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Christian Community Reader's Digest

A publication of Christian Community Online -https://christiancommunity.online/

Christian Community Reader's Digest

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GOD’S PROMISE OF A NEW EARTH – A WORLD TO LONG FOR

By David Olawoyin

The world is an incredibly beautiful and wonderful place – at least potentially.

When Scripture tells us not to love the world, it does not mean the physical world, the earth. In Psalm 24:1, the two words, world and earth, are used rhetorically to refer to the same physical planet, which is said to belong to God. It is unlikely that God would tell us not to love something that belongs to him.

The world that we are warned against loving in 1 John 2:15-17 is the unbelieving world system and its values, methods, and aspirations, which are opposed to God's. It is the ungodly global order that continually disregards God. That was also what Christ referred to when he said, “My kingdom is not of this world” (John 18:36).

The physical world and the privilege of living in it are marvelous gifts. There are so many wonders of nature to behold, so many beautiful places to visit, so many charming cultures to experience, so many wonderful people to meet, so many natural resources to explore and exploit, so much to learn, understand, and apply, so many creative and gratifying things to do. Added to this is the wonderful privilege of worshipping and giving glory to God through all these earthly pleasures, which is the ultimate purpose of life.

The psalmist recognized this incomparable privilege of worshipping and living for God when he said, “One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple” (Psalm 27:4). The “house of the Lord” is an expansive idea. In its most comprehensive sense, it includes the entire world and universe (Isaiah 66:1). This is apparent from the fact that the Jerusalem Temple, commonly called the House of God in the Old Testament, had not been built at the time King David was supposed to have written the above psalm.

Unfortunately, despite the limitless possibilities for human adventure and glorious experience on earth, the present story of many is one in which, to use the words of the Preacher, “all his days are sorrowful, and his work burdensome; even in the night his heart takes no rest” (Ecclesiastes 2:23). Let’s make no mistake about it, even those who seem to “have it all” are not exempted from the tribulations common to man’s present earthly experience. The glossy appearances often mask uncertainties, inner conflicts, emotional turmoil, heaviness, failing relationships, the fear of sickness, loss, and death, haunting secrets, and diverse threats.

But it won’t always be this way! As the apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian Christians, “For the form of this world [the present world system, order, and experience] is passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:31). There is an expiration date for human sorrow on earth.

The earth and its fullness are indeed the Lord’s; he created them wonderfully, and he wanted us to fully enjoy them (Genesis 1:28; Genesis 1:31). However, like a virus that infects a computer system, sin and rebellion against God have corrupted the present world system, keeping man from fully experiencing God’s manifold gifts and goodness (Genesis 3:17-19).

But God has promised to remove the corruption and its sorrows from the earth. John wrote, “Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. . . And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men [here again is the cosmic house of God that the psalmist alluded to], and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. . . And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away’” (see Revelation 21:1-4).

Just as God has redeemed those who believe in Christ from the condemnation of sin and death (Romans 6:23; Ephesians 1:7-8; 1 Peter 1:18-19), so will he redeem the earth corrupted and compromised by man’s sin and rebellion. That was what Paul communicated to the Roman believers: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creation [the earth and all in it] eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God” (Romans 8:18-21).

All this goes to show that the eternal life God has promised the believer will be experienced here on earth. Just as the “new creation” or new life of the believer in Christ is not a different person but the “old man” redeemed and transformed by the Spirit of God (Romans 6:6; Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 5:17), so also is the “new earth” not a different planet but the present one redeemed and transformed into its intended magnificence.

It is in this promised new earth that all the glorious aspirations of the world that have remained elusive through millennia due to unbelief – global peace, security, and prosperity – be fully and gloriously realized according to God’s purpose. As Christ promised, “Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5).

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Christian Community Reader’s Digest is a publication of Christian Community Online. To visit or engage with us, https://christiancommunity.online/.

For audio or to read online with Bible and other quick links, https://medium.com/christian-community-online/gods-promise-of-a-new-earth-a-world-to-long-for-a54aab13389a?source=friends_link&sk=7751e9c8d3a245092252cc47b3869e8e.

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Christian Community Reader's Digest

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