DESTROYED OR REDEEMED?
Part eleven of fifteen devotions in Heaven Enchantment Series
Luke 21:33: “Heaven and earth
will pass away, but My words will never pass away.”
Ecclesiastes 1:4: “Generations come and generations go, but the
earth remains forever.”
Will
earth will be utterly destroyed, or redeemed as New Earth? “Pass away” is the phrase we’ve seen twice indicating
that the earth we know today will not be our eternal home. It’ll be way better.
Believers
are being made into new creations—2 Corinthians 5:17. Paul (in Corinthians), Luke (in Luke) and
John (in Revelation) use the Greek word kainos
for “new.” The old has gone. The new is gloriously transformed: we’re
different people indwelt with God’s spirit, old earth becomes obsolete.
New
Earth will be our eternal paradise.
People
appreciate that. We like earth. We were made for earth. We can look forward to living forever in New
Earth, familiar with what we love and doing what we enjoy. We won’t miss what’s passed away: pollution,
carcinogenic waste, prickly thorns, stinging bugs or dangerous animals.
God
does not destroy. God redeems.
May
18, 1980, 35 years ago, the volcano Mount St. Helens erupted in the state of Washington,
United States.
Two
months prior, a series of earthquakes and venting steam warned of impending
doom. Then, at 8:32 that Sunday morning,
the 80,000 feet (24 km; 15 miles) eruption blew away the entire north face. This caused the largest landslide ever
recorded, exposing molten, gas-and steam-rich mix of lava rock to explode. This lava and rock raced the avalanching
north face toward Spirit Lake, below.
Eleven
states were blanketed with 840 tons of ash.
But the devastation continued.
Simultaneously, snow, ice and several glaciers melted! A series of lahars, (volcanic mudslides),
wormed their way 50 miles (80 km) southwest to the Columbia River. Rumbling persisted as minor outbursts
followed sporadically for the rest of the year—like mountain temper tantrums.
57
people lost their lives. Hundreds of
square miles were reduced to wasteland. Thousands
of animals died. The damage exceeded $2
billion (compared to 2014 economy).
Spirit
Lake shows the cone of devastation and post-eruption lava dome inside, and
Crater Glacier surrounding the lava dome.
Two other Cascade volcanoes are pictured, below:
Earth,
like our human bodies, have miraculous healing qualities. That volcanic area today is preserved as Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument.
Check
out the lesson linked below to see refining and redeeming God demonstrates. What makes us think that He’d destroy His
blue jewel, planet Earth? Fire is God’s
preferred way to refine “what is” into perfection.
Take
Home Nugget
Acts 3:21a says, “He must remain in heaven until the time
comes when God will restore everything,” answering the title question of this
devotion.
Make
me kainos, Lord!
This devotion is adapted from Heaven. Chapter 15, “Will the Old Earth Be destroyed
or Renewed?” Subtitle1
“Burned Up or Refined?” Subtitle2
“Redemption Means Restoration.” Subtitle3
“The Meaning of New.” Alcorn,
Randy. © 2004. Tyndale House of
Publishers, Inc. Illinois.
J.D. Griffith
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