The Purified Earth Shall Abide Forever.
It shall feel the blight and evils of sin no more. The yoke of bondage under which it now groans, shall be broken and cast aside. The curse shall be lifted off. It shall no longer be subject to vanity. It shall serve only and effectually, the real ends for which it was created. It does not do so now. It never has done so. It is in bondage, dark, heavy and bitter. It groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. Then the hour of its deliverance shall come. It has groaned with man beneath the curse. With him it shall rejoice in deliverance from its power. It has shared the ruins of the fall. It shall exult in the greater blessings of redemption. And because it shall share the glory of this restoration when Christ comes, it is called upon to shout for joy in the hour of his appearing. Again. Of all God’s purposes it is true, that “whatever God doeth it shall be forever.” Eccl. iii, 4. Why, that is planning like a God! I know, we are often told that this world is like a scaffolding, set up to aid in the erection of God’s spiritual temple, and when this end is gained, it is like the scaffolding to be taken down. It has served its purpose. It will be needed no more. Well, brethren, this may do very well for a figure, a license of speech. My answer is, it is not so written. It contradicts the word of God. It is therefore false. God himself says: “Thus saith the Lord, that created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth and made it, he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there is none else.” Isa. xlv, 18. He who makes an article, knows why he made it. Here is the declaration of the Almighty maker of heaven and earth. He tells us why he made it. He makes known the purpose which he had in view in its formation. He hath established it. It cannot therefore, be moved. He made it to be inhabited, not destroyed, and that purpose shall be gained. It shall be carried triumphantly through. He underwrites for it in the words, “I am the Lord.” Who can stay his hand? His own omnipotence is the pledge, that his sovereign will shall be accomplished. And so again, we read of the earth which he hath established forever. Ps. ciii, 1. And, to the same import we are assured, that he laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed forever. Ps. civ, 5. And again, “Thou hast established the earth and it abideth.” Ps. cxix, 90. And so the covenant with Noah for the preservation of the earth, was for perpetual generations. In all these passages, there is nothing like destruction. Their teaching is clearly and incontrovertibly, as far removed from it as possible. And so we read: “Arise, O God, and judge the earth, for Thou shalt inherit all nations.” Ps. lxxxii, 8. What does that mean? How inherit? Is not the world his by creation? Has he not, therefore, a sovereign right to it? Generally he has. How, then, can he inherit it? In consequence of redemption, the earth was doomed to destruction because of sin. It was a forfeit world. Destruction was its lawful doom. But Christ came. He undertook to restore the authority of God upon it, without loss to the honor of his government. For this he died. Henceforth, the earth on which he suffered, became a part of his purchased possession. It is his by the terms of the everlasting covenant. On it his throne is to be forever set up. It is his now by inheritance; i. e., it comes to him, as a part of that which he redeemed. No, brethren, no! It is not for the earth on which the Redeemer trod, to be blotted out of being. It is consecrated for evermore. It witnessed his humiliation. It shall look on his infinite exaltation. It saw his name cast out as evil. It shall hail it, as the name that is above every name. It sustained his cross. It shall yet be bright with the glory of his crown. Bethlehem and Galilee and Calvary, shall yet be spots of loftiest renown. When the consequences of man’s sin are stayed, when the scroll of prophecy is fully unrolled, dwellers in other worlds shall flock to this, to look into the wondrous story of redemption through the blood of Jesus! The manger, the cross and the tomb, shall be the central marvels of the universe, through all the periods of the everlasting ages. Here, they shall say—he was laid in the manger. Here, he sat wearied at Jacob’s well. Here, he was tempted of the devil. Here, he was transfigured on the Mount. Here, he hung on the cross, and here he lay down in the tomb! And thus the earth abideth forever, as a part of the purchased inheritance of his people. Its redemption price is the blood of Jesus. And so, his promise is that they shall inherit the earth. They do not do so now. Often they are the poor of this world. But the day is fast coming when they shall enter on their inheritance. They shall put on their robes of glorious royalty. And when the kings and conquerors of earth are rooted out and forgotten, they shall be in everlasting remembrance. Their inheritance shall be forever. The Bible, therefore, abounds with statements of this truth. Thus in one single psalm—the thirty-seventh, we meet with no less than seven distinct declarations of it. They are such as: “The righteous shall inherit the land and dwell therein forever.” Now, what does the continued repetition of this truth mean? Wherefore, is it so repeatedly affirmed? Does it not teach us, that however we may be disposed to regard the mind of God, it is a great, a fixed and glorious theme, worthy of being advanced to a front place in our regard. It is vain to strive to deny it. There it is clear and plain and unmistakable in its outlines. If you turn from it in one part, it meets you in another. It is in vain to strive to evade it. Its sense is transparency itself. Not now, do the people of God, “dwell in the land forever.” Often, they have in it no temporary home. Not now is their inheritance in it forever. Death cuts them off, even as others. But they shall yet possess it for their everlasting home, and, observe, they inherit it. They are heirs of the world. It comes to them through the line of another. Its descent to them is through the work of Jesus. They are “joint heirs” with him. 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.