| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Salvation past, present, and future” Our Bible verse for today: “For I will create a new heaven and a new earth …” “Isaiah 65:17 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Returning to Eden” Bible scholar Albert Wolters once wrote, “It is quite striking that virtually all of the basic words describing salvation in the Bible imply a return to an originally good state or situation.” The entire salvation process – all three stages of it (past, present, and future), are intended by God to return His people to the state that was enjoyed by Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. That will be fully accomplished in eternity when we have been given our resurrection bodies and our salvation has then been completely consummated on the new earth. The completion of God’s plan requires a new heaven and a new earth for our new bodies to spend eternity in. The old heaven and the old earth just won’t do. It will literally be a return to Eden. God has been talking to us about this truth for thousands of years. He said it through the Old Testament prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 65:17 above. There are also more than 100 other verses in both the Old and New Testaments that point to this. Our eternal existence will be on a new and perfect earth. If you’re like me and you enjoy life on this present earth, then you will be excited about spending forever on a new earth – but one that is a perfect paradise. There are many passages scattered throughout the Bible which give us some insight into what the new earth will be like, and all of them use words and descriptions from the current earth to help us understand. Revelation chapters twenty-one and twenty-two are by far the most complete of those passages. In those passages we read about a resurrected mankind, a redeemed earth, no pain, no grief, no tears. There is no sin and there is perfect harmony. We read of trees and rivers, buildings and streets and cities, animals and mankind living together in peace. The land is fertile and there is bountiful vegetation and fruit. In other passages we read that we will be recognizable for who we were in this life and we will reside in dwellings. We also read about feasting and fellowship and a lot more. In the Bible God used realities from the current earth to help us understand what the new earth will be like. This is important because it’s the nature of our eternal existence that is being described, and now we know that the current earth is filled with clues about what the new earth will be like. There is more we can know about the new earth and our return to Eden therefore, we will continue this tomorrow. God bless, Pastor Jim (If you like what you are reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville |
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