The Salvation of the Earth

Introduction: Here We Stand and the Salvation We Proclaim

0:00 Our study in the Word of God this morning is the eighth in a series entitled, Here We Stand. Taking my clue from that well-known historic incident in which Luther stood before his accusers and pointing to the books he had written which expressed his understanding of the teaching of the Word of God and under pressure to recant said, Here I stand. I can do no other. My conscience is held captive to the Word of God. So help me God. Amen.

0:40 We've changed Luther's famous words, here I stand, to here we stand, attempting to set forth in this series of messages a confession of what we as a congregation believe the Word of God to teach. and in so doing it is my concern and the concern of my fellow elders that those of you who have been with us for some time will be confirmed in your understanding of the word of God many of you who are babes in Christ and new among us that you may be initiated into the basic pivots and main focuses of our concern and belief as a congregation and that those of you who are looking in as it were, from the outside may be informed as to what we believe the Scriptures to teach.

1:29 And this series will divide itself into five major headings, two of them we've already covered. The first one, the book we believe and obey. We believe this book that we call the Bible to be the Word of God and the Word of man. and because it is the word of man it does not undermine in any measure the reality of its being the word of God it comes to us with all the authority all of the inerrancy of God himself but it's the word of God conveyed in the language of men and therefore we do not treat it superstitiously we do not simply dip down into any portion having no regard for the flow of thought for context

2:14 for the situation in which that word was spoken, but we attempt to handle the word of God responsibly as we would handle any word that is given in the language patterns of men. And then secondly, we directed our attention to the God whom we worship and confess. The great theme of the Scriptures is not man, but God Himself. The opening words direct us to Him, in the beginning God, and to the consummation of all things, we are confronted with the glory of the true and living God.

2:50 Having considered some fundamental teaching of the Word of God concerning the God whom we worship and confess, we are now addressing ourselves to the third major category, namely the salvation we receive and proclaim. For as surely as the Scriptures teach us that God is the central figure of the Word, they teach us that God's work of salvation, reclamation, restoration, a work in which He is restoring a disordered universe, is His great and primary work. Now the first subheading under that third major category concerns the question, who or what are the objects of this salvation?

3:36 When we turn to the Scriptures and we see that God's saving work is His great work, and we ask the question, who or what is or are the objects of that work of salvation, we are driven to a twofold answer. There is a primary object and a secondary object. Last week we considered the primary object. The primary object is man.

Review: Man as the Primary Object of Salvation and the Doctrine of Sin

4:01 Man created in the image of God, therefore created with a capacity to know God, to commune with God, accountable to God. But the object of salvation is not man simply created in the image of God, but man fallen in Adam. And thirdly, man ruined in sin, in a state of guilt, pollution, bondage, and impotence. And I shall conclude the review with making this statement, and I trust it will be written upon our minds and hearts.

4:35 Christianity is essentially a sinner's religion. All that the Bible teaches concerning salvation is founded upon its doctrine of sin. If the teaching of the Word of God concerning what sin is is either blurred, misstated, denied, understated, or overstated, it's only a matter of time before every distinctive element of the Bible's doctrine of salvation will be blurred, undermined, misstated, or denied. If we deny the reality of man's guilt, it will not be long before there's no need for the substitutionary atonement of the second person of the Godhead,

5:24 bearing in His person the wrath of God. If we deny the reality of man's pollution touching all of his faculties, we will no longer confess with understanding the biblical teaching concerning the nature of the regenerative work of the Spirit that God the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, comes into direct and powerful and internal contact with sinners to cleanse pollution from their humanity. If we deny the reality of bondage and impotence, we will not long hold to the biblical emphasis upon the nature of salvation as being wholly gratuitous, that is, all of grace and therefore all of God.

6:09 If man can bring himself to the font of cleansing Then he has contributed to the whole complex of the saving work And it's only then when the full-orbed doctrine of man in a state of sin Is maintained with clarity of understanding And with depth of conviction That all that the Bible teaches about the glorious salvation of Christ will be maintained with depth of conviction and with clarity of understanding. Well, so much for that brief review. We come now this morning to the secondary object of this great salvation. This salvation taught in the Bible, which has man as its primary object,

The Earth as the Secondary Object of Salvation: A Warranted Focus

6:57 also has a secondary object. And that secondary object is the earth upon which man lives. Now, under normal circumstances, I would not take a whole message to speak on the salvation of the earth. In terms of the attempt to give a broad overview of these great doctrines of Scripture, God, salvation, the church, etc., it would not be in due proportion to give a whole message to this.

7:27 However, you'll remember that I said in the introduction to this series that we wanted to focus upon those aspects that are under peculiar attack in our own day, where the Christian must have a definitive grasp upon the teaching of the Word of God. And we live at a point in history, at least in our own America and in somewhat of Western culture, where there is a tremendous emphasis upon ecology, upon pollution, upon the state of the earth. And because of that, I feel it warrants the treatment of an entire hour to consider the earth upon which man lives as the secondary object of salvation.

