It can be seen that such a view is not Biblical, not only because we do not actually live that way in spite of our protestations to the contrary, but it also makes God into a wasteful God. Would you burn down the house because the children had drawn all over the wallpaper with crayons, making an awful mess? Well why expect God to be any more foolish? God has not abandoned his creation, and this earth which we have contaminated by our sin will be purified by fire, not destroyed but cleansed, so that all the dross and corruption which we have introduced into the creation will be done away with. There is nothing inherent in the creation that makes it unworthy of God, since it is God’s own handiwork. Everything that has gone wrong with the creation is the fault of the creatures God has made who have rebelled against their only lawful king. What they have done to the creation will be undone, for the redemption of Christ means that all the effects of sin can be removed. But if the sin of human beings, which has had such devastating results for the earth, is taken away, what then becomes of the earth they were created to care for? Our perspective on redemption usually focuses on our individual salvation, and has little place for the earth and non-human creatures. The ultimate end of God's plan for redemption for us is for most people to leave this earth and to go to heaven to be with God, abandoning the earth to destruction.

If God was in fact unable to remove the effects of our sin, if we were able to so contaminate the creation that it was incapable of being purified, then our sin would be stronger than God’s grace, and our rebellion of more effect than God’s righteous rule. This is not the case, for when the final victory is won, we will see Jesus Christ with all his enemies placed under his feet. There will be nothing left that is not subject to him, whether or not they persist in their rebellion. Those who are found still to be in rebellion against the king at the final judgement will be punished, and the rebellion will come to an end. Those who dare to fight against God will lose. Read what the Scriptures say about this in Psalm 2:

Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth take their stand,
and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against his anointed One.
"Let us break their chains," they say, "and throw off their fetters."
The One enthroned in heaven laughs;
The Lord scoffs at them.
Then he rebukes them in is anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying,
"I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill."

God will have all the glory, and his enemies will be defeated. The effects of their rebellion will be done away with, when the earth, God’s good creation which he loves, will be purged with fire and made new and clean. God is not a petulant father who burns down the house he has built because the children have messed it up. Instead, like a loving father, he sets about cleaning up the mess and making the house habitable again. This creation does not deserve to be destroyed, after all, what injury has the creation done to God? Would it be just of God to destroy the innocent victims of our sin, while we are redeemed at such great cost? In addition, the Scriptures promise that the whole creation which lies in bondage will be released from its chains and set free in glorious freedom. How can that happen if it is burned up?

We have lost sight of God's intention for this earth, which he created for our eternal home. Because of our alienation from God, human beings have also been alienated from this earth which he has made. The idea that the earth will be destroyed comes not from the Scriptures but from the pagan religions of Greece and Rome, shaped by people who were alienated from God and from the creation he has made. And as a consequence of failing to grasp a truly Biblical view of life, even Christians are still also alienated from this earth, seeking to have a relationship to God, but not a relationship to the earth which he has made for us to dwell in. As a result of our alienation from this world, not only do we fail to grasp the significance and worth of our tasks here and now, we are also ready to see the whole place go up in smoke and to abandon it forever.

We might think that the Scriptures teach that the world will be burned up. After all, isn’t that what it says in 2 Peter 3? But have a closer look at this passage: it speaks of the earth being destroyed and the ungodly being brought to judgement - when? At the time of Noah, when the world was deluged with water and destroyed. But don’t we still live on that same earth? In the same way, at the return of Christ, the earth will be engulfed in fire and the earth and everything in it will be - what? Burned up? No, the translation should read something like, "laid bare" or "revealed." There is no basis for saying that the earth will be destroyed by fire and replaced by a new earth. Rather, it will be purified by fire, to remove all sin and corruption, and so we look forward to the new creation, the new heaven and earth, that is, the present heaven and earth purified and purged so that nothing of the rebellion and sin we have introduced remains.

God loves the world that he has made; he is not going to wantonly destroy it, any more than he is going to destroy us. He loves us, the stewards that he created to care for his world on his behalf, to explore it, to develop it, to cherish and enhance it to show forth his glory through what he made possible in his world. But we have not done that. Instead, we have cast off all allegiance to the owner and have treated this world as though it was our personal property. We have done terrible things in this world, to each other, to the creatures God called us to care for and protect, and even to ourselves. But Christ the King came to save his rebellious subjects from the fate that awaits them when the kingdom of God is re-established in full power and might. What have we done with our rightful king, who came riding on a donkey: the servant, not the master or the conquering hero? We have spurned him, despised his claim to kingship, and have firmly given our allegiance to Caesar.

"We have no king but Caesar!" This from God’s own people Israel! But are we any better? What kings do we serve in our lives today? Are we committed solely to Christ as the one rightful sovereign over us? Or do we seek to have other kings, other lords, other gods, not necessarily instead of Christ the King, but even alongside of him. Yes, we profess to serve Christ when gathered together in Sunday worship. But whom do we serve during the week, after we leave this building?

