What is the "creation" of Colossians 1:23 and Romans 8:19-23?

The "creation" refers to Adamkind. The creation/Adamkind was subjected to the futility and vanity of physical and, ultimately, eternal death. God did not subject man to this vanity willingly, but in hope that man would search out God and repent from sin, and so attain to immortality through Jesus Christ.

There are two groups in the text: "they" and "ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit". "They" refers to the Gentiles. "Ourselves which have the first fruits of the Spirit" refers to Israelites. Israelites were the firstfruits of the Spirit by the gospel. (Jam. 1:18; Rev. 7:1-8; 14:4)

The "whole creation" equals "every nation" of the great commission (Mk. 16:15, 16) or all of Adamkind (Europe + MENA). All nations of men groaned and travailed in pain, waiting for "manifestation of the sons of God". Not "they" (Gentiles) only, but "we ourselves which have the first fruits of the Spirit" (Israelites).

All creation under heaven.

Jesus gave only ONE sign of the end.

"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matthew 24:14

“I challenge anyone to prove my statement untrue if I say that the entire jewish nation was destroyed less than one whole generation later on account of these sufferings which they inflicted on Jesus. For it was, I believe, forty-two years from the time when they crucified Jesus to the destruction of Jerusalem.”

- Origen, Contra Celsum, c. 200 A.D.

FIVE HAVE FALLEN...

Julius
Augustus
Tiberius
Gaius
Claudius

ONE IS...

Nero

ONE IS YET TO COME...

Vespasian

Revelation 17:10

Zechariah 11

1 Open your doors, O Lebanon, so that fire may devour your cedars!

10 Then I took my staff called Favor and broke it, revoking the covenant I had made with all the people.

14 Then I broke my second staff called Union, breaking the unity between Judah and Israel.

EPIPHANY (Appearance)

The Greek 'Epiphanea' (epiphanea) is from the verb Epiphaino, meaning to become visible or to appear, so this means "appearance" or "manifestation".

"But is now made manifest by the appearing [epiphanea] of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." (2 Timothy 1:10)

PAROUSIA (Presence)

From Koine Greek to English, Par is literally translated as ‘with’.  Ousia is literally translated as ‘essence’. Therefore, parousia should be understood as being ‘with essence‘ or, as it is sometimes translated into English, as being with ‘presence‘.

And when he is sitting on the mount of the Olives, the disciples came near to him by himself, saying, ‘Tell us, when shall these be? and what is the sign of thy presence [parousia], and of the full end of the age?’

for as the lightning doth come forth from the east, and doth appear unto the west, so shall be also the presence [parousia] of the Son of Man. (Matthew 24:3, 27)

The disciples asked Jesus "what is the sign of your parousia?"

In other words "how will we know you are here?"

If he was coming back physically, there wouldn't be any need for a sign.

THE SIGN OF THE SON OF MAN

At the birth of Christ, a star [Greek: aster] was seen in the east, which traveled west and stood over Bethlehem.

In 66 AD, Josephus records a star resembling a sword, which stood over Jerusalem. He also mentions the appearance of Halley's comet, which "continued for a year."

Halley's comet was also seen around the time of Christ's birth (11 BC). The Chinese also record a comet in the sky in 5 BC, which was seen for over 70 days.

And behold, the star which they saw in the east went before them until it had come and stood over where the child was.  (Matthew 2:1-2, 2:9-10)

So it was when a star, resembling a sword, stood over the city, and a comet which continued for a year." (War 6.5.4)

This star and/or comet not only signified the first coming of Christ, but also his second coming, in 66 AD.


Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. (Matthew 24:29-30)

THE CONSUMMATION OF THE AGES

"This Age" - Mosaic Age - Old Heaven and Earth

"The Age to Come" - Messianic Age - New Heaven and Earth

But now He [Jesus] has been revealed once at the consummation of the ages for the putting away of sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (Hebrews 9:26)

These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us [first century Christians], on whom the consummation of the ages has come. (1 Corinthians 10:11)


In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. (Hebrews 8:13)

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away. (Revelation 21:1)

Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
2 Corinthians 5:17

^ Deuteronomy 28: Curses for Disobedience Against God ^

If My people who are called by My name [Christians] will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

II Chronicles 7:14

“That John saw these visions in the reign of Nero, and that they were written by him during his banishment by that emperor, is confirmed by Theophylact, Andreas, Arethas, and others. We judge, therefore, that this book was written about A.D. 68, and this agrees with other facts of history.. There are also several statements in this book which can only be understood on the ground that the judgment upon Jerusalem was then future.”

- William Hurte, Catechetical Commentary: Edinburgh, Scotland, 1884

The 'Crown of Life' is only mentioned two times in the Bible.

Revelation 2:10 Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

James, the Brother of the Lord, died in A.D. 62. Did James read the book of Revelation prior to writing his letter to the 12 tribes?

“[The jews] are inveterate murderers, destroyers, men possessed by the devil… debauchery and drunkenness have given them the manners of pigs and lusty goats. They know only one thing, to satisfy their gullets, get drunk, to kill and maim one another. They murder their offspring and immolate them to the devil …The jewish disease must be guarded against. The Christian’s duty is to hate the jews.

jews are impure and impious, and their synagogue is a house of prostitution, a lair of beasts, a place of shame and ridicule, the domicile of the devil, as is the soul of the jew. As a matter of fact, jews worship the devil; their rites are criminal and unchaste; their religion a disease; their synagogue an assembly of crooks, a den of thieves, a cavern of devils, an abyss of perdition!

The synagogue is a brothel, a den of scoundrels, the temple of demons devoted to idolatrous cults, a criminal assembly of jews, a place of meeting for the assassins of Christ!"

- St. John Chrysostom, 347-409 A.D.

"We may thus assert in utter confidence that the jews will not return to their earlier situation, for they have committed the most abominable of crimes, in forming this conspiracy against the Savior of the human race…hence the city where Jesus suffered was necessarily destroyed, the jewish nation was driven from its country, and another people was called by God to the blessed election."

- Origen of Alexandria, 185-254 A.D.

"Yes, you jews. I say, do I address you; you, who till this very day, deny the Son of God. How long, poor wretches, will ye not believe the truth? Truly I doubt whether a jew can really be human… I lead out from its den a monstrous animal, and show it as a laughing stock in the amphitheater of the world, in the sight of all the people. I bring thee forward, thou jew, thou brute beast, in the sight of all men."

- Peter the Venerable, 1092-1156 A.D.