8:22 whole creation. The reference to “the whole creation” indicates that the divine curse extends through the entire created cosmos, not just to the earth. Scientific observation has apparently confirmed this. That is, the law of entropy operates throughout the cosmos. Since it was man’s sin that brought God’s curse on the ground—that is, the very elements of the created earth, the “dust of the ground” (Genesis 2:7) out of which all things were made by God—it may be that his sin had universal repercussions. On the other hand, it may be that Satan’s sin, which took place in the angels’ domain in the heavens, brought on the curse there.

8:22 groaneth and travaileth. The creation is now travailing like a woman about to deliver children. Its delivery into the glorious new age to come is thus associated with the manifestation of the children of God.