p. 58 | THE WAY OF LIFE

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Feb 15, 1877

THE WAY OF LIFE

FROM PARADISE LOST TO PARADISE RESTORED.

Fifth Paper—The New Earth.

The apostle Peter speaks of three worlds; the first was before the flood, the second now exists, and the third will be in the restitution. He states “that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water, whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire. . . . But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.” 2 Pet. 3: 5–13.

God’s promise of the new heavens and earth, is found alone in these words of the prophet: “Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. But be ye glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people, and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying. . . . The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock, and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.” Isa. 65: 17–25.

The three worlds are now before us in scripture language. The inhabitants of the first became so stained with crime and violence that God could not bear with them, and after warning the people of their approaching doom through his servant Noah, he washed the world from its moral pollutions by the waters of the flood. And when the cup of iniquity of the inhabitants of the world that now is shall be full, God will cleanse the second world from sin and sinners by fire as he did the first by water.

Then the curse will be removed, the earth will be renewed, and glorious Eden will be restored. The Scriptures quoted do not speak of three spheres, but of the one only which God gave to Adam, in three conditions covering these periods. The first reaches from the fall to the flood, the second, from Noah to the coming of Christ, and the third, from the time of restitution of all things spoken by the mouth of all the prophets of God, stretches forward throughout the ceaseless rounds of eternal ages.

But the supporters of the doctrine of the world’s conversion regard the prophecy of Isaiah concerning the new heavens and earth as a figurative description of the condition of things during the temporal millennium. We, however, regard it as a prophetic description of the state of things after the restitution of the earth and man to their primeval glory. Before the fall, man was upright, and the earth and all the living creatures that God had created upon it, as viewed by the Creator, were seen to be “very good.” Gen. 1: 31. The Scriptures do not teach the annihilation of all things by the fires of the great day, and the creation of all new things for the future state. But they do distinctly teach the restitution of all things. Thus saith the great Redeemer: “Behold, I make all things new.” Rev. 21: 5.

The prophet Isaiah is either giving a figurative description of a very happy condition of things in this mortal state, or he is portraying the literal glories of the restitution after the second advent and the resurrection of the just. The friends of the temporal millennium, in order that all parts of their figurative theory may harmonize, must have in their figurative new heavens and earth, figurative houses, figurative vineyards, and they must eat the figurative fruit thereof, and behold around them figurative wolves and figurative lions, feeding with figurative lambs and figurative bullocks, to say nothing of the presence of figurative serpents. If it be said that the gospel is to convert all these wolves and lions and serpents, we reply that if they are converted, they are no longer wolves and lions and serpents, and during the entire period of the millennium there will be none but figurative lambs and doves.

But the apostle has so clearly identified the three worlds, namely, the one before the flood, the one that now is, and the new earth which is to come, as to entirely preclude the figurative view. No fact can be more plainly stated than that the world that perished by the flood is the same as that which now is, and is reserved unto fire. This is to be changed by fire, and then will appear the new heavens and the new earth, according to the promise of God. Thus the apostle links the three worlds together. Are the first two worlds literal? So is the third. Is the new earth, mentioned by Isaiah, figurative? So are all three worlds figurative. But if they are all literal, then we see a harmony in Scripture respecting them. If they be regarded as figurative, then we are left to the following conclusion:—

That in the days of figurative Noah, the figurative heavens and earth, being overflowed by figurative water, perished figuratively. But the figurative heavens and earth, which are now, are reserved unto figurative fire, against the figurative day of Judgment and perdition of ungodly figurative men. Nevertheless, we, according to his figurative promise, look for figurative new heavens and new earth, wherein dwelleth figurative righteousness.

True, the sacred writers use figures and parables. But we should believe that God in his word means what he says, unless the connection shows good reasons why a figure or parable is introduced. If God does not mean what he says in his word, who will tell us what he does mean? In case that God does not mean what he says, the Bible ceases to be a revelation, and God should give us another book to teach what this one means. But the Bible is the very book in which he has plainly spoken to the children of men.

With this view of the Scriptures, we see spread out before us the living realities of the new earth in all their grandeur and glory, as when Adam was lord of Eden, and held dominion “over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth.” Gen. 1: 26. Before the transgression, all was purity and peace, even among the beasts which God had created. And who can say that these, with natures such as the Creator first gave them, will not be in place in the earth restored from the fall, as well as in the earth before the fall? “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.” Isa. 11: 6, 7.

