“All Creation Keeps On Groaning”—Why?
THE first man and woman turned their backs on God. But having gained the “liberation” they wanted, they now had to manage affairs as best they could. They soon discovered that their best was far from good enough. Inexperience and limited knowledge led to problems.
That is why many of us have become victims of discrimination or injustice. That is why all of us have come into bondage to human imperfections, why we get sick, suffer abnormal physical and mental pain, and shed tears of sorrow. Or, as expressed in Bible language, that is why “all creation keeps on groaning together and being in pain together until now.”—Romans 8:22.
Man’s first liberation attempt thus turned out to be one that enslaved him. For 60 centuries now, he has been trying to liberate himself from its bad effects. But with what success?
Political Liberation
Man has experimented with all kinds of government. Those oppressive or unjust, or that failed to meet the people’s immediate needs, have been discarded or even violently overthrown and replaced by others—but with dubious results.
Journalist Lance Morrow, speaking about political revolutions, observes: “History has paraded past too many utopian dramas of transformation that ended by being as totalitarian, as murderous, as the regimes that they swept away—triumphs of hopeful zealotry over experience.”
Replacing one imperfect government with another is hardly the ideal way to bring about real liberation. Hence, wise King Solomon was divinely inspired to write: “Man has dominated man to his injury.” (Ecclesiastes 8:9) Obviously, “all creation [will keep] on groaning together and being in pain” until perfect government makes liberation from imperfect rule a reality.
Liberation From National and Racial Discrimination
Racial or national prejudices directly contradict the Bible truths that God “made out of one man every nation of men” and that “God is not partial, but in every nation the man that fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him.” (Acts 17:26; 10:34, 35) But those seeking equal treatment have often failed to find it, even in nations professing to be Christian.
For example, consider the black race. Some so-called Christians claim that black skin color is the result of a divine curse placed upon Canaan and his descendants, consigning them to a position of servitude. In this they err. The black race descended not from Canaan but from Cush and possibly Put. And no curse was placed upon either of them.—Genesis 9:24, 25; 10:6.
Despite this fact, blacks have often found themselves socially and economically downtrodden even by fellow blacks. They have longed for liberation. But their liberation movements, despite sit-ins and protest marches, have brought only partial success. Unable to change hearts fully, they have failed to wipe out racial prejudice, religious ignorance, and lack of neighbor love.
So “all creation [will keep] on groaning together and being in pain” until racial discrimination is wiped out by God’s Kingdom through Christ.
The Liberation of Women
Down through the centuries, women have been mistreated and often considered to be second-rate humans. This is no fault of their Creator. He did not create the woman in order for man to view her simply as a sex object. Neither was the man instructed to tyrannize over her. As man’s wife, she was to be his “helper,” to serve “as a complement of him,” to become “one flesh” with him.—Genesis 1:26-28; 2:18-24.
Eve’s desire for independence from God’s loving authority resulted not in freedom but in harsh subjugation. Foreseeing this, God foretold: “Your craving will be for your husband, and he will dominate you.” (Genesis 3:16) For many women, imperfect male domination has been most unpleasant, and a number of feminist movements have tried to shake it off.
But the Women’s Liberation Movement, while effecting some changes for the better, has failed because it is contrary to the balanced liberation that God promises. “All creation [will keep] on groaning together and being in pain” until God’s Kingdom teaches all men to love “their wives as their own bodies” and to treat “older women as mothers, younger women as sisters with all chasteness.”—Ephesians 5:28; 1 Timothy 5:2.
Before explaining how that day will come, we must deal with another important question. Just how should Christians view today’s liberation movements?
[Blurb on page 4]
Replacing one imperfect government with another imperfect one is no solution for bringing about real liberation
[Blurb on page 5]
Civil disobedience, sit-ins, and protest marches do not change hearts
[Blurb on page 5]
The Women’s Liberation Movement has failed because it is contrary to the balanced liberation that God promises