New Earth or Renewed Earth?

We live in a disposable culture, where we often throw away something when we have finished with it. My parents had their first washing machine for nearly two decades; now we think we have done well if it lasts 8 years, before we discard that last one, to buy the latest version. So it is with computers, cars, MP3 players, and almost everything else we possess. So have we created God in our image? Have we made Him act in ways that we act?

So begins a great post at my friend Jason Clark's blog. Read the whole piece here. It's not long.

I've been saying this for quite some time. Seventh-day Adventists love to talk about the end of the world, the destruction of the earth, and so forth. Yet the more I study the Bible the more I come to the conclusion that nothing could be more inconsistent with the overall message of Scripture than a God who destroys the earth.

First of all, God six times called his creation "good" and finished by calling it "very good." Second, God experimented once with destroying the earth (remember the flood?) and he decided that wasn't a good solution and promised never to do that again. Third, the whole redemption project is about restoration and renewal, not destruction.

As Rupert Ward points out (writing on Jason's blog), there is a two-pronged effect of fire - destruction and purification. I personally think these are two sides of the same coin, but the overall purpose of God is not the destruction of the earth but the renewal of the earth. Similarly, "heaven" is not our home. This earth is our home. We need to read Revelation again and get this straight.

Ward rightly points out that this means we cannot disregard the earth as though it were as disposable as your paper plate. We have a responsibility, born out of our eschatology, to care for the earth as stewards of God's good creation.

Comments

[Rupert Ward]

Thanks for the link. I thoroughly agree with you!
As I have begun to see this in Scripture, it is hard to see how i have missed it for so long.

[Sherman Haywood Cox II]

I remember one of my pastors used to always emphasize that at the end, God makes "Things New" and not "New Things."

Yes, according to Adventist theology, heaven is simply a 1K year vacation before we come back to this earth and live forever.

Then, the glory of it all, Jesus the Savior will come and live on this earth with the people and the world that he created and redeemed.

[Matthew]

I agree that we need to be stewards of the earth, but I think it is primarily derived from our call at Creation. After all, what are we going to do-point to God in the end time, just before he burns up all the works of man, and ask to be commended for picking up litter? In my mind, the fire eliminates both bad and good and starts over the way it was supposed to be. In that vein, God called the earth good -- but we've def. taken it downhill. It's clearly not good anymore.

The question is: how far will you go with environmentalism? Sure, you can buy a Prius by trading in your SUV. But isn't riding a bicycle even better? What about buying a wood burning stove? Where do you draw the line?

Good post!
M