LIFE GERM HIDDEN IN OUR SOULS
by thebaileydrink – MERRY TUESDAY – with Parris
Romans 8:19 “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.”I found this gem of a word the other day in the writings of the Apostle Paul. He only mentions the word twice in his writings. The Greek word “apokaradokia” (ap-ok-ar-ad-ok-ee’-ah) is translated in the KJV Bible as “earnest expectation”. It is a composite of 3 Greek words. “Apo” means looking to the future. “Kara” means head. “Dokeo” means think with certainty. When you put all 3 Greek words together, the meaning is we are looking to the future, using our heads and knowing something is absolutely going to happen. Weymouth Translation says, “For all creation, gazing eagerly as if with outstretched neck, is waiting and longing to see the manifestation of the sons of God.” “Is it not most spiritual, holy, and glorious? With outstretched neck we are looking for the sunny coast towards which we are voyaging. With earnest expectation we are watching for the signs of his approach, who will restore all things: “Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God, and our Savior Jesus Christ.” Octavius Winslow
To break it down even more, “This intense expectation fosters earnest longing to see Jesus – portrayed as an Olympic runner straining forward to the end-goal with “head outstretched”! This also means turning away from what is lesser, to lay hold of the greater. Lightfoot suggesting “abstraction and absorption”. “This abstraction – from anything else that might engage the attention – it is absorbed in the expected object “till the fulfillment is realized” (H. Alford). Are you getting this!!!
We could say constancy in expecting, to wait for in suspense, to look forth from ones post, persistent expectation. Calvin said, “That the faithful may open their eyes to behold the invisible life, though as yet it lies hid under a mean garb.” And last but not least McClaren likened this as a life germ for he said, “They have a life-germ hidden in their souls, which in its very nature is destined to fill and expand their whole being, and to permeate with its triumphant energy every corner of their nature. But it is weak and often overborne by its opposite. The seed sown is to grow in spite of bad weather and a poor soil and many weeds, and though it is destined to overcome all these, it may to-day only be able to show on the surface a little patch of pale and struggling growth.”
“That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy. Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along.” Rom. 8:24