By Steven J. Hogan
~ A Saturday Morning Post #191 ~
What’s going to happen to this earth? Will there ever be a nuclear holocaust that affects the whole world? Will a massive meteor shower suddenly wipe out the world? Will there ever be climate change so severe that it results in the destruction of this earth? Will a huge geomagnetic storm wreck the entire planet? Will this physical earth stay like it is, or will it somehow and someday dramatically change, or be changed? I am sure many of you have thought about questions like these. In this blog post, I usually focus on the future of people, but what about the future of this planet? What does God have to say about this? This is what He tells us:
Romans 8:19 – “The anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.” This word “creation” isn’t referring to mankind, but rather to this physical earth, to animals, plants, rivers, seas, fish, plains, mountains, heavenly bodies, etc. Figuratively speaking, the creation is longing and waiting for that time when believers are revealed and seen by the world, and then everything will change for the good.
Romans 8:20 – “The creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope…” Why is creation anxiously longing? Because it was subjected to futility, to vanity, to emptiness. That is, the creation does not presently exist as God intended it to be. A long time ago, when Adam and Eve lived in the garden of Eden (Gen. 1-2), everything was good, and in fact, everything was perfect. Then Adam and Eve sinned, and they spiritually died, and all creation was cursed (Gen. 3). The world was no longer perfect, and it was not creation’s fault, it was man’s fault. But God was sovereign over man’s sin, for his sin and its consequences are part of His eternal plan for mankind and creation.
Romans 8:21 – “… the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” Because of Adam and his sin, the physical earth has been corrupted. There is decay, disease, and death. There are forest fires and fire ants. There are tornadoes, hurricanes, and earthquakes. There is pollution and there are poisons. Animals fight other animals, and birds sing in a minor key. And when I was recovering from back surgery this past June, my garden rapidly filled up with weeds. These are just a few examples of a world that has been cursed and corrupted because of man’s sin.
Romans 8:22 – “We know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pain of childbirth until now.” The creation is in an impossible situation, for it is still enslaved to corruption, and therefore is groaning and grieving. Though this verse was written about 2000 years ago, the creation is still suffering the pains of childbirth. But God is faithful to His promise, and that He has gathered a great number of Jewish people back to Israel means we now live in the end-times, and it won’t be long before the birth of a renovated and remodeled earth.
Here are some important things to know about you and planet earth:
1.People living on earth should be good stewards and, environmentally speaking, take care of this earth. We should do what we can to keep the air and water clean. We should not be wasteful, but conserve and reuse what God has given us. Gen. 2:15
2. The problems in our physical world are partly because people are not good stewards, but primarily because of Adam’s sin resulting in God’s curse upon this planet. Gen. 3:17-18
3. Even though the earth is physically corrupted, we still see the beauty, goodness, and glory of God. The creation is a visible testimony of God’s power and divine nature. Psalm 104, Rom. 1:20
4. Man should not worship the world, but only the One who created the world. Rom. 1:20-23
5. As much as we should be good stewards, man must realize that he cannot fix this world, he cannot reverse the curse and the resulting corruption. For example, during this age, there will always be spring and summer (life) followed by fall and winter (death). Rom. 3:23, Gal, 1:4
6. Neither man nor creation will bring ultimate destruction to this world. The destiny of this earth is not in the hands of man, but in the hands of God. Eph. 1:9-11, Rev. 8-9, Rev. 21
7. After believers are glorified, the world will be set free from the curse of sin, and the corruption we now see and experience (Rom. 8:21). This occurs at “the revealing of the sons of God” (Rom. 8:20), which will happen at the beginning of the next age. “When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.” Col. 3:4
8. Man’s restoration to righteousness will result in the restoration of the earth. Rom. 8:17-25
Acts 3:19-21 – “… and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things.” When Christ returns from heaven, He will restore, will set in order all things, which includes the creation. In Matt. 19:29 we read, “… you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man shall sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” The word “regeneration,” used in Titus 3:5 to refer to the new birth of Christians, is used here to refer to the rebirth of the earth at the time of Christ’s second coming. As Jesus told the apostles, this will take place when God is “restoring the kingdom to Israel.” Acts 1:6
What will this new earth be like? “Although it will not yet be a totally new earth (Rev. 21:1), it will nevertheless be wonderfully superior to the present fallen and unredeemed earth.” (John MacArthur’s commentary on Matthew 19:28 – p. 204). This earth will be dramatically different during the 1000-year kingdom age, when Christ reigns over the world, the twelve apostles rule over Israel, and the believers reign over the rest of the earth (Rev. 5:10). Indeed, this present earth is “waiting eagerly” for the “revealing of the sons of God.” Rom. 8:19
The Old Testament describes what this restored earth will look like. Psalm 65:8-9 – “You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy. You visit the earth and cause it to overflow; You enrich it greatly.” Psalm 67:6 – “The earth has yielded its produce; God, our God, blesses us.” Psalm 96:11 – “Let the heavens be glad and the sea rejoice.” Psalm 98:8 – “Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy.” Isaiah 35:1, 7 – “The wilderness and the desert will be glad, and the Arabah will rejoice and blossom… The scorched land will become a pool.” Isaiah 55:12 – “… The mountains and the hills will break forth into shouts of joy before You, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.” Isaiah 65:17 – “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.” Isaiah 65:25 – “The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.” Joel 3:18 – “In that day the mountains will drip with sweet wine, and the hills will flow with milk, and all the brooks of Judah will flow with water.” Habakkuk 2:14 – “The earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.” This is great news! The creation really has something to look forward to, but so do the Christians. Rom. 8:23 – “Not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.”
P.S. It is so wonderful to know that we have a future, and that this earth also has a future. There is much in the book of Psalms about what God has in store for us, the Jewish believers, and this planet. You can learn a lot more about this by reading my three articles on Psalms and how it relates to prophecy – here is one of them: “Prophecy Psalms for the Jews and for You – Part 2.”