Fundamental Principle: Man and Earth's Interconnected Condition

8:12 Now to think our way through this broad biblical subject, I shall follow the pattern that I announce presently. I shall first of all articulate a fundamental principle, secondly demonstrate the biblical basis for that principle, and thirdly make application of the teaching based upon that principle. Alright, the fundamental principle is this, and I know you haven't opened your Bible yet, and you say, well I thought this was a Bible preaching church. Well, we're going to get into the Scriptures, and once we open it, we won't shut them until we're done.

8:43 But I want to set the direction, and in topical studies this is so essential. The fundamental principle is this. The earth and man are so suited to each other that the condition of the earth is determined by the condition of the man who dwells in it. Now, you kids got that?

9:03 the relationship between man that's my right hand this morning that's man and my left the earth that shows that I'm left handed I'm not prejudiced I gave greater worth to my right hand than to my left this morning alright man is the right hand the earth is the left the principle is this the relationship between man and the earth and earth and man is so suited each to the other that the condition of the earth is determined by the condition of the man who dwells in it. Now that may sound trite, but get hold of it. Because in the light of all that we considered

9:48 last Lord's Day, you'll see the connection between the two. Man as created in the image of God, man as fallen, man as ruined, has a parallel in the earth upon which he dwells. All right, there's the principle. The earth and man so suited to each other that the condition of the earth is determined by God in terms of the condition of the man who dwells in it.

Biblical Basis 1: The Earth in Original Creation (Genesis 1-2)

10:13 All right, now to the biblical data demonstrating this concept. First of all, the earth in the original creation. Turn to Genesis chapter 1. Upon what biblical evidence have I enunciated this principle?

10:32 Well, first of all, upon the biblical data that gathers around a description of the earth in the original creation, then we'll look at the biblical data concerning the earth in the tragedy of the fall, and thirdly, the earth in the consummation of redemption. First of all, then, the earth in the original creation, Genesis 1.1, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. That's the summary statement.

10:58 Then we have a detailed, a relatively detailed exposition of how God did that. All the way through chapter 1 we have the six days of creation. God who created the heavens and the earth did it in the following manner. And this is a matter of pure revelation.

11:16 Only God was there to do it. And only God can make known how he did it. And he made that known to Moses. Now when he was done, what did he have?

11:26 Look at verse 31. At the end of the sixth day of creation, God saw everything that he had made. And behold, it was very good. There was evening and there was morning the sixth day.

11:41 Reading on to chapter 2. And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had made, And he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because that in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made.

12:04 Now what do we have then in this account of creation? We have the description of the work of God in producing a complex, diverse, and intricate world, but a perfectly harmonious one. God beheld everything that he had made and it was good. And he made everything the way he did, perfectly suited for his crowning act of creation, which was man.

12:32 Everything was prepared for man. As the young bridegroom-to-be spends weeks painting the apartment and papering and decorating, everything leading to the day when he can walk over the threshold with his young bride. So God himself, in all of the work of creation, is preparing the earth so that upon it he will put a man perfectly suited to that earth. And what did he put upon it?

13:00 A perfect, upright, intelligent, and responsible man in the midst of that complex, diverse, intricate, but harmonious environment. For Adam and Eve then,

13:16 subduing the earth meant nothing more or less than the delightful discovery of its laws, harnessing them for God's glory and for their good. More especially in chapter 2, the task of Adam was this, verse 15, And the Lord God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. Dressing and keeping for Adam would be parallel to God's work in creation. Did God use his mind in creation?

13:49 Yes, the creation reveals something of the wisdom of God's mind. Did God exercise power, divine energy? Yes, it's a manifestation of his tremendous power. But did God get weary in his work of creation?

14:03 When it says God rested, did it mean God had some sweat on His brow and God was puffing after bringing all this into being? Why, you say, of course not. God rested only in the sense that He ceased from His work of creation. What was God's labor and work in creation?

14:19 It was simply the delightful expression in these tangible things that were made of His wisdom, of His power, of the beauty of His own person reflected in the beauty of His handiwork. And when God put man upon such an earth and said, dress it and keep it, Adam's labor in dressing and keeping the garden would have employed all of the faculties of his mind and body, all of his aesthetic sensitivity, all of his appreciation of beauty and order. But in the midst of all that labor, there would have been not one moment of weariness, not one second of drudgery. God's labor finds a parallel in Adam's labor It is sheer delight So that when Adam is done He can stand back and behold What he has done in dressing and keeping the garden and find that it is good Furthermore verse 16

15:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat. In being sustained for his work of dressing the garden and keeping it, Adam would not find that supporting his life system would be a matter of difficulty. He will freely eat of all the trees. In other words, there will be no tree that has wormy fruit upon it.

