Forever Home in the Eternal Family of God

A Deeper Teaching by Kenton Cheek

Some passages of Scripture speak of the world being cleansed with fire in the Last Days.  We also read that the Earth will be destroyed and yet other references seem to indicate the Earth is forever.  But we know that nothing in the Bible is contradictory as God is not a man that He should lie.  He will never say anything that goes against what is already in the written record of His revelations.  So how do these End Times ideas fit together?  And how does our understanding of what is to come affect how we live our lives today?

     The psalmist wrote, “He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved.”[1]  Our modern understanding of how Earth has a set rotation and orbit reminds me of the term used here of “foundations.”  It is truly miraculous that our planet is perfectly placed in relation to the sun to sustain life; not too close and not too far away.  II Peter 3 speaks of the great Day of the Lord,

By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly… But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.[2]

If we balance this passage with the truth communicated in Psalm 104:5, it would seem that the geologic structure of the Earth might remain, but that the globe will be cleansed with fire.  Fire, as we understand it today, consumes everything burnable but leaves objects resistant to its destructive properties.  This seems to fit with the concept of “the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.”  Perhaps the kind of fire that God will unleash upon the Earth will destroy everything that has been corrupted by sin but leave behind all that has been done for His glory. 

     When Moses encountered Yahweh at the burning bush, there was a fire that was upon the bush but the leaves and branches were not burned up.[3]  Malachai 4:1-3, “‘Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and the day that is coming will set them on fire,’ says the Lord Almighty. ‘Not a root or a branch will be left to them. But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves. Then you will trample on the wicked; they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day when I act,’ says the Lord Almighty.”  Fire from the Lord will destroy the wicked but provide healing to the righteous. 

     God created the heavens and the earth and at every point in His creative process, He said that it was good.  As we look around us in the natural world we marvel at the magnificence, complexity and majesty of His creation and we discover countless messages of truth and love in the work of His voice and hands.[4]  But we also know that sin entered the world through the disobedience of the first Adam and with sin came its corrosive effects of sickness, death and destruction.  Jesus Christ is the Second Adam, the One who brings healing, life and restoration.[5]  II Corinthians 5:17 tells us, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!”  The beautiful, redemptive work that He accomplishes in the life of the individual believer will be magnified on a grander scale with the Earth. 

     The Apostle Paul described creation as being in a state of both anguish and expectation.  Not only that, but the eventual liberation and renewal of the Earth is connected with the redemption of mankind.  He wrote in Romans 8,

I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.  For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.  We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.[6]

Therefore, as more and more sons of Adam and daughters of Eve choose to believe and receive Jesus as their Redeemer and Restorer, the Kingdom of Light expands as they are born again and become adopted sons and daughters of the Creator and Sustainer of all things.[7]  As more of the will of God is done on Earth as it is in Heaven we, along with creation, grow closer to the Day when “the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”[8] 

     This seems to contradict a common evangelical apocalyptic narrative of “all that matters is getting people saved, we shouldn’t concern ourselves with working to improve life on Earth since it’s all going to burn up anyhow.”  Quite the contrary.  Our new birth experience is the beginning of a lifelong process of becoming more and more like Jesus and bringing our lives into alignment with the life-giving, restorative principles of the Word of God.  As we obey the Great Commandment and fulfill the Great Commission, we should see positive change with eternal ramifications in our communities, regions and around the world.  Love has ripple effects that reach further than we can know this side of Heaven.

     Stewardship was one key aspect of what Adam and Eve were originally called to do in the paradise of the Garden of Eden.  God gave the original humans dominion over the world and one of their immediate tasks was to tend the garden they lived in.  Conditions on planet Earth were sublime as the environment and human life were in perfect balance without the corrosive effects of sin.  With God and living in total alignment with His principles, there is perfect light, life, health, love, unity, harmony, peace, and fulfillment.  But with disobedience, sin brings darkness, death, disease, hatred, division, discord, war and unsatisfaction.

     As we come to Christ for redemption, one of the roles we are restored to is that of king or queen functioning in His authority and power as He is the King of Kings.  A key aspect of our responsibility as such is that we need to consult the wisdom and knowledge of God’s Word the Bible in making decisions.  Godly choices bring more and more of His will as it is in Heaven down to Earth.  In this way, He shines His light of truth and love through us and He pushes back the darkness.[9] 

II Corinthians 5:20 tells us, “We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.”  As we minister reconciliation to those around us, we yield to the Holy Spirit and it is as though He is working through us.  In Him we live and move and have our being.[10]  The Church is the Body of Christ.[11]  As members of His Body, we are His hands and feet upon the Earth doing His will for His glory and our good.[12]  That good is the betterment of us, our fellow humans and our environment as we live according to His Word. 

