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| Photo Credit: Nasa, Apollo 13 "The Earth in the Age of Grace" |
Here I go again bugging my friends and family with something that I’ve learned and just can’t keep to myself. Have you ever felt compelled to share some news that you’ve learned out of sheer excitement?
I am elated when a wrong doctrine I have held from previous religions teachings or a wrong thought from my own fleshly devices has been brought under the scrutiny of Jesus’ truth and revealed to me so I can submit and change to what He says is true. (Colossians 2:8)
I want to share this specific encounter with God’s truth because the thoughts I had seem to be a main theme talked about in current times in both religious circles and secular circles as well. It is a big topic; this phrase comes with a lot of emotion backed to it. People take this very seriously and many sermons and articles have had countless hours put into them about this subject, and it is one that can keep you from experiencing the full joy God has intended if it is not understood correctly.
The big topic on many minds and has been a recent subject many discuss especially with the current events in the Middle East is “The End Times”.
Let me tell you the wrong thinking I had about this subject and then you can decide if you relate and can read on. Maybe I am one of the few who thought this way and you’ll think, “Where did she get this concept, duh, Chandra how could you think that way”? But I have a feeling many people may have had the same problem I have, so I’ll just explain and go from there.
Anytime I heard or read or listened to preaching about “End Times” I would get this feeling of doom and gloom. It seemed so “final” and I would envision the hobo standing on Times Square in New York with his sign stating “the end of the world” is near. Somehow the phrase “end times” and “end of the world” inter-meshed to mean one in the same. When I heard anyone talk about this subject I would feel fear and hopelessness, wouldn’t you, when you thought the earth was going to be done and gone and void of human life? I would equate this with the end of the human race, the oblivion of the earth and any one who died just lived in heaven or hell, but there was still a nagging sadness at the thought that the earth was no more. I’ve always struggled with this and always thought something was missing.
I’ll throw a jab at myself here, a few brain cells must have been missing. Ha! I’ll blame my youth, it’s the easiest target, but something WAS missing and it was the full truth. The nagging feeling, I should have known was the Holy Spirit trying to get me to let Him show me what that full truth was. Ya know, He does have your best interest at heart.
Then during a discussion about this subject, a light bulb came on. Have you ever had a very slow computer, one that slowly loads information and then you call the Geek squad out and they get it going to full speed and you wonder how in the world did you get anything done on that old, slow version? Well, this is how the full truth finally hit me. I have been studying biblical passages, tweaking things along the way that the Lord has shown me needs changing. This discussion was like the Geek Squad because as I began to talk about what I was learning the thought hit me, “the end times is just that, the end of a time, the end of an age, it has nothing to do with the end of the big physical ball we call earth. In fact, the earth is eternal.”
This is where explanation is due, how can I say the earth is eternal when 2 Peter 3:10-13 talks about the heavens passing away and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up? (This is where a good teacher in the language of the Bible comes in really handy and I’m glad I have someone like that.) The more I study the Bible the more I understand the importance of context, history and original word study.
In order to fully grasp what Peter is talking about, one must also look at Isaiah 65:17 and 66:22-24. In the New American Standard verse 65:17 reads, “behold I create a new heavens and earth, 66:22 read, “which I make” verse 17 had a little mark at the top of the word create, so I looked it up in the Greek/ Hebrew lexicon. The word was ‘Asah’ the basic meaning is “to do” or “make”; in creations context ‘asah’ is a broad scope and deals with refinement. This word is used to define God’s creative activity. BINGO, did that explanation hit you between the eyes like it did me? It doesn’t mean a complete, new act of creating something from nothing, it means an act of refinement, taking something that is there and making it better.
Not only did this help me understand this intense heat that melts the elements isn’t going to annihilate the earth, just change it; the following verse solidified this notion, Isaiah 66:24 talks about man going forth to look on the corpses of the men who transgressed against The Lord after this intense heat is finished. If believers are able to see the corpses on earth the earth has to still be here.
Then a more complete picture comes into view as you read Revelation 21:1-8. Awhile ago I thought when we die or are raptured we go to heaven and stay there. The Holy Spirit dissolved this wrong thinking in verse 2- 3, in verse 2 The Holy City comes down out of heaven, and in verse 3 “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be His people.” The earth is eternal because God changes it so the city can come down from heaven and He dwells with men here. There has to be something here for the city to come down to.
And then what about Hell, it is a place on Earth. If Earth is utterly gone, a void in space, hell would be gone too, but that is not what scripture says. Revelation 21 verse 8 describes hell as being still here as a warning and reminder.
Another word that helped me see the full truth was the word for “world” is kosmos. Kosmos is “social system” and is used to describe a culture or race. The end of the “world” is the end of all the man manipulated systems that involve our daily lives and have nothing to do with God’s social system. It will be a breathe of fresh air when all the systems that hinder us from knowing God will be burned away forever. And sadly, men will die and their soul’s sent to the Lake of Fire because they chose to rebel against God’s plan, now that is something to look at with doom and gloom. A believer’s perspective should be one of rejoicing.
Can you imagine the sigh of relief, the extreme weight lifted off my shoulders knowing that Jesus the author of history, planned time down to the last detail and it included changing Earth into a place where tears are wiped away, no mourning or pain, death is overcome and God resides among men. (Revelation 21:4-6)Yes, “heaven” (or at least its attributes) will be a place on Earth, a place I speculate is hard for us to truly imagine in our finite mind.
Maybe you read this and think, ‘Duh, why would you ever have been so confused?” Or maybe you can relate and can now rejoice that when you hear the all too familiar phrases, The End of the World is near or, The End of Days is upon us, you will understand that yes, a time is coming to a close so another can take its place. And the next age is always moving towards Restoration of God’s original plan.
I have been reveling in the Joy of this truth. Christ’s message is always one of hope for mankind.
Romans 8:28-39… “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose…For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