15:41 There will be no garden of beans that has weeds choking out the beans. All that God has given to him, chapter 1, he said, I've given you the herb for food yielding its seed. The whole picture is a creation that gladly gives up its fruit to man who gladly receives it, who in turn gladly accomplishes the task that God has given him to do. There's not an element of unyieldedness in the earth, not an element of unwillingness in the creatures to subdue the earth, to dress the garden, to keep it.

16:14 You get something of the beautiful interplay between the perfect man and the perfect earth upon which he was placed. Do you see that? You see the principle? The condition of the earth is so related to the condition of the man that man's condition determines the condition of the earth.

Biblical Basis 2: The Earth in the Tragedy of the Fall (Genesis 3, Romans 8, Psalm 107)

16:34 Now come to the second area of biblical data. What about the earth in the tragedy of the fall?

16:44 And no sooner has man defected from God by rebellion than we find God coming in sovereign mercy to rescue man. And yet in the midst of that mercy there is judgment. and in the midst of the judgment there is mercy. And we find him speaking to the man in verse 17 of chapter 3 in these words.

17:06 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it. In other words, God says, What follows Adam? What I am now going to tell you in a way of judgment is based upon your moral revolt against me. Adam's condition was one of perfect compliance with the will of God up to the point of partaking of the fruit.

17:38 But now God says, because you have disobeyed me, something has happened in your moral relationship to me and to my law. Something has happened in your communion with me. What's the first result? Notice.

17:52 Cursed is the ground for thy sake. The moment the condition of the man changes, the condition of the earth must change as well. Because thou hast done this, cursed is the ground for thy sake on your account because of you. And how will that curse be manifested?

18:22 In toil thou shalt eat of it all the days of thy life. In other words, no longer is the earth going to give up gladly all of its produce. It's now going to be stingy and tight-fisted. And you're going to have to overcome its stinginess with toil.

18:40 So that you may sustain life. And that toil will be in terms of some new elements in the ecology. thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee and thou shalt eat the herb of the field in the sweat of thy face. The Hebrew is very vivid.

18:58 In the sweat of thy nostrils. Either referring to the nose as the most prominent feature and God is saying your face will be covered with sweat so the minute anyone looks to you and sees your most prominent feature they'll see the sweat on your nostrils or some of you know what it is to work in a real hot day and the sweat will come down off your brow until it gathers in little puddles on the end and drops off? That's what God's saying. He says, you're not just going to have a little few beads of sweat upon your brow.

19:24 We usually think in the sweat of thy brow. God says, in the sweat of thy nostrils. It's going to gather until the brow can no longer hold it and drop down upon the nose. In the sweat of thy nostrils, thou shalt do what?

19:38 Thou shalt eat bread. Life will be sustained. There is mercy. But there's a curse upon the ground.

19:44 There'll be toil and labor that is distasteful and wearisome until finally it will issue in your return to the very ground out of which you were taken till thou return to the ground for out of it thou wast taken for dust thou art and unto dust thou shalt return. Now what does this passage tell us? Having announced the reality of the curse God expounds its manifestation. Man will eat in sorrow.

20:12 He will make produce or gather produce with difficulty, and he will eventually return to the earth worn out and old. Now Paul describes the present condition of this earth in very graphic language in Romans 8. What is described in Genesis chapter 3 in plain language is now couched in more theological and almost poetic language in Romans 8, where Paul says in verse 19, for the earnest expectation of the creation, that is, the created order, the earth, waits for the revealing of the sons of God,

21:01 that is, the consummation of redemption among the people of God when they get their glorified bodies. For the creation was subjected to vanity not of its own will. The creation did not disobey God, but by reason of him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself should be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious or into the liberty of the glory of the children of God for we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Paul says three things about the earth as a result of fall.

21:38 First of all it is subject to vanity, verse 20. It is in the bondage of corruption, verse 21, and it is pictured as a travailing woman giving birth to child. It groans and it travailes, longing to be something that it is not, as though it were an echo of something it once was. So you see, the earth now as we know it is not what it always was.

22:11 Everything injurious to man in the organic, vegetable, and animal creation is the effect of the curse pronounced upon the earth for Adam's sin. That's the way one author has stated it very simply and accurately. Everything injurious to man in the organic, vegetable, and animal creation is the effect of the curse pronounced upon the earth for Adam's sin. The condition of the earth is going to be determined by the condition of the man.

22:44 When the man is righteous, the earth has none of these ill effects. When the man becomes unrighteous, the ground is cursed for his sake. Now think through your Old Testament history. And if the earth could speak, surely it groans and travails and winces with pain.

23:02 It's because of man the creature's sin that the death rattle is in the throat of the whole creation at the time of the flood. When everything that had life, that in the ark accepted, is utterly obliterated, every form of life.

23:24 Cursed is the ground for man's sake. Imagine, all of that beautiful creation that God beheld that was very good, inundated with water, covered with silt and debris. Why? Cursed is the ground for man's sake.

23:42 Think of the cities of the plains.

