Saturday, May 29, 2010

What will happen when Christ comes back? (part 4)


He will destroy the old creation

We learned in First Corinthians that the dead are resurrected “at his coming” (15: 23). The very next sentence says, “Then cometh the end” (15: 24). The end of what? After all God’s enemies are defeated, and all the dead are resurrected and judged, then what comes to an end?

To find out, we don’t need to consult prophecy “experts.” We only need to consult Scripture.

Peter sheds more light on this “end.” He tells us that the entire universe has a rendezvous with fire: “…the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3: 7). So in a great conflagration the universe will end. And when does this happen? At “the day of judgment,” which is a day of perdition (spiritual ruin) for ungodly men. In case the message was lost on anyone, Peter goes on to state it more explicitly: “…the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3: 10). This passage leaves no room for figurative interpretations. The stars and planets will literally pass away. The elements—the very foundational units of all matter—will dissolve. The earth and everything on it will be incinerated. This is the end of the old creation and it happens right after the resurrection and judgment. As Christ told his disciples, the judgment of the just and the unjust will occur “at the end of the world” (Matthew 13: 49).

God promised us He would create “a new heaven and a new earth.” But before He can do so He must do away with the old. “For, behold,” he told Isaiah, “I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind” (Isaiah 65: 17). John recorded a vision of this promise being fulfilled in the next to last chapter of the Bible: “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea” (Revelation 21: 1). In John’s account, just as in Paul’s and Peter’s, this occurs immediately after the resurrection and judgment. And, as we have seen stated clearly in Scripture, the resurrection and judgment occur at Christ’s second coming.

This presents an insurmountable problem for those who claim that Christ is going to return to be a political leader on our present sin-cursed earth for many centuries to come. If the universe is burned up and passes away on Judgment Day, and if Judgment Day occurs at His coming, there will be no Earth left to govern.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I stumbled upon your blog this morning and read this post. I'm working through some of these texts right now as I have freshly come to the postmillennial perspective, not from premil, but from kind of a mut position.

I was wondering if you have considered the possibility that the language of the destruction of the old creation is judgment language, as is typical from OT judgment texts, as well as texts in the NT like Matt 24 pointing to the judgment and destruction in 70AD.

Do a word study on "elements" in the passage from 2 Pet 3. It always refers not to the molecular particles that make up matter (which may be an anachronistic reading - reading our periodic table into Peter), but rather to principalities and systems, specifically, the Judaic order.

The destruction of the old creation would simply be, then, the judgment and destruction of the unbelieving Old Cov people of God, Israel, 70AD. The new heavens and new earth would have been inaugurated (although not complete, hence, "I am MAKING all things new") with the earthly ministry of Jesus, shown to be under the present reign of Christ by the judgement on Israel in 70AD and the Church being the dwelling place of God, or Temple, and the new heavens and earth continuing on through the preaching of the Gospel, the advancement of the Kingdom until "the earth is full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea."

Just some things I'm trying to think through.

Grace & Peace,
Rick

Brad Watson, Miami said...

There is no "end of the world" or "end of time". It's correctly the "end of the age" which occured on 12/21/12.

I, the Christ, have returned. In my eternal soul's last incarnation, I was Albert Einstein. 2,000 years ago, I was Y'shua bar Yosef. The proof of these claims are the "7 seals" (Revelation 5:1) revealed as 'beyond Einstein theories'; see http://7seals.blogspot.com . I have exposed great secrets kept since the founding of the Earth.

Other recently fulfilled Bible prophesies are...

Iraq is the "destruction of Babylon" (Rev Ch 14, 16-18).
Syria is "Armageddon" (Rev 16:16).
Ronald(6 Letters) Wilson(6) Reagan(6) was the "666 1st Beast"/Antichrist.
George Walker Bush (Jr.) was the "2nd Beast"/Antichrist.
Pope Benedict XVI was the "false prophet".
United(6) States(6) Dollar(6) is the "666 mark of the Beast".
Donald Trump = 666 when A=49, B=50, C=51...Z=74; he's the current Antichrist.

GOD: the 'all-inclusive system as a whole', this 'Universe as omniscient quantum computer'.

God-incarnate (ET in the Guardin' of Eden, Jesus son of Joseph, 2nd Coming of the Christ): the reincarnating original & number 1 programer, the Creator of all 'true Earth-like plan-its'.