Authors: Randy Alcorn
Now, if the trees of Lebanon and ships of Tarshish are singled out as being destroyed in God's future judgment, how can they,
as Isaiah 60 indicates, turn up again in the Holy City as instruments of service to the Lord?
This is the paradox of Scripture's simultaneous teachings of destruction and renewal. That which is now used for prideful
and even idolatrous purposes will be used to the glory of God when the hearts of mankind are transformed and creation itself
is renewed.
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There is nothing wrong with ships, lumber, gold, or camels. What God will destroy in his judgment is the idolatrous
misuse
of these good things. Then, having destroyed our perversions of his good gifts, he will, in his re-creation of the earth,
restore these things as good and useful tools for his glory.
Later, we'll return to the subject of culture on the New Earth. But for now, it will suffice that Isaiah and John help us
envision the New Earth as not only a world of natural wonders, but as one that also includes multinational citizens and cultural
treasures.
Significantly, the vivid description of the New Earth in Isaiah 60 is immediately followed by the explicitly messianic passage
that Jesus used as his inaugural text for his ministry (Luke 4:16-19): "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because
the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom
for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners" (Isaiah 61:1).
It was the incarnation, atonement, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that brought redemption to mankind, Jerusalem, and the
earth. Christ's mission was to reclaim and set free not only the earth's inhabitants, but the earth itself. He came not only
to redeem mankind as individuals, but also as nations and cultures, and to redeem not only the work of his own hands (e.g.,
the forests of Lebanon), but also the works of his
creatures'
hands (e.g., the ships of Tarshish).
Theologian A. A. Hodge says it beautifully:
Heaven, as the eternal home of the divine Man and of all the redeemed members of the human race, must necessarily be thoroughly
human in its structure, conditions, and activities. Its joys and activities must all be rational, moral, emotional, voluntary
and active. There must be the exercise of all the faculties, the gratification of all tastes, the development of all talent
capacities, the realization of all ideals. The reason, the intellectual curiosity, the imagination, the aesthetic instincts,
the holy affections, the social affinities, the inexhaustible resources of strength and power native to the human soul must
all find in heaven exercise and satisfaction. Then there must always be a goal of endeavor before us, ever future. . . . Heaven
will prove the consummate flower and fruit of the whole creation and of all the history of the universe.
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† Isaiah 52-53 details the Messiah's death, saying he was pierced for our transgressions, sacrificed as a lamb, was numbered
with the transgressors, bore our sins, interceded for the transgressors, etc.
WHAT WILL IT MEAN FOR THE CURSE TO BE LIFTED?
Everything willbe glorified, even nature itself. And that seems to me to be the biblical teaching about the eternal state:
that what we call heaven is life in this perfect world as God intended humanity to live it. When he put Adam in Paradise at
the beginning, Adam fell, and all fell with him, but men and women are meant to live in the body, and will live in a glorified
body in a glorified world, and God will be with them.
Martyn Lloyd-Jones
W
hen Adam and Eve fell into sin, Satan appeared to have ruined God's plan for a righteous, undying humanity to rule the earth
to God's glory. Yet immediately after the Fall, God promised a redeemer, the seed of the woman, who would one day come and
crush the serpent: "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your
head, and you will strike his heel" (Genesis 3:15).
While the wound of sin was still fresh, before the first scar had formed, God unveiled his plan to send a fully human redeemer
who would be far more powerful than Satan. In a courageous act of intervention to deliver mankind, this redeemer would deliver
a mortal wound to the usurping devil, and in the process would be wounded himself.
"Since one of the results of sin had been death," writes Anthony Hoekema, "the promised victory must somehow involve the removal
of death. Further, since another result of sin had been the banishment of our first parents from the Garden of Eden, from
which they were supposed to rule the world for God, it would seem that the victory should also mean man's restoration to some
kind of regained paradise, from which he could once again properly and sinlessly rule the earth. . . . In a sense, therefore,
the expectation of a New Earth was already implicit in the promise of Genesis 3:15."
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† Isaiah 52-53 details the Messiah's death, saying he was pierced for our transgressions, sacrificed as a lamb, was numbered
with the transgressors, bore our sins, interceded for the transgressors, etc.
Later, it's revealed that this redeemer would be the seed of Abraham (Genesis 22:18), of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10)
and the house of David (2 Samuel 7:12-13). Genesis 3:15 is the first of many passages anticipating a suffering servant who
would battle Satan and redeem God's people (e.g., Isaiah 42:1-4; 49:5-7; 52:13-15; 53). That suffering servant would be Christ,
the Messiah, who came to make all things new.
God did not sit idly by or shrug his shoulders at sin, death, and the Curse. He did not relinquish his claim on mankind and
the earth. No sooner did ruin descend on humanity and Earth than God revealed his plan to defeat Satan and retake them for
his glory.