23:46 Cities that were so attractive because of their verdure and because of their fruitfulness that Lot chooses them. One morning they're nothing but charcoal Fire and brimstone come down from heaven And utterly consume the cities of the plains Cursed is the ground for thy sake Think of the curses of the covenant in Deuteronomy God says if you obey me and follow me There'll be blessing from heaven Blessing in your needing troughs Blessing in your wounds Blessing everywhere But if you disobey me God says I'll shut up the heavens There'll be drought and there'll be famine. Every time Palestine's countryside was cracked and parched and cried out, as it were, in an agony of thirst to heaven for a drop of rain,

24:36 we hear the echo of the word of God to Adam, Cursed is the ground for thy sake. Now that gives you at least a little suggestion. You think right through Old Testament history and you see that the principle is accurate. the condition, the relationship of man and the earth is such that the condition of the earth is determined by the condition of the man who dwells upon it.

25:00 One key text that summarizes, as it were, the whole ecological history of Palestine is in the 107th Psalm, verses 33 and 34. He turneth rivers into a wilderness and water springs into a thirsty ground. a fruitful land into a salt desert. Why?

25:23 For the wickedness of them that dwell therein. Then the converse, He turneth a wilderness into a pool of water and a dry land into water springs. And there maketh the hungry to dwell that they may prepare a city of habitation. You see what God is saying?

25:41 He's saying the condition of the Palestinian ecology has direct reference to the condition of the man who dwells in Palestine.

25:53 That was very clearly spelled out in the whole terms of the covenant as given in Deuteronomy. So you see, kids, when you're told in a science class that we can evaluate the present condition of the earth on the assumption that the earth has always been what it has now been becoming, it is not true. The earth that now is, is not what it once was. Every facet of the earth has been cursed for man the sinner's sake and on account of him.

Biblical Basis 3: The Earth in the Consummation of Redemption (Romans 8, 2 Peter 3, Revelation 21-22)

26:24 All right, we've seen the principle illustrated in the original creation. The principle illustrated in the condition of the earth after the tragedy of the fall. Now thirdly, see the principle demonstrated in the condition of the earth in the consummation of redemption. Go back please to Romans chapter 8.

26:44 Paul has asserted the wonder of our justification, no condemnation to those who are in Christ. He goes on in the 8th chapter to assert the reality of the indwelling spirit. First of all is the spirit of sanctification. They that are in the spirit do not walk in the flesh as the basic pattern of life.

27:05 Then the privilege of the indwelling spirit is the spirit of adoption. verses 14 to 16. But he says, though we have a completed justification, though we've experienced the reality of a radical cleavage with sin and the indwelling of the Spirit and the spirit of adoption, we still have problems. And he said, the problems are rooted in the fact that our redemption is not consummated yet.

27:31 And he says in verse 18, for I reckon that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that should be revealed to usward. For the earnest expectation of the creation waits for the revealing of the sons of God. And then he talks about creation's problem as we noticed it earlier. Subject to vanity, bondage of corruption, groaning and prevailing. But then he says something wonderful is going to happen. Verse 21, the creation itself shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption.

28:06 It was not subjected to this condition by reason of its own activity, but it was subjected to this condition because God had determined that the earth and man would be suited to one another. When man was perfect, the earth was perfect. When man is sinner, the earth is in bondage because of man's sin. But now when man the creature is totally and finally delivered from the last traces of sin, when his perfected spirit is joined to his perfected resurrected body, what's God going to do?

28:42 He's going to make the earth fit for such a creature once again. Man perfect, earth perfect. Man sinner, earth cursed. Man glorified, earth glorified.

28:52 There's the principle, simply stated. Now then, to think our way through this great concept of the word of God, let's ask a few questions. Number one, what is going to happen to the whole creation in the consummation of redemption? Well, verse 21 describes it this way.

29:10 The creation shall be delivered from, there's the negative, delivered from the bondage of corruption into, there's the positive, the liberty of the glory of the children of God. What's going to happen? Everything that is native to this world because of Genesis 3, 17 through 19. Everything that is a part of that curse that came because of man's sin, and think, I just gave you a brief overview of some outstanding Old Testament incidents.

29:47 Everything from the fire and brimstone upon the cities of the plain to the weeds in your own backyard garden. Everything. It will be delivered from the bondage of corruption. The earth yields its fruit very reluctantly.

30:07 And in the midst of thorn and thistle, it will be delivered from the bondage of corruption positively. It will enter into the liberty of the glory of the children of God And I don know what that means but I think it means something like this Everything that I will be able to be with a glorified body and a perfected spirit which I cannot now be as an imperfectly sanctified, redeemed creature, so the earth will be. The earth still yields its fruit according to God's promise. It's still an amazing thing, but it's a mixed thing.

30:46 A Christian is an amazing thing, but he's still a mixed creature. He loves God, but at times he finds he still loves his sin. He longs after God, but at times he finds himself hankering for the flesh pots of Egypt. What is the glorious liberty of the children of God?

