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THE NEW EARTH

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Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 22, 1877

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 49, No. 12.

Read the full edition

THE NEW EARTH.

By James White

The Dominion Lost in Adam Restored through Christ.

In the fall, man lost the dominion of the earth. God said of the first pair, “And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.” Gen. 1:26. Adam had dominion over all the earth. But in the transgression and fall he lost his Eden home, lost the peaceable dominion of the earth, and called the curse of God down upon the fair work of the Creator’s hands. The peculiar circumstances under which Noah and seven others were placed immediately after the flood, made it necessary that the fear of them should be upon the beasts; but from the time of the fall, man has not held the peaceable dominion of the earth and the living creatures God made upon it.
The plan of redemption brings back the dominion of the earth through Christ, which was lost in Adam. This truth is stated by Paul in his epistle to the Hebrews, where he mentions the mysterious union of the divine and the human in Christ, that the Redeemer and the redeemed might be fellow-heirs to the inheritance which lies beyond the resurrection of the dead and the destruction of the author of sin. The apostle says:—
“Unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. But one in a certain place testified, saying, What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? Thou madest him a little lower than the angels; thou crownedst him with glory and honor, and didst set him over the works of thy hands. Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him. But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.” Heb. 2:5–9. The close student of prophecy will observe the bearing which these words of Paul have upon the subject of the redemption of the fair and peaceful domain which the representative of the race lost in the fall. It is to assist those who have not studied the subject that we make the following points:—
1. In the plan of redemption the world to come is not put in subjection to angels, but in subjection to redeemed men. Angels are not to rule in that future domain, but redeemed men will there reign with their adorable Redeemer.
2. Adam was made a little lower than the angels, yet crowned with glory and honor, in that he was made lord of the works of the Creator’s hands. All things were put in subjection under him without reserve.
3. This dominion, lost in Adam, was not restored in Paul’s day. The apostle says, “But now we see not yet all things put under him.” Paul looked to the future for the redemption of this dominion through Christ at his second coming. He continues: “But we see Jesus,”—conveying the idea clearly that the redemption and restoration of the very dominion which was lost in Adam will be accomplished through Jesus Christ.
From the time that the dominion was taken from Adam we pass down the sacred history of the fallen race to Abraham, and there we find the joyful news of redemption through Jesus Christ, to be extended to the nations of the earth, proclaimed to the trusting, obedient patriarch. Paul speaks of it thus: “And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.” Gal. 3:8. The apostle here quotes from Gen. 12:3. And in the same chapter we read the Lord’s promise of the land to Abram’s seed. “Unto thy seed will I give this land.” Verse 7. After Lot separated from Abram, the Lord said unto him, “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art, northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: for all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever.” Gen. 13:14, 15.
Later, when God establishes his covenant with Abram, he promises the land to him and his seed for an everlasting possession. “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.” Gen. 17:7, 8. This promise of the land was confirmed to Isaac in these words: “Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father.” Gen. 26:3.
In his wonderful dream, Jacob saw a ladder reaching from earth to Heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending upon it. This ladder represents the plan of redemption through Christ, which plan connects earth with Heaven. Jacob saw the Lord standing above the ladder, and heard him declare: “I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac. The land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it and to thy seed.” Gen. 28:13.
We have set before the reader the repeated promise of the land made to Abraham and to his seed. And now we inquire, Did this promise receive its entire accomplishment in Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their seed according to the flesh? Or, will it have its complete and ultimate fulfillment through Christ in the future immortal state in the eternal inheritance of all the redeemed?
The testimony of the holy martyr Stephen is to the point. In his defense before his accusers he states that Abraham did not inherit the land of promise. That portion of his appeal which relates to the promise of the land, reads thus: “Men, brethren, and fathers, hearken. The God of glory appeared unto our father Abraham, when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran, and said unto him, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and come into the land which I shall show thee. Then came he out of the land of the Chaldeans, and dwelt in Charran, and from thence, when his father was dead, he removed him into this land, wherein ye now dwell. And he gave him none inheritance in it, no, not so much as to set his foot on, yet he promised that he would give it to him for a possession, and to his seed after him.” Acts 7:2–5.