It is in the restitution that the glory of the Lord shall fill the earth, as the waters cover the sea. “But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.” Num. 14: 21. “They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Isa. 11: 9. “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” Hab. 2: 14. “Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth.” Matt. 5: 5. This glorious state, however, is not brought about by the conversion of all men. It is introduced by the destruction of sinful men, the restitution of the earth to its condition as it came from the hand of the Creator, and the gift of immortality to the meek of all ages. “For evil-doers shall be cut off; but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be; yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.” Ps. 37: 9–11.

The prophecy of Daniel introduces five universal kingdoms which were to succeed each other on the earth. The first four kingdoms are perishable. The fifth is immortal, and will stand forever. The first four kingdoms are represented in the second chapter of the prophecy by the great metallic image, the several parts of which are composed of gold, silver, brass, and iron mixed with clay. These represent Babylon, Medo-Persia, Grecia and Rome. The stone cut out of the mountain without hands smote the image upon his feet, when the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold were broken in pieces, and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them. No language can express destruction more completely. And it is not until this utter destruction of all earthly governments that the immortal kingdom is established, filling the whole earth with its glory, represented by the stone becoming a great mountain and filling the whole earth.

As further evidence that the kingdom of glory is future, we cite the fact that the stone smote the image upon his feet. It did not smite the image upon his head, Babylon; nor on the breast, Media and Persia; nor on the sides, Grecia; nor yet on the legs, Pagan Rome. But the stone did smite the image on his feet. And it could not smite the feet before they existed, and they were not in being till several hundred years after the first advent of Jesus Christ. The stone has nothing in common with the image. Mark well the events here stated. The stone breaks the image, and it becomes like the chaff of the summer threshing-floors, and the wind carries it away so that no place is found for it. All earthly kingdoms are first broken, and cease to exist; then, and not till then, will the “God of Heaven” set up the immortal kingdom on the earth, which shall never be destroyed.

The seventh chapter of the prophecy of Daniel presents the four perishable kingdoms, to be followed by the eternal kingdom of God, in more forcible light than even the second chapter. This is done, as in the second chapter, by symbols, and by explanations and plain declarations. The four perishable dominions are illustrated by four great beasts. The lion represents Babylon; the bear, Persia; the leopard, Grecia; and the beast with ten horns represents Rome. The fate of the fourth beast is expressed by the prophet in these words: “I beheld even till the beast was slain, and his body destroyed, and given to the burning flame.” If the words slain, destroyed, and given to the burning flame do not express utter extinction, we know of no words that will express the idea.

It is worthy of particular notice that the fourth beast continues without change of character until he is given to the burning flame. Not so with the other three beasts which precede him. Says the prophet: “As concerning the rest of the beasts, they had their dominion taken away, yet their lives were prolonged for a season and time.” The territory and subjects of the Babylonish kingdom still existed, though subjected to the Persians. So of the Persian kingdom in respect to Grecia, and of Grecia in respect to Rome. But what succeeds the fourth kingdom? Is it the world’s conversion and the temporal millennium? No, indeed! Its career will end in the lake of fire, and it will have no existence beyond. The lion was merged into the bear, the bear into the leopard, and the leopard into the fourth beast. But the fourth beast is to end its career in the lake of fire, which will be its utter destruction.

The very next scene presented to the prophet represents the events closely connected with the coming of the Son of man. His reception of the dominion of the earth is described in these words: “And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him.” The eternity of his kingdom is also expressed. “His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.”

The scene still troubles the prophet of God. And, in order to relieve him, an angel explains in these words: “These great beasts, which are four, are four kings [kingdoms], which shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever.”

Papal Rome, represented by the little horn, which came up among the ten kingdoms of the old Roman empire, is to prevail against the saints until the final Judgment. “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” Christ and his saints will not take the kingdom by converting the man of sin. The career of anti-christ will not close in the golden age, but in the lake of fire. But when the earth shall be cleansed from sin and from sinners at the time of the second resurrection, and the second death, Christ will occupy it as the territory of his eternal kingdom. Then “the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” Dan. 7: 27.

In tracing the subject of redemption through Christ we have seen that the blood of the Son of God was shed to cleanse the sinner from the guilt and stains of transgression; that by the resurrection, the just are to be redeemed from death; that by the agency of fire the curse will be removed from the earth; and that in the Redeemer the redeemed obtain the dominion of the earth, which Adam lost in the fall.

But the crowning act, which will place our world, with its immortal inheritors, above the disgrace of the fall, will be the establishment of the golden city of God upon it, with the throne of both the Father and the Son as the seat of government of the universe. In support of this startling proposition we appeal to the Bible. And where shall we look for testimony respecting this completing act of redemption, but in the last book, and the last chapters of the Sacred Volume which relate to the grand scheme of redemption?