31:06 It is that I shall be in the entirety of my redeemed humanity in reality what I now am in principle. I want to love God with my whole heart but we that are in this tabernacle do groan being burdened I find then when I would do good evil is present with me that's what Paul complains about in Romans 7 wretched man that I am who should deliver me from this body of death that's the cry well what will the glorious liberty of the children of God be it will be release from all of that to be all that God intended I should be. All right? Then that's what's going to happen in some way in the creation.

31:50 All that God intended it should be when He made it. That it would yield its fruitage without any opposition from thorn or thistle. What's going to happen? It's going to be delivered from and it's going to be delivered into.

32:03 All right? Second question. How will it happen? Now hang in there.

32:07 You say this doesn't have much to do with Christ yet. No, it doesn't. But it's going to. So just hang with us.

32:11 how will it happen? it will not happen by human endeavor it's going to happen as the result of a divine judgment introduced into the natural order 2 Peter chapter 3 verses 5 through 7 didn't know the Bible had so much to say about this earth did you? it has a lot to say about it 2 Peter chapter 3 Peter's dealing with the objection of unbelieving scoffers who say, ah, this business about the second coming of Christ. I remember my grandfather talking about it and my mom and dad, nothing's happened.

32:54 It's all a lot of religious scare talk. Peter says, oh no. Oh no, that's not so. Verse 5, 2 Peter 3, For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old and an earth compacted out of water and amidst water by the word of God, by which means the world that then was being overflowed with water perished, but the heavens that are now and the earth by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

33:33 Then verses 10 and 11, but the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat in the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up seeing that all these things are thus to be dissolved what manner of persons ought you to be in all holy living and godliness what is going to happen? delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God when is it going to happen? It's going to happen in what Peter calls the day of the Lord, verse 10. That day that is called in verse 12, the day of God.

34:14 The day that is called in verse 7, day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. He intermixes these terms. Day of destruction, day of judgment, day of the Lord, day of God. And he says in that day, God by fire is going to purify the earth.

34:34 Someone says, what kind of fire? I answer in the words of Lensky, the Lutheran commentator, don't ask me what kind. God has a variety of fire to suit his own purposes. He has one to burn wood.

34:49 He has another to send the lightning bolt dashing through the sky. He has another which burns in the sun. And he has that unquenchable fire for the devils in the damned in hell, and he'll have a fire to purify his world. Don't ask silly questions, what kind of fire?

35:10 Be content that the Scripture says, this earth as it now is, has a reserved sticker on it. And it says, reserved for fire.

35:22 Not reserved for man's gradual improvement of it until it attains Eden. Reserved for fire. Why? Why? Because ungodly men have not yet been judged.

35:35 That's the connection. But he says when the time comes for God to purge ungodliness from His world, then God's going to purge His world from all the effects of ungodliness. There you see the thing tied together. How is it going to happen?

35:50 It's going to happen not gradually or partially, but suddenly, completely, and supernaturally. By fire. Third question, when will that happen? Well, look back at 2 Peter 3, verse 7.

36:04 It's going to happen when God judges and destroys ungodly men. It's stored up for fire, reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. Verse 10, it is called the day of the Lord that will come as a thief. in the which the heavens shall pass away with great noise.

36:35 It is called in verse 12, the day of God. It is called in Romans 8, 19, the revealing of the sons of God. What a precious expression. Romans 8, 19, for the earnest expectation of the creation is waiting for what?

36:52 The revealing of the sons of God. You see, it is as though the earth is talking and waiting and saying, As long as sinful men walk upon me, I must be under the curse. Oh, for the day when every foot that walks upon me is a righteous foot. For in the day when the sons of God are revealed, I'm going to be liberated.

37:13 That's the whole. Paul had a vivid mind in terms of poetic imagery. Here is the creation, earnestly expecting, waiting for the revealing of the sons of God. knowing that until righteous feet walk upon it, it itself cannot be delivered from the bondage of corruption.

37:32 So when is all this going to happen? At the glorious return of our Lord Jesus Christ, to glorify with new bodies all that is redeemed, and to judge the ungodly. And for the life of me, dear brethren, I cannot force a lengthy separation in those things that the Word of God piles together. When will it happen?

37:56 At the unveiling of the sons of God, the day of judgment, the day of the Lord, the day of God. And what will be the result? Well, the result according to Peter, 2 Peter 3.13.

38:09 Look what's going to be the result. Now I hope you see the principle clinched by this statement in two from the book of the Revelation. 2 Peter 3, now in verse 13. But according to His promise We look for new heavens and a new earth Wherein dwelleth righteousness Wherein dwelleth righteousness What's going to happen to the whole creation Delivered from bondage Into the liberty of the glory of the children of God How will it happen?

38:45 By fire When will it happen? At the return of Christ What will be the result? what is the whole end God has in view? The reestablishment of righteousness upon the earth.

