Contents of the hope. It makes no difference in meaning, whether we read ὅτι or διότι. αὐτὴ ἡ κτίσις : creation as well as man. ἡ δουλεία τῆς φθορᾶς : a system in which nothing continues in one stay, in which death claims everything, in which there is not even an analogy to immortality, is a system of slavery in subjection to “vanity,” with no high eternal worth of its own. From such a condition creation is to be emancipated; it is to share in the liberty which belongs to the glory of the children of God. When man's redemption is complete, he will find himself in a new world matching with his new condition (Isaiah 65:17; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1): this is Paul's faith, and the sighing of creation attests it.

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Old Testament