And as further proof that the promise of the land was not fulfilled to Abraham and to his seed according to the flesh, we quote from Paul to the Hebrews: “By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive as an inheritance, obeyed, and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.” Heb. 11:8–10. Please notice these points:—
1. The apostle here speaks of the place, or the land, which Abraham should afterwards receive for an inheritance. He did not receive it during his mortal life.
2. He sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country with Isaac and Jacob, who were not inheritors, but simply heirs with him of the same promise.
3. In looking forward to the period when the promised land would be inherited, Abraham saw a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. He did not enjoy such a city as this at any time during the period of his long life of one hundred and seventy-five years. Men have built cities on the earth in past ages, and they have crumbled to decay. But no city has existed on earth of which it could be said that its builder and maker is God. This is evidently the new-earth city which will appear when the curse shall be removed, and the dominion of the earth shall be restored to all the redeemed. Rev. 21:1–3.
The golden city of God will be the grand metropolis of the immortal kingdom when all its component parts shall be brought forth, and the entire family of Heaven shall be gathered. Then, obedient to the call of the Redeemer—“Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you”—the redeemed of all ages will come from the east, and from the west, and from the north, and from the south, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of God. The gospel of the Son of God as proclaimed to Abraham in the promise of the land to him and his seed, is really a promise of Christ, as argued by the apostle in Gal. 3:16: “Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, and to thy seed, which is Christ.” The promise to Abraham that in him all the families of the earth should be blessed, embraces Jesus Christ as the only hope of salvation of men from all the nations, as stated by the apostle in verse 14: “That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ.” The faith of Abraham embraces Christ as its glorious object. This is seen in Christ’s reply to the Jews, who boasted in Abraham as their father. “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and saw it, and was glad.” John 8:56.
The promise of the land, as explained by Paul, was made to Abraham and Christ. But Abraham, though he should be heir of the world through the righteousness of faith, Rom. 4:13, was a sojourner in Canaan as in a strange country. He, with all the other examples of faith mentioned in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, “having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise, God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.” Verses 39, 40.
But when Christ, and all the heirs of promise shall take the kingdom upon the new earth, then will Abraham and his seed inherit the promised land. “If ye be Christ’s,” says Paul, “then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” Gal. 3:29. Abraham, the father of the faithful, will be there. Christ, and all his, will be there. Then the promise to Abraham, that he shall possess the land, and that his seed shall be like the stars of heaven, and the sand upon the sea-shore, will have reached its ultimate and complete fulfillment.
The apostle Peter speaks of three worlds. The first was before the flood, the second now exists, and the third will be when the Redeemer shall make all things new. He states that “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. . . . 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.” Isa. 65:17, 18.
Three worlds are now before us in scriptural 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 is the immortal and eternal future.
The apostle has so very clearly identified three worlds, namely, the one before the flood, the one that now is, and the new earth which is to come, as entirely to 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.
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?
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’s becoming a great mountain and filling the whole earth.
In the seventh chapter of Daniel, the four perishable kingdoms are represented by four beasts. The fate of the fourth is expressed 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. 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 here stated. “His dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.” The location of the kingdom is also expressed in verse 27: “And 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.”
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.
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, with the throne of both the Father and the Son, upon it. Read Rev. 21:1–3, 22–24; 22:1–3. It will be seen by these texts that “God himself” will dwell with men, and that redemption exchanges the curse for the throne of God and 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?
As we view the work of redemption, crowned with the glory of the throne of God and of the Lamb upon the new earth, we cease to wonder that redeemed men in Heaven should look forward to the time when they shall 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? 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? 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? Whatever view may be taken 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 the saints.
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? 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 basely transgressed the law of his Creator. 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 have been slain for the truth.
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. 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.
J. W.