38:57 A new heavens and a new earth where righteousness does not merely have a home and a heart here and there, but where righteousness dwells in the whole earth is the habitation of righteousness. And I don't want to be irreverent when I say it's as though God says, well, if I'm going to do that, I've got to fix the earth up for it. so that once again righteous man and a sinless, uncursed earth will know that mutual delight there will be the righteous man upon the uncursed earth. And when we turn to the book of the Revelation and have the consummation set before us, we have that picture beautifully given.

39:41 Revelation 21.1, And I saw new heavens and a new earth. for the first heaven and the first earth are passed away. Not that God somehow annihilates this one.

39:53 No, no. Just as with our resurrection body, there's a continuity. It's the body I now have that will be resurrected, although it will be a glorious body. It's the earth that now grows and travails that's going to enter into the liberty of the glory of the sons of God.

40:07 Not a new one in that sense, but new in the sense of its renovation. And the summary statement with reference to the earth is found in chapter 22 and verse 3. And there shall be no curse anymore. That's it.

40:26 How do you explain all of this? Because God has removed the curse. Now do you see the principle established? Man and the earth are so suited that the condition of the earth is determined by the condition of the man upon it.

Application 1: Exposing Errors in Worldly Thought

40:40 Do you see the principle? I trust you do. in closing let me now make application of this principle in a way that I trust will be helpful to you in your own Christian life first of all it exposes the error of current worldly thought isn't it interesting how left to ourselves we go from one extreme of error to another in our day there are two extremes of error in the realm of worldly thought with reference to this world on the one hand you have the unbounded optimism of humanistic ecologists, naturalists, and even nutritionists. They give the boast, we can conquer the weather.

41:20 We can conquer the environment. We've got the tools. Now let's get on with it. If only we would, we could.

41:27 We will restore Eden. Oh yeah. If you take care of your ground well enough over a period of years, you won't need anything to kill the bugs. You'll get the ecology so balanced, you'll have an Edenic garden in which to raise all of your organic food so that ultimately if you and your kids will eat it, you'll live to be 150 years.

41:48 That's the optimists. Some of the health food nuts. I speak as one who's nutrition conscious. I take dietary supplements and vitamins.

41:59 I do not speak as someone who feeds on junk food. But I say it is a naturalistic, humanistic optimism to think that you can go back to Eden. Cursed is the ground for thy sake. Whether it's commercial fertilizers, organic fertilizers, cursed is the ground.

42:21 And it will be cursed until when? Until there's the glorious liberty of the sons of God. And then it shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption. Granted, we ought to do all we can to make the ground as yielding as it can be of good food.

42:38 Granted, we have a responsibility to subdue the earth. Granted, but all this starry-eyed optimism that says man has the tools if only he would. No, my friend, cursed is the ground for thy sake. The biggest problem with the ecology is not in the natural realm, it's in the hearts of men.

42:59 Cursed is the ground for thy sake. but on the other hand you have the foreboding pessimism of the other humanistic ecologists and naturalists they give the prediction man's going to destroy himself no no the Bible says while the earth remains there's going to be seed time and harvest remember this earth has a reserve ticket on it a reserve for fire God's fire not man's God's fire you have all the populations the zero population exponents don't you young couples believe that rubbish the earth can't sustain the life system we better not have any children God commands you to be fruitful and multiply and bear a godly seed don't you listen to these pessimists

43:44 God has reserved the work of judgment for himself now we're not to tempt God we're not to be wasteful of the environment granted we're to be conservation conscious granted but all of that notwithstanding man isn't going to destroy this earth God's going to do it.

44:01 So you see, the poor optimist and the poor pessimist, if only they'd take the Bible seriously, they'd see straight and they'd know what they're looking at when they look out at that earth. A little child who's listened to what I've said this morning knows more about his earth than the PhD who's a naturalist and a humanist and who refuses the light of Holy Scripture. Well, in the second place, this teaching not only exposes the error of current worldly thought, It forms the basis of searching self-evaluation. If this principle is valid, and I hope you're convinced it is after our study this morning, that man is so suited to the earth that the condition of the earth is determined by the man who dwells on it.

Application 2: Basis for Searching Self-Evaluation

44:42 If that's true, my friend, that forms the basis of some very searching self-evaluation because the Bible teaches us, as we've read this morning, that God is committed to a course that will ultimately mean this earth will have nothing but righteousness. in it. That means anyone who's going to be there is going to have nothing but righteousness in him or her. And that means if God the Holy Ghost hasn't begun a work making you into the image of His Son, giving you a new heart and a new love for Himself and righteousness and a will submissive to the Word of God, my friend, all of your hopes that you'll be found in the new heavens and the new earth are delusive It takes the inward work of God the Holy Ghost to fit us for that which He will make in the outward world wherein righteousness will dwell Now you ask yourself the question sitting here this morning

45:39 The God who is committed to making a new heaven and a new earth, is that God at work in me, fitting me for that new heavens and new earth?

