Fear took hold upon them there, and pain, as of a woman in travail.
~ Psalm 48:6
For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope,
~ Romans 8:20
By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
~ Hebrews 11:7
The Whole Creation Of God Is Against You, by Joseph Alleine. The following contains a short excerpt from Chapter Five, “The Miseries of the Unconverted”, of his work, “An Alarm to the Unconverted”. Published in 1671.
2. The whole creation of God is against you. “The whole creation,” says Paul, “groans and travails in pain” (Rom. 8:22). But what is it that the creation groans under? The fearful abuse it is subject to in serving the lusts of unsanctified men. And what is it that the creation groans for? For freedom and liberty from this abuse; for the “creature is not willingly made subject to this bondage” (Rom. 8:20–21). If the irrational and inanimate creatures had speech and reason, they would cry out under it, as a bondage insufferable, to be abused by the ungodly, contrary to their natures and the ends that the great Creator made them for. It is a saying of an eminent divine, “The liquor that the drunkard drinks, if it had reason, like a man, to know how shamefully it is abused, would groan in the barrel against him, it would groan in the cup against him, groan in his throat, in his stomach against him; it would fly in his face, if it could speak. And if God should open the mouths of His creatures, as He did the mouth of Balaam’s ass, the proud man’s garment on his back would groan against him. There is not a creature, if it had reason to know how it is abused till a man be converted, but would groan against him. The land would groan to bear him, the air would groan to give him breath, their houses would groan to dislodge them, their beds would groan to ease them, their food to nourish them, their clothes to cover them, and the creature would groan to give them any help and comfort, so long as they live in sin against God”.
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