     Revelation does not paint a favorable future picture for those who destroy the Earth.  The twenty four elders are recorded as saying in Chapter 11, verse 18, “The nations were angry, and your wrath has come.  The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your people who revere your name, both great and small—and for destroying those who destroy the earth.”  I believe that it is short sighted for us to not care about the condition of the environment when we and our children must breathe the air, drink the water and eat from it.  Part of our calling to leave a legacy to those who come after us must be to ensure that they have a safe and healthy environment to live in.[13]  If we care about others, we need to do something about it and put our faith into action,[14] living lives worthy of the calling we receive.[15]

     God calls us to share both the spiritual and temporal blessings He has entrusted to us with those we encounter in our everyday lives.[16]  We are to love Him, love others and love ourselves in the healthy, balanced way that He has laid out for us in the Scriptures.[17]  God’s people are also commissioned to make disciples in our communities, regions, among those who are not like us in one way or another, and to take the Good News of Jesus around the world.[18]  Sons and daughters of God are to do His work not in their own strength, but by the power of the Holy Spirit.[19]  We need only to ask in faith for His strength.  The endowment of power from on high for ministry first came upon the Church with a miraculous sign of tongues of fire.[20]  Fire is symbolic of the power and passion the Holy Spirit brings to our Christian experience.

     Fire is a purifying agent.  When removing a splinter using a needle, one may hold the needle over an open flame to sterilize it.  As the world is purified with fire, what we do apart from the will of God will burn up.  But what we have done for His glory will last and just as gold is refined in the fire and purified, our genuine faith and the fruits thereof will remain into eternity.  I Corinthians 3:10-15 reveals,

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames.

As His sons and daughters building upon the foundation of Jesus Christ, we must be careful to do the work according to His precepts.  He is building Zion through us.  The perfect way everything functions in Heaven is what our Heavenly Father wants to see happen on Earth.  With every soul that is born again into His Kingdom,[21] with every thought we take captive and make obedient to Him,[22] with every act of practical compassion,[23]  with every word or deed that shares the love and message of Jesus with others,[24] a little bit more of the Promised Land is built in the here and now. 

     Zion was the name given to the hill fortress of Jerusalem, the City of David.  The first reference to it as such is found in II Samuel 5:7.  By extension it referred to not only the capital, but all of Israel.  As the years went by, Zion took on deeper meaning.  It also means the Presence of God as we see in Psalm 132:13-14, “For the Lord has chosen Zion, he has desired it for his dwelling, saying, “This is my resting place for ever and ever; here I will sit enthroned, for I have desired it.”  In the New Testament we see how this desire of God to be with His people is ultimately fulfilled.

     God has always wanted to dwell with, even within, His people.  This was finally made possible by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Father is able to cleanse those who come to Him in the blood of Jesus and take up residence within their hearts.  I Corinthians 6:19 calls us temples of the Holy Ghost and I Peter 2:5 takes this reality further, “you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” 

     Ephesians 2:19-21 takes us deeper by revealing that, “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” 

     This building of Zion within our hearts and in the world around us finds its culmination in the Book of Revelation when we see what the New Jerusalem truly is, the universal Church gathered from all time and space.  In Chapter 21, verses 9 and 10 we discover, “One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.” 

The eternal family of God is the centerpiece of the New Heaven and the New Earth and in the heart of the New Jerusalem is the very Throne of the Living God.  Yes, the Earth is eternal but it will be cleansed with fire.  All that is not from God will be burned away, all that is done for the glory of God will be refined and remain, and Creation shall be renewed to its paradisiacal glory as the New Eden.

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

–Revelation 21:1-5

---

[1] Psalm 104:5

[2] II Peter 3:7, 10-12

[3] Exodus 3:1-4

[4] Romans 1:20

[5] Isaiah 61:1-3

[6] Romans 8:18-23

[7] Colossians 1:13-14

[8] Habakkuk 2:14

[9] Matthew 5:16

[10] Acts 17:28

[11] I Corinthians 12:12-31

[12] Isaiah 52:7, Romans 10:15, I Corinthians 15:58

[13] Psalm 78:4, Proverbs 13:22, Matthew 9:36

[14] James 2:17

[15] Ephesians 4:1

[16] Proverbs 11:24-25, Luke 6:38, Acts 20:35, II Corinthians 9:6-7, Hebrews 13:6

[17] Mark 12:28-34

[18] Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8

[19] Zechariah 4:6, Acts 1-2

[20] John 1:27, Acts 2:3-4

[21] Matthew 16:18-19, I Peter 2:9

[22] II Corinthians 10:5

[23] James 2:16

[24] II Timothy 2:2