streams that run down to the sea . There are sea shores where children and adults can enjoy their holidays, whether swimming, playing or just relaxing. Then there is the immensely varied flora and fauna which we all enjoy. The former covers all the vegetable creation, whether trees, flowers or simply grasses. Some provide us with food. Then there are the birds, fishes, reptiles, insects and mammals with which the world teems. All these things make our life interesting and enjoyable (Psalm 104). They give almost endless interest to those with a scientific bent. There are also the layers in the earth to be explored as well as the layers in the air above us. There are light waves, radio waves and so on which all contribute to the well-being of the whole system.

The creation as briefly sketched above was brought into being by God as we are told in Genesis chapters 1 and 2. Not that all the detail is laid out before us there, but what we have is a succinct account. Most of us would not have understood what was being put before us if we were told about gamma rays, ozone layers and things like that. The two chapters mentioned are largely confined to telling us about what we can see. How angels came into being, and when, we are not told. It will be noticed that chapter 1 focuses mainly on the preparation of the world for the habitation of man, culminating in his creation (even

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