All of Creation Groans

For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God (Romans 8:19-21).

The theme of this painting is a promise from God that turns the conventional expectation of spending eternity in a celestial heaven on its head—a celestial heaven being a Platonic corruption of the Scriptural teaching. Creation groans for the revelation of Christ’s second coming because it was also subject to the curse that God placed on man. The promise is that the Creation as well as the Spirit-filled children of God will be redeemed, liberated, and rewarded with gloriously uncorrupted eternal life here on the New Heaven on Earth, the New Jerusalem.

In the painting, the mannequin with the dove perched on its chest represents the Spirit-filled child of God. The sunflowers in full bloom represent Creation groaning for its redemption, the seeds hold forth the hope for the renewal of all things. God’s will can be delayed by the sin of man but it will never fail.