TAKING OUR INHERITANCE
Our interest in the end timesusually extends to the period immediately preceding and following the return of Christ. But
God's plan culminates after the final judgment, when King Jesus says, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance,
the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world" (Matthew 25:34). Where is this kingdom? Exactly where it has
been from the beginning—on Earth.
What is the inheritance Jesus speaks of? Just as the children of kings inherit kingdoms, and kingdoms consist of land and
property, so Earth is humanity's God-given property.
God hasn't changed his mind; he hasn't fallen back to Plan B or abandoned what he originally intended for us at the creation
of the world. When Christ says "take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world," it's
as if he's saying, "This is what I wanted for you all along. This is what I went to the cross and defeated death to give you.
Take it, rule it, exercise dominion, enjoy it; and in doing so, share my happiness."
God doesn't throw away his handiwork and start from scratch—instead, he uses the same canvas to repair and make more beautiful
the painting marred by the vandal. The vandal doesn't get the satisfaction of destroying his rival's masterpiece. On the
contrary, God makes an even greater masterpiece out of what his enemy sought to destroy.
Satan wants us to give up on God, on our purpose and calling, and on our planet. God reminds us, "The one who is in you is
greater than the one who is in the world" (1 John 4:4). Satan seeks to destroy the earth. God seeks to restore and renew the
earth, rule it, and hand it back over to his children. God will win the battle for us and for the earth.
UNITING HEAVEN AND EARTH
God's plan of the ages is "to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ" (Ephesians 1:10).
"All things" is broad and inclusive—nothing will be left out. This verse corresponds precisely to the culmination of history
that we see enacted in Revelation 21, the merging together of the once separate realms of Heaven and Earth, fully under Christ's
lordship.
The hymn "This Is My Father's World" expresses this truth in its final words: "Jesus who died shall be satisfied, and earth
and heaven be one."
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Just as God and mankind are reconciled in Christ, so too the dwellings of God and mankind—Heaven and Earth—will be reconciled
in Christ. As God and man will be forever united in Jesus, so Heaven and Earth will forever be united in the new physical
universe where we will live as resurrected beings. To affirm anything less is to understate the redemptive work of Christ.
Yet, strangely, in the schools and churches I've been a part of—and in the vast majority of the 150 books about Heaven I've
read—this central truth has
rarely
been affirmed. Many people with whom I've spoken have told of similar experiences.
Heaven is God's home. Earth is our home. Jesus Christ, as the God-man, forever links God and mankind, and thereby forever
links Heaven and Earth. As Ephesians 1:10 demonstrates, this idea of Earth and Heaven becoming one is explicitly biblical.
Christ will make Earth into Heaven and Heaven into Earth. Just as the wall that separates God and mankind is torn down in
Jesus, so too the wall that separates Heaven and Earth will be forever demolished. There will be one universe, with all things
in Heaven and on Earth together under one head, Jesus Christ. "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with
them" (Revelation 21:3). God will live with us on the New Earth. That will "bring all things in heaven and on earth together."
God's plan is that there will be no more gulf between the spiritual and physical worlds. There will be no divided loyalties
or divided realms. There will be one cosmos, one universe united under one Lord—forever. This is the unstoppable plan of
God. This is where history is headed.
When God walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden, Earth was Heaven's backyard. The New Earth will be even more than that—it
will be Heaven itself. And those who know Jesus will have the privilege of living there.
WHO WILL REIGN OVER THE EARTH?
The Bible's central storyline revolves around a question: Who will reign over the earth? Earth's destiny hangs in the balance.
Because it is the realm where God's glory has been most challenged and resisted, it is therefore also the stage on which his
glory will be most graphically demonstrated. By reclaiming, restoring, renewing, and resurrecting Earth—and empowering a
regenerated mankind to reign over it—God will accomplish his purpose of bringing glory to himself.
In Scripture, those said to have thrones include God the Father (Hebrews 12:2; Revelation 22:1), Christ the Son (Luke 1:32;
Hebrews 1:8), God's human children (Revelation 4:4; 11:16), and Satan (Revelation 2:13). God's claim to his throne is absolute.
The claim of human beings to their thrones is valid, but
only
if they remain in submission to God, who delegated dominion to them as his heirs and subrulers. Satan's claim to the throne
is false.
Ultimately, Satan will be eternally dethroned. People who reject God will be eternally dethroned. God will be permanently
enthroned. Righteous human beings, first enthroned by God to reign over the earth from Eden, then dethroned by their own
sin and Satan, will be reenthroned forever with God. "And they will reign for ever and ever" (Revelation 22:5).