45:50 The only way you can answer that is by being able to demonstrate that he is making you a holy man and a holy woman. and if you cannot demonstrate that he is making you a holy man or a holy woman, you have no grounds to believe you are going to dwell in his holy earth when he returns in fire to judge the world and to glorify the saints. And then finally, this teaching not only exposes the error of current worldly thought, not only forms the basis of searching self-evaluation, but it regulates fundamental Christian attitudes and actions. When we get hold of this, what will it do?

Application 3: Regulating Christian Attitudes and Actions

46:30 Let me give you just a few suggestions. It will infuse vigorous hope. Romans 8. Paul's great theme in this chapter is hope.

46:41 And in the Christian perspective, hope is not wishful thinking based upon nothing. But someone else is wishful thinking. Hope is confident expectation of promised blessings sealed in the covenant of God's own grace. ratified in the blood of His own dear Son.

47:00 Paul says we are saved in hope. Verse 23, not only so, not only does the creation groan, but we ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption to it, the redemption of our body. For in hope were we saved, but hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopeth for that which he seeth?

47:23 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. What a beautiful picture. Paul says there's a duet of groaners. There's a duet of groaners.

47:35 He says the whole creation groans and travails. One author stated it beautifully. He said it seems as though each spring the earth tries to give birth to newness of life only to find itself disappointed in the blasting of fall and the bleakness of winter. Every spring the earth tries to give birth and you see, and we were affected by that.

47:59 When those buds first come and the leaves open, we say, well man, they're just going to be there forever. But we know otherwise. Those leaves are going to turn and they're going to fall. The next winter, if God spares us, we're going to look out and nothing but bleak, icy covered, dark gray fingers pointing to the sky.

48:15 That's all. Not all that. So there's a groaning creation. And Paul says, not only so, but we groan.

48:22 Here's the groaning duet, a groaning creation and a groaning imperfect saint. But he says, listen, the same God who subjected the creation in hope, who only cursed the ground after he had given the promise in verse 15, that the seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent. The curse didn't come before it came after the promise of the gospel. In other words, God says, though I'm cursing the ground, I've already covered the curse with the promise of redemption.

48:53 The promise of redemption is already a canopy over the curse. The head of the serpent will be bruised. And all that flows out of his ungodly and wicked work is going to be negated and overcome by the seed of the woman.

49:09 Oh, dear Christian, every time you see an unyielding creation, you hear it groaning. Remember, it's not going to groan forever. And God says, that duet of groans is going to be a duet of praise. The two are tied together.

49:22 The condition of the earth. The condition of man. And I look out and say the earth will not always be that way. There's a reserve sticker on it.

49:29 Reserve for fire. Issuing in to a world wherein dwells righteousness. Why, if God is committed to that, and that's the secondary object, how much more will He accomplish what He's committed to do for the primary object of redemption, even me as a believing sinner? Oh, Christian, what a solid basis for hope.

49:50 what a solid basis for hope. And then secondly, it will govern our priorities. If you understand this principle that we've dealt with this morning, it will govern your priorities. When Peter announces that this world is reserved for fire, he draws a practical conclusion.

50:07 He says, now, people of God, in the light of this, what are you to do? Look at 2 Peter 3. 2 Peter 3. Wherefore, beloved, seeing ye look for these things, give diligence, verse 14, that ye may be found in peace without spot and blameless in his sight.

50:29 Verse 11, Seeing all these things are to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be involved up to your ears in every single project at a local level to save the ecology? No!

50:43 That's a misplaced priority. What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness? This creation is just like your body. Bodily exercise profits for a little.

50:55 It's the only one you've got in which to serve God. It's the temple of the Holy Ghost. You ought to take reasonably good care of it. But the Bible nowhere says that a Christian is to pamper and to place all of his concern upon the external.

51:08 It says the outward man perishes, the inward man's renewed day by day. We're told to seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and the needs of the body will be taken care of. That's the emphasis of Scripture. So, child of God, if you get hold of this principle, then you see you're not going to be driven off into a tangent, into an imbalanced priority, putting all of the emphasis upon, quote, Christian ecology and the cultural mandate to subdue the earth and replenish it and work out a Christian philosophy of ecology and natural world.

51:39 No, no, dear child of God, listen. You're called to holiness. Labor at being holy. now that will bring in its train respect for God's gifts you'll not throw your junk out the car window and litter the countryside you'll not willfully abuse God's creation because you're a steward, granted but oh dear child of God get hold of this principle and it will govern your priorities thirdly it will produce humility one of the most humbling things since I began to think along this line two weeks ago is about a half a dozen or a dozen times a day to look at the weeds coming up in my garden.

52:17 It's a constant fight.

52:20 It's just like that garden clenches its fist at me. It says, I'm going to win. And I have to clench it fast and say, I'm going to win. But every day, you let a day or two go, if you have a garden of any size, and before you know it, it's covered with weeds.

