Into the Heart of Romans: A Deep Dive into Paul's Greatest Letter

by Tom Wright

One final question, which people ask from time to time. The scientists tell us that, according to their observations of the way things currently are, the present creation will eventually either cool down or heat up. It will either expand indefinitely into the vast cold emptiness of space, or (with the reassertion of gravitational force) rush back together again. The big chill, or the big crunch! How can we then believe that God will renew and restore it? The answer is that, in the present passage, God promises to do for the whole creation what he did for Jesus at Easter. Neither more nor less. Science will quite rightly tell you that when humans die, that’s it. Science studies the normal, repeatable evidence within the old creation. That’s its job. But the resurrection is the start of the new creation. And when we understand Easter the way Paul does – according to the scriptures, in fact! – we will see that it takes the same faith to believe in the eventual renewal of God’s world as it takes to believe that God raised Jesus from the dead.