Christ will become the unchallenged, absolute ruler of the universe and then will turn over to his Father the Kingdom he has
won (1 Corinthians 15:28). Redeemed humans will be God's unchallenged, delegated rulers of the New Earth. God and humanity
will live together in eternal happiness, forever deepening their relationships, as the glory of God permeates every aspect
of the new creation.
THE LAST ADAM DEFEATS SATAN
Satan successfully tempted thefirst Adam in Eden. The theological consequences of Adam's sin (and the redeeming work of the
last Adam, Jesus Christ, the new head of the human race) are laid out in Romans 5:12-19. When Satan tempted the last Adam
in the wilderness (which is what Eden's garden had become), Christ resisted him. But the evil one was desperate to defeat
Christ, to kill him as he had the first Adam (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13).
Satan appeared to succeed when the last Adam died. But Jesus didn't die because he had sinned. He died because, as God's Son,
he chose to pay the price for mankind's sins, tracing all the way back to the first Adam and forward to the final generation
of the fallen Earth. Satan's apparent victory in Christ's death was what assured the devil's final defeat. When Christ rose
from the dead, he dealt Satan a fatal blow, crushing his head, assuring both his destruction and the resurrection of mankind
and the earth. Satan's grip on this world was loosened. It's still strong, but once he is cast into the lake of fire and God
refashions the old Earth into the New Earth, mankind and Earth will slip forever from Satan's grasping hands, never again
to be touched by him (Revelation 20:10).
Christ has already defeated Satan, but the full scope of his victory has not yet been manifested on Earth. At Christ's ascension,
God "seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every
title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet
and appointed him to be head over everything" (Ephesians 1:20-22).
These words are all-inclusive, and they are past tense, not future. Christ rules the universe. And yet it is only upon Christ's
physical return to the earth that Satan will be bound.
This is the "already and not yet" paradox that characterizes life on the present Earth. Heaven's king is even now "ruler
of the kings of the earth" (Revelation 1:5). "On his robe and on his thigh this name is written: King of kings and Lord of
lords" (Revelation 19:16).
Through Christ's redemptive work, he "disarmed the powers and authorities" and "made a public spectacle of them, triumphing
over them" (Colossians 2:15). His death stripped Satan of ultimate power (Hebrews 2:14). "The Son of God appeared for this
purpose, to destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8, NASB).
Note that it says Christ came not to destroy the world he created, but to destroy the works of the devil, which were to twist
and pervert and ruin what God had made. Redemption will forever destroy the devil's work by removing its hold on creation,
and reversing its consequences. It is Satan's desire to destroy the world. God's intent is not to destroy the world but to
deliver it from destruction. His plan is to redeem this fallen world, which he designed for greatness.
Redeemed mankind will reign with Christ over the earth. The gates of Satan's false kingdom will not prevail against Christ's
church (Matthew 16:18).
The outcome of the great war is not in question. It is certain. Christ will reign victoriously forever. The only question
we must answer is this: Will we fight on his side or against him? We answer this question not just once, with our words, but
daily, with our choices.
REMOVING THE CURSE
"No longer will there be anycurse" (Revelation 22:3). If the Bible said nothing else about life in the eternal Heaven, the
New Earth, these words would tell us a vast amount.
No more Curse.
What would our lives be like if the Curse were lifted? One day we will know firsthand—but even now there's much to anticipate.
After Adam sinned, God said, "Cursed is the ground [earth] because of you" (Genesis 3:17). When the Curse is reversed, we
will no longer engage in "painful toil" (v. 17) but will enjoy satisfying care taking. No longer will the earth yield "thorns
and thistles" (v. 18), defying our dominion and repaying us for corrupting it. No longer will we "return to the ground .
. . [from which we] were taken" (v. 19), swallowed up in death as unrighteous stewards who ruined ourselves and the earth.
Our welfare is inseparable from Earth's welfare. Our destiny is inseparable from Earth's destiny. That's why the curse on
mankind required that the earth be cursed and why the earth will also be resurrected when we are resurrected.
The Curse will be reversed.
As a result of the Curse, the first Adam could no longer eat from the tree of life, which presumably would have made him
live forever in his sinful state (Genesis 3:22). Death, though a curse in itself, was also the only way out from under the
Curse—and that only because God had come up with a way to defeat death and restore mankind's relationship with him.
Because of man's fall into sin, a curse was pronounced over this creation. God now sent his son into this world to redeem
that creation from the results of sin. The work of Christ, therefore, is not just to save certain individuals, not even to
save an innumerable throng of blood-bought people. The total work of Christ is nothing less than to redeem this entire creation
from the effects of sin. That purpose will not be accomplished until God has ushered in the new earth, until Paradise Lost
has become Paradise Regained.
ANTHONY HOEKEMA