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away, and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from

their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new.” Rev. 21: 1–5.

John states what he saw and heard. The voice from the throne of Heaven which John heard was the voice of Christ. He is the revelator, and not John. See Rev. 1: 1. Our adorable Redeemer does not propose to make all new things; but “all things new.” He states that the tabernacle of God will be with men, and that “God himself shall be with them.” God may be with men by the agency of an angel, or by his Son; but to free the subject from all uncertainty, the Son states that God himself shall dwell with men.

Speaking of the holy city, John states that he “saw no temple therein, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it; for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” Verses 22, 23. Whatever view may be taken of the relation which the Son sustains to the Father, all must agree that the expression, “Lord God Almighty and the Lamb,” must embrace the Eternal God.

Again, says John: “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And there shall be no more curse, but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it.” Rev. 22: 1–3.

If the river of life is to flow in the midst of the broad street of the city of God upon the new earth, the throne of God, as well as that of the Lamb, will be there. And if the curse here mentioned is that which came upon our world in consequence of Adam’s sin, then redemption exchanges the blight and mildew of sin, and the pall of death, for the glory of the throne of God and of the Lamb.

The stupendous plan of redemption provides for more than simply the restitution of all things to their first glory. Adam was Lord of creation; but the divine Son of God, the second Adam, will be Lord of the world redeemed from sin and its results. And may we not reasonably conclude that the future, immortal condition of the earth, and the redeemed who inherit it, will as far exceed that of the first pair and the earth given to them, as the Son of God exceeds innocent Adam in holy Eden?

Redemption completed at the resurrection of Christ? So say our Sunday friends, who observe the first day of the week to commemorate the completion of redemption. Hold, friends! You are just one dispensation ahead of time. Wait until the Redeemer shall make all things new. When the plan of redemption shall be finished, then, if it please God, we will all keep Sunday.

As we view the work of redemption, crowned with the glory of the throne of God and of the Lamb, in the midst of the “great multitude which no man could number,” who had “washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,” we cease to wonder that redeemed men in Heaven should look forward to the time when they should reign on the earth as the period of still higher joys.

“And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof, for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.” Rev. 5: 9, 10. Did these go up to Heaven at death? One hundred theologians will tell you that they did. Or, are these the saints who came out of their graves after Christ’s resurrection, and who ascended up to Heaven with Christ from Olivet? Some think these are those who were redeemed from the grave more than eighteen hundred years since. Or, are these who sing the song of redemption, all the saints who shall reign with Christ in the holy city during the one thousand years before it shall come down upon the new earth at the close of the seventh millennium? Some have held this view. Whatever view the reader may take of these redeemed men who sing the new song, the golden text loses none of its strength in proof that the earth, redeemed from the curse, will be the inheritance of those who are redeemed from the grave, having first been redeemed from the condemnation and stains of sin through faith in the cleansing blood of Christ.

And why should not happy saints in Heaven, or on the earth, look forward to the completion of redemption, when they shall reign on the new earth, as the highest state of joy of which mortal or even immortal minds can conceive? In view of the honors which God has bestowed upon this world, why not fully accept the plainest statements of his word that he will bestow still greater honors upon it in locating both the throne of the Father and the Son upon the new earth?

The history of our world is truly wonderful. Events have occurred on this sphere which have startled the universe. Angels desired to look into the plan of redemption; but they could not comprehend its amazing depths, and the matchless love which prompted its execution. It was here that Adam, made in the moral and personal image of God, basely transgressed the law of his Creator. In infinite love the plan was laid in Heaven to redeem that which was lost in the fall, at an immense cost. At sundry times God in mercy has punished crime, and diminished it for a time on the earth by flood and flame. Here patriarchs and prophets have wrought out holy characters, and many of them have spilled their blood for the truth.

“Be ye astonished, O ye heavens, at this.” Here, among the fallen children of men, was manifested the mysterious union of the human and divine in the Redeemer who lived our example, died our sacrifice, was buried, and rose from the dead, took with him the keys of death and the grave, and ascended on high to plead his blood in behalf of poor sinners. Here more than fifty millions of saints have sealed their testimony with their blood, that Christ is the living way, and the only Mediator between God and the sinner. Here, too, God will honor his Son, who purchased the redemption of man stained with sin, and the earth, groaning beneath the curse, at an infinite cost, by establishing his throne upon it. Then will the redeemed lose the disgrace of the fall in the glory of the Redeemer, and the earth will forget the curse in the glory of God and the Lamb. “Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients gloriously.” Isa. 24: 23.