We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and
secure
(Hebrews 6:19)
Do the 'worries of this world' seem to constantly discourage you? Feel
like your responsible for a great weight that's just too heavy to lift
and yet your suppose to carry it? Feel "breathless" from having to push
ever thing 'up hill'? I think sometimes we all feel that way. According
to Scripture, this world is a tough place for the just and the unjust.
I don't think we'll ever be able to eliminate all the "weights" of this
life. But knowing that, I'm still encouraged. Why? Simply, because I've
learned that we can depend on God to do the 'lifting.'
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This
world's a mess and we can't fix everything that's wrong with it. We
can't take away everything that puts pressure on us. The Bible says
it's a world that's upside down, a fallen world. We're all little alien
creatures crawling around in it. Well that might be an exaggeration,
but I do know this 'present darkness' can't be made perfect without the
total and complete intervention of God! Now we can cry, whine, faint,
scream and be frustrated, but because we have the presence of the
Spirit of God among us and the expectation of Christ coming, we do not
grow weary.
When will that happen? Well, I can't give you
the day and time. But God will do it, and while we "tip-toe" our way
through this 'mine field' called life, some day the road will be made
straight and the mountains and the valleys will yield their 'labor' to
Christ's return. How do I know that? Well, in Scripture, God
consistently 'created' something new out of something old. He isn't
coming back to just repair this earth; He's coming to "re-construct"
this earth. That will not be the first time. There's some consensus
that we're a part of a "Creation" that was made from an old creation
described in Genesis 1:1. In chapter 3 of 2Peter, the author speaks of
a 'Pre-Adamite' world, a world that had been completely and utterly
destroyed by water covering the earth. (Gen. 1:2, Ps. 105:5-9, 2Pet.
3:4-6) (evidenced by the fossil records) "In the beginning God created
the heavens and the earth," it was the "world that then was" mentioned
in Peter's writings. The text clearly shows that the original creation
"became" void and in ruin. (Isa. 14: 12-14, Jer. 4:23-26) (Ezek.
28:11-17 provides a 'history' for Lucifer's kingdom on earth before the
days of Adam) Apparently, Lucifer ruled that world, having been placed
here in his "perfect state."(Ezek: 28-11-17) But as 'satans' do, he
destroyed that creation of God.
In "the world that is," God took the "matter" of that first creation
and "reassembled" it into the 'cosmos' we live in now! [Adam was asked
to "replenish the earth" implying that it had to have been "plenished"
prior to Adam.] The "material" of that first heaven and earth had
become empty, waste, desolate and "void." It supported no life,
maintained no light. In an act of God, Elohim "Moved" on the earth and
"Spoke" into the earth and a 're-ordered' heaven and earth resulted.
That's our present world, the one you and I have to deal with each day.
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God
has never created anything that was not perfect! But, for some reason
(probably the angelic rebellion when a third of the angelic opposed
God) the first creation lay in ruin. In our Creation, man who was
created "upright" (Eccl 7:29) also fell from a perfect state with God
because of the influence of that same Lucifer. Man became dead and
darkened (Eph 4:18). In the first creation, the entrance of "light"
shone on the ruin and a re-constructed heaven and earth was made. (The
original language suggests that God created the present heaven and
earth, not from nothing, but from something that was already present.
Similarly, in our covenant, man - with the entrance of "light"- is
recreated into a new creature. That's the nature of God. Taking old
stuff and making it new, but new in every way! This new creature is
what we are if we have accepted Christ; we are still walking around in
old material but we are a new creation! We're not the same creature any
more.)
Some day, this earth will change. This old stuff
will be 'reorganized' by the Spirit of God. A new Heaven and Earth will
be made. We're not going to change this old place and make it into a
new place. We live in a 'rebellion zone' and it will have to be
completely changed by The Father. God will literally enter the picture
again and this old creation will give way to a new one. According to
Revelation, there will be no more sea, no tears and fears, no worry, no
death, no pain or disease, no more curse, no night, no need for a
candle, no sun… "Behold", God will make all things new. (Rev. 21 and
22) The entrance of Christ will shine on this "ruin" and nothing will
be the same as it is now.
The Word came unto Jeremiah saying, " Go to the potter's house…" There
Jeremiah sees the potter make a vessel on the wheel but the vessel was
marred and, as seemed good to the potter, he made another. This is
Jehovah, speaking and teaching that His way is not to repair or mend
the vessel that's become marred but to make an end to it. He makes a
new thing in its place. When a vessel was marred it was not thrown
away, the clay was crushed and returned to the wheel and the work began
again. In that case, God would not mend the "marred" nation of Israel,
but would make a new nation in which He would put a new Spirit and
write His law on their hearts.
Today the whole world groans and travails for this new creation, a new
heaven and earth. Scripture speaks of a time that would have so much
pressure that should He not return "their hearts would fail them". Just
as man, dead and darkened, awaits God's hand, so does this present
'cosmos'. Man is marred and alienated from the Life of God. But God
will not fix or reform him; He will "re-create" him. He will make man a
glorious body and place him in a glorious place. When the Kings failed,
God inserted "The" King. The old Covenant was weak and satisfied no
Holy God. It was not faultless (Heb. 10:1-23) and God did not amend it.
He did away with the old and made a completely new Covenant.
We can improve our education system, we can develop the arts, and we
can spend lots of money on government programs and on ourselves. We can
make many political promises, we can discover and solve medical
mysteries but the marred things of this creation will not "cut the
mustard" for God. We can work hard to change the existing minds of men
and streamline the organizations of our cultures but it will take the
entrance of Christ to shine on this 'ruin' to change the present order
to a perfect future. We're to stand, to resist, we're to hold on, but
we will never be able to take away the "faults" found in this marred
world. But God's third creation will be found perfect.
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think we're standing at the threshold of seeing a house "not made with
hands", a dwelling place populating a new heaven and earth. A moment
when the earthly will become glorious. Someday a new thing will come
out of this old thing! Because of Christ, the weight of this creation
is bearable, but unavoidable just the same. Nations fight, people build
on the coast, earthquakes take homes and lives, sickness is to be
overcome but has not disappeared, one sickness may be conquered only
for another to be found. In this creation we will see trouble but our
hearts are to have visions for the future time when God will move on
the darkness and deadness and make a new place in the standing of this
old place. That will happen, not because we finally accomplished it,
not because we over-powered it. In fact, it will never come by our
might -- but only by His Spirit! A Scott Krippayne song lyric comes to
mind, " No matter how the driving rain beats down on those who hold the
faith. A heart of trust will always be a quiet peaceful place." We are
able to Rest here. We can find Peace here in this mess. Not because
we've changed everything in this life to our way, but because Christ
offers a Peace that passes this world's troubles and a promise to
'shine' into the next. |
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