Daily Word

Eternity will not be an existence in a heaven “up there,” but a life in a perfect and glorified earth here.

The physical creation is not something temporary but God’s eternal purpose: it was created to be a reflection of God’s wisdom and glory and to be a place where God and man would dwell together in eternal harmony and joy.

Heaven on earth was God’s original intention and He has not abandoned it.

The Fall opened the door to destructive forces in all of creation, not just in man himself. Therefore, not only man but all of creation is encompassed by the restoring and transforming powers of the atonement.

Man will receive a new glorified body and all of creation will eventually shine and radiate with the same glory. In the remarkable passage in Romans 8, Paul shows that all of creation is in pain and longing to be freed from the corrupting influence of sin and to share in the same glory that awaits the children of God.

But these destructive forces have so completely permeated creation that it must be dissolved in a violent fire of judgment, to make room for a whole new universe where God’s original purpose can be realized.

The same terrible judgments will also befall all people who rebel against the Creator and refuse to repent.

Several psalms show that all creation will rejoice when the Lord comes to judge the earth: all the

trees of the forest and the mountains will rejoice, the streams will clap their hands and the sea will

roar with all that fills it.

The man with a glorified physical body on the throne in the heavenly world is the guarantor that the entire physical creation will also be glorified.

Our bodies are temples where God will be glorified and this also applies to all of creation!