52:34 And what's every weed doing? Every weed is saying to every potential fruitful plant, I'm going to choke the life out of you. I'm going to sap all the nutrients from the soil for me so you can't have them.

52:48 And I look at that ground and I say, why is it that way? And God's Word says, cursed is that little garden for your sake, my child. That's humbling. I'm responsible for those weeds because I fell in my first father, Adam.

53:04 And when God said, cursed is the ground for thy sake, Adam, He spoke to him not as a private person, but as the representative head of the whole humanity. He said to me, cursed is the ground for thy sake. Every time you see a weed, it ought to humble you that you're a sinner.

53:21 Every time you see Dutch elm blight ruining a beautiful elm tree, you ought to be humbled. Every time your labor becomes toil and you can't wait till you can punch out at night, you ought to be humbled. Humbled. Why?

53:37 because toil that is laborious and unyielding earth hard to make ends meet to put groceries on the table in the sweat of thy nostrils thou shalt eat. We ought to be a humble people when we understand why the earth is what it is. And then last of all and this is just a suggestive list it ought to engender worship what a great savior we have because my Bible tells me that Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us. What was involved in the curse bearing of Christ?

Application 4: Engendering Worship for a Great Savior

54:18 Every single thing that would come as a result of man's sin. You mean Christ's redemption has released the earth from its bondage? What other grounds could there be for God to remove the curse from the earth? and there's a verse that I've never understood that I tentatively now understand.

54:40 Could it be that this is what Paul means when he says in Colossians chapter 1, turn to it for a moment, speaking of the glory of Christ, the one who created all things, he goes on to say this one who created all things, verse 20 of Colossians 1, through him to reconcile all things to himself having made peace through the blood of his cross through him I say whether things upon the earth or things in the heavens and you. He makes a distinction between a reconciliation of things and people. Doesn't he? Things upon the earth things in the heaven and you.

55:28 And my tentative conclusions about that passage is supported by no less an exegete than Lensky who has marvelous commentary on that passage. Oh, how our hearts should worship. It's one thing, and thank God it's central to worship our Lord Jesus Christ as the one who bore our sins in his own body to the tree, who by that redemption secured our release from the condemnation of sin, the guilt, the bondage of sin, who secured for us the inheritance of a glorified body. But oh dear child of God, what a hell it would be for a perfect man to be dwelling upon the earth as it now is.

56:09 And the redemption of Christ is going to reconcile all things. And when the work is consummated in man, the creature, it will be consummated in the earth, the created. And do you know you've sung about that for years? Did you know that?

56:26 You've sung about that for years. Open your hymnals. This is hymn number 149. Oh my.

56:34 Sorry I didn't know where the time had gone. All right, this is the last thing. Look at verse 3 of Joy to the World. That Christmas song.

56:43 No more let sins and sorrows grow, nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to do what? To make His blessings flow far.

56:57 As the curse is found. And how far is the curse found? Cursed is the ground for thy sake. He's come to make his blessings flow far.

57:08 As the curse is found. Oh, what a glorious salvation is ours in Christ. The primary object is man. Created in the image of God.

57:17 Man tragically fallen in Adam. Man miserably ruined in sin. But the secondary object is this earth. created perfect, cursed because of man, and ultimately to be liberated because of the redemption that God has wrought on behalf of His people.

57:39 Oh, dear friend, will you be found in the new earth as one who was made a new creature by the mighty work of this gracious God? If not, I entreat you this morning, As we rejoice in our prospects, you ought to tremble at yours because God has a place somewhere in His universe that is the place of final and eternal banishment where He says, I cannot have this element of unrighteousness with righteous mankind in a perfect earth and hell is God's junk keep of the universe. Oh, may God grant that you will not be found there, but in the place where the curse

58:25 is no more. Rejoice in your prospects, Christians. Keep your priorities straight. Walk humbly before God and worship so great a Savior as our Lord Jesus.

Prayer and Benediction

58:40 Let us pray.

58:51 Surely, Lord, I never could penetrate of its own power, nor would it have ever entered into the heart of man to conceive such wonderful things. But we thank you that they have been revealed to us by the Spirit through the Word, even the things that you have prepared for those that love you. We rejoice this day in so great a salvation that encompasses all that sin has touched. and we thank you most of all for so great a Savior upon whose mighty shoulders all of the work of salvation rests.

59:31 We thank you that he will not fail nor be discouraged, that he shall see of the travail of his soul and he shall be satisfied beholding the new humanity in the new heavens and the new earth. O Lord, we bless you. Help us then to feel, to know, to experience in our own hearts and lives all of the blessed fruits of the knowledge of what this earth is and what it shall yet become. May the probings of the Holy Spirit rest upon those who are not fit for the new heavens and the new earth because they have never received a new heart and a new standing before you in Christ.

60:14 O Lord, make them restless until they turn in repentance and faith. Hear our prayer, and may the benediction of your presence rest upon us and abide with us. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

60:49 Thank you.