Old Earth and the New Earth
Recently my preaching has taken me into the future as we looked ahead from the incarnational coming of Jesus the Savior to the future coming of Jesus the King of All. One of the more pleasant discoveries was that our future home, where God will dwell with us, will be the New Earth. Revelation 21:1ff makes it clear that the old earth will pass away, and that God will create a new one for us to live on for eternity.
This whole New Earth thing got me to thinking. And while my thinking is still in the "discovery" stage, I thought I'd give a shot at trying to lay some of it out for review. Here goes:
I have two basic suppositions. First, we know that Peter was looking forward to the New Earth as he explained in 2 Peter 3:13: But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. I take these "new heavens" to be a new version of the universe, while the new earth will be a sin-free creation with some kind of similarity to our present sin-drenched one.
Secondly, it appears that our resurrected, spiritual bodies will be able to inhabit this new earth. I take this from the fact that Jesus walked and lived on this earth after his resurrection. This also follows from the fact that Moses and Elijah returned to join Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. I know this is less than scientific, but nevertheless it does suggest that our glorified bodies will be fitted to occupy whatever sphere of existence is normal on the new earth.
So, my big question here is this: How does the concept of a new, inhabitable earth relate to the present discussion about origins and the age of our present planet?
I have done some very cursory research and found that the "Old Earth" school of thought believes that our present planet was formed 4.54 billion years ago, but was not inhabitable by mammals until a mere 200 million years ago. So, my question is this:
Are we to believe that God will take just as long to create the New Earth? If so, we'd better settle in for a very long time before Jesus returns. Or can we assume that God could create the New Earth in a shorter time? perhaps in a hundred billion years? or a hundred years? or in a nanosecond?
My point is this: If we believe that God can create the New Earth in a moment, then we must also believe that He could have created our present one in a moment, including all those things that appear to have aged over billions and billions of years. It cannot be that creating something with the appearance of age is the one thing the Almighty can't do!
Lastly, there is great evidence that God did, in fact, create in a second something that appeared quite old. When He turned water into wine, He turned it into great wine. And as any wine drinker knows, the best wine is old wine!
Just thinking out loud,
David
posted by heggthought @ 2:36 PM
4 Comments
4 Comments:
David, how timely! I just preached on the new heaven and new earth two days ago (http://www.rockvalleybiblechurch.org/Sermons/2011/2011-12-18_-_Restoration.htm). I love the parallel with the time of creation.
In reading Randy Alcorn's great book on heaven (chapter 15 in particular), he argues that our earth won't be wiped away as in obliterated, creating something entirely new. Rather, it will be purged and cleaned up and transformed to be without sin. 2 Corinthians 5:17 is a parallel idea, "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old things pass away; behold new things have come." We aren't obliterated. Rather, we are transformed. He deals with passages like Psalm 102:25-26; Luke 21:33; 2 Peter 3:10, which may lead to the obliteration view.
Any thoughts?
Your long lost friend, Steve Brandon
Here is another clue I've thought about:
Adam was not created as a 1 minute old infant, but as a man, possibly 30+ years old.
The same with animals and plants, it seems logical.
So the earth and heavens could have "age" as well.
Thanks for your posts!
This only makes sense if you are willing to accept the notion that God might have created evolution, since nothing is impossible for Him. The problem is the confusion between facts and beliefs. If your argument is based on your beliefs, then really anything you say can be justified. But if you you want to use facts, then there are actual rules.
I am perfectly willing to believe that God created the universe in an instant, including things that look old, but then you must be willing to believe that God created evolution, and that it may well be a billion years before Christ returns. If you are willing to accept the one, but disregard the other, then the logic of your argument fades.
Novelist Phillip K. Dick was quoted as saying that, "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." To not believe in the age of the Earth does not make that age go away, no matter how much you would wish it.
Limiting God is risky business, but the church has a 2,000 year history of trying to do exactly that.
Will Jesus create the new heavens and new earth or God will
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