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I. THE GOSPEL GIVES US ASSURANCE OF A MOST EXCELLENT AND HAPPY STATE RESERVED FOR GOOD MEN IN ANOTHER LIFE, described in the text by these two characters; of its being the manifestation of the sons of God, and a state of the most glorious liberty.

1. Let us consider this future happy state which the gospel describes as the manifestation of the sons of God. Good men are the sons of God upon a double account, viz., of their nature, and of their state; each of which is becoming that high title of the children of God. In respect of that new nature of which they are partakers, they are justly styled the children of God; He being both the Author and the Pattern of it. Are they regenerate or born again? it is of God (1 John 5:1; 1 Peter 1:23; John 3:5).

2. It is farther represented as a state of glorious liberty. This most desirable freedom is indeed begun in the present life; for where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty: but then, as long as men continue in this world it is only begun.

(1) Since the future state of good men will be so glorious, what reason have they to bear all the sufferings of the present time with a contented mind.

(2) Since such is the glory of that future state, in which there shall be a manifestation of the sons of God, it should be a powerful motive with them to hasten more towards it in their desires and preparations.

(3) Since such is the honour and privilege of all good men who are now the sons of God, and since such will be their happiness when the time is come for their fuller manifestation, would not one think that all should be desirous of this character, and resolve to do everything which may entitle them to it? Would not one think that the kingdom of heaven should suffer violence, and that all who hear of such a state should be hastening into it in crowds?

II. THE PRESENT STATE OF MANKIND IS A STATE OF VANITY, AND BONDAGE TO CORRUPTION.

1. In the present life, mankind are subject to many fruitless desires and expectations.

2. The present is a state of suffering. "Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards." Who can pretend to reckon up the several sorts of pains and diseases to which the body of man is liable? or the many disagreeable accidents and mournful events to which we are continually exposed, and which so often befall us in the course of life?

3. The present is a state of great moral weakness and disorder. The fall has introduced a sort of anarchy into the human frame: the passions are broke loose, and the mind has not that command over the appetites and inclinations of the animal part which it were to be wished, and which we believe the mind enjoyed in the state of innocence.

4. This is a state which quickly passes away, or, which is the same, out of which we quickly pass by death into another, in every respect almost exceedingly different from the present.

III. TO THIS VAIN AND CORRUPTIBLE STATE, MANKIND WERE ORIGINALLY BROUGHT INTO SUBJECTION, NOT BY THEMSELVES, BUT BY ANOTHER. By him who subjected the creature to vanity, may be meant either the first man by his transgression, or God for the sin of man; I rather incline to the latter, though the difference is not very material. Such honour had man in his creation, that God subjected to him, or put under his feet, all other things. Such was the unhappy consequence of man's offending God, that from henceforth man himself becomes subject to vanity. But how shall we vindicate this dispensation of Divine providence?

1. As to the justice of God, the case to any one who rightly considers it is attended with no difficulty at all. This dominion of God, or right to take away what He has given, or to withhold from some of His creatures what He gives to others, is as unquestionable as in the exercise it is uncontrollable. And as the dominion of God or His right to put mankind into what state or circumstances He pleases is indisputable, so He never exercises this supreme dominion of His without good reason.

2. To vindicate the wisdom and goodness of God in this dispensation.

(1) In respect of the chief consequences of the fall, God does little more than leave things to produce their natural effects.

(2) Supposing God had interposed in a supernatural way, directing and overruling the course of things, so that the posterity of Adam should suffer no inconvenience by his fall; yet in that case it cannot be imagined their condition would have been fixed without their having first gone through a state of probation, which must have been suited to the nature and advantages they would then have enjoyed. There might have been no room for repentance after they had sinned, and the reward of their obedience, if they had persevered to the end, might not have been so great, as the reward of the virtuous now will be. Which being considered, it may be justly questioned whether, on this supposition, the circumstances of mankind upon the whole would have very much exceeded those in which they now are, if at all.

(3) If it has pleased God to subject the race of mankind to a state of vanity and corruption, it does, in many respects, better answer the ends of a state of trial. Every virtue, both active and passive, such as self-denial, fortitude, benevolence, charity, compassion, and the like, have now room for exercise, which they would not in a state of perfect ease and tranquillity.

(4) God suits His government of man and dealings with him to the state he is now in. If he has given less to the posterity of fallen man than he did to their first parents, He requires less of them. Are we weak? He knows it, and expects no more from us than He hath given us, or, upon our humble application to Him, will give us strength to perform.

(5) There is this advantage in the present state as a state of vanity, and corruption, that it carries in it a continual admonition to turn our thoughts and affections towards a better state, and to be more diligent in our preparations for it.

(6) We may reasonably conceive God has the rather chosen the present scheme of things, because hereby He has an opportunity of dispensing His justice and bounty in two most remarkable acts of providence which occur in His dealings with mankind: His justice in punishing the sin of the first Adam and all his descendants; His bounty in rewarding the obedience unto death of the second Adam.

IV. IN THIS STATE OF VANITY, UNDER WHICH THE WHOLE MORAL CREATION OR WORLD OF MANKIND GROANETH AND TRAVAILETH IN PAIN TOGETHER, THE HUMAN RACE HAS AN EARNEST EXPECTATION OR DESIRE OF A CONDITION MORE PERFECT AND HAPPY.

1. All creatures naturally tend to their perfection, so does the race of mankind in particular; and the future state of the saints in the text, styled the "manifestation of the sons of God," importing the highest perfection to which the nature of man can be advanced; with the greatest propriety, men who are reasonable creatures and breathe after immortality may be said to wait for such a state, though they are far from having a distinct idea of it.

2. In proportion as any of the sons of men have improved their rational faculties, and lived up to the light they have enjoyed, this desire of perfection and happiness has been more ardent and more explicit.

V. MEN HAVE NOT BEEN WITHOUT THE HOPE OF SUCH A HAPPY ALTERATION IN THEIR STATE, WHICH IN THE TEXT IS EXPRESSLY ASSENTED AND PROMISED.

1. Mankind have always been possessed with the hope of a better state of things than the present. They have not only desired it, but hoped for it. Now hope implies some degree of belief that the thing desired will come to pass. And such a belief has obtained in all ages.

2. God has given men some ground for this hope, though He was pleased to permit sin, suffering, imperfection. To this effect was the very first promise after the fall. But besides this first promise, God, as the God of nature, the Author of reason, and the Governor of the world by His universal providence, has encouraged men to hope they shall, some time or other, be freed from that vanity and corruption to which, in this mortal state, they are subjected. By the large capacities and faculties of the human soul, to which the things of this world bear no manner of proportion, and which, in our present circumstance, have not an opportunity to unfold and show themselves, God plainly points us to another life, where all who behave well in the state of trial shall attain to much higher degrees of perfection and happiness.

III. This hope is raised into assurance by the Christian revelation. APPLICATION:

1. Let this lead us into proper reflections on the nature of man, and of his present condition, and excite in us affections and purposes suitable to such reflections.

2. Let what we have heard raise our value for the gospel of Christ. We are to be thankful for our natural hopes, but especially for those which we derive from the gospel revelation, which are at once the strongest, the most extensive, and the most satisfying.

(H. Grove, M.A.)

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KJV: For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

WEB: For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.