The rule of Christ is not limited in any way. All authority in heaven and on earth is given to him. We cannot recognise anyone else as having any authority save that which Christ the king of the whole creation grants to them as his servants. And who are his servants in creation? Well for one, the government is a servant of God. Paul even goes so far as to describe the government officials as "deacons," the same term he uses for the officers of the church. Thus he says, this is why you pay taxes, something which many of us have on our minds at this time of the year, because the government authorities are God’s "deacons," appointed to the task of governing as God’s servants. But are they really God’s servants if they do not acknowledge God and recognise that they have their office entrusted to them by God? Yes, they are, even though they may be in rebellion against God. They remain his servants nevertheless. But because they are God’s servants, called to govern under his authority alone, they will be held accountable at that great day when Christ takes his throne and all nations are gathered before him for judgement.

Do we acknowledge and serve that King as he deserves, in those daily tasks, or do we have another king? Do we in actual fact, serve Caesar rather than Christ, being blind to the fact that all we do, all that we are, everything that we touch, is contaminated by our sin and rebellion against our rightful Lord, but just as much redeemed and renewed by him in grace wherever we turn from our rebellion to worship him and serve him in all that we do.

What then is the kingdom of God?

The Kingdom of God is the righteous rule of God over all that he has created, his wise and generous care of his creatures whom he loves. The kingdom of God encompasses the whole of creation, all that comes from the creative hand of God. But those whom God made as his stewards, to guard and care for his creation on his behalf, have instead betrayed their trust and turned against their king. They have taken on themselves the right to decide what is right and wrong, and have set up for themselves other kings, other gods, whom they will serve instead of the true God. The kingdom of God, the whole of creation which is under the rule of its Creator, never diminishes in extent. But the extent of obedience given to God by his subjects varies greatly. It is this which the Scriptures speak about when they speak of the kingdom of God coming in our midst. It is not the establishment of God’s rule over the creation, for that occurred when the creation was brought into being. Rather, it is the re-establishment of God’s righteous reign over his rebellious subjects, those who were given charge of the creation as his stewards. We have not served our legitimate king, but have instead chosen to serve other kings in his place.

Jesus came preaching the kingdom of God. He proclaimed the righteous rule of the one true King, and declared that the day of judgement was coming when all who would not bow the knee to that King would be punished for their rebellion. The only way of escape from this punishment is to repent. Therefore, repent, for the kingdom of God is at hand. His righteous rule, his legitimate sovereignty over all that exists, is being re-established in the face of the continued rebellion of his subjects. The signs of the kingdom, the miracles which Christ performed, all these things point towards the power of the kingdom of God breaking into the strongholds of the rebels. God is invading his own territory, were rebels are in control, in order to wrest back from them the honour which is due to his name alone.

Christ has been appointed by God as the agent of the kingdom, the one through whom redemption would be accomplished, and to whom all that exists will bow the knee. Nothing lies outside the rule of Christ the only true and rightful king, and when the king of all creation was cruelly put to death by the appointed stewards of creation, the whole of creation was convulsed at the enormity of the crime. The earth shook, the sun was darkened, rocks split and graves were opened. What else could we expect when the creator of the world was rejected in person by his own creatures? But the death of the king of creation also brought release for the whole of creation from the power and effects of sin. Wherever human sin has wormed its perverse and rebellious way, there too the grace of God extends. No sin, no effect or consequence of sin, can escape the grace of God redeeming, renewing, restoring all that he has made so that once again he will be able to look on his handiwork and proclaim it to be "very good." The whole of creation is redeemed in Christ, and at his return it will be manifested as it should be: the new heaven and the new earth, the eternal home of righteousness.

But until that time, even though redeemed in Christ, the rest of creation lies under bondage to rebellious stewards: the people that God created to care for, to love and to cherish what he had made. And because of that the whole creation groans, as Paul said, waiting for the sons of God to be revealed, the stewards of creation who are restored once again to their obedience to their master.

But what will become of those who continue to rebel against the King? There is coming a day when Christ will return to take his kingdom and to defeat his enemies. All the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdom of our God and his Christ. Those whose allegiance is to the false kingdoms which establish themselves in defiance of God will be cast out, never to enjoy the blessings and rewards of those whom Christ accepts into his eternal kingdom. This is the gospel of the kingdom that we are called to proclaim: the king is coming to take his throne, repent and prepare the way of the Lord, for all whom he finds in rebellion against him when he comes will be cast into the outer darkness forever.

So then, we are now living in the time in between the proclamation of the kingdom of God in Christ, and the time when that kingdom will be revealed in full power and glory at the return of Christ. What is our responsibility in this in-between time?

The Scriptures reveal that what the future holds is the triumph of God's plan of redemption. We will not see the abandonment of this earth but the final overthrow of all the forces of evil which seek to make this earth into something other than God's intention for it. The future of the earth is not to be destroyed so we can be set free from sin and evil, but for sin and evil to be destroyed so that we and the earth might be set free. Those who are fully reconciled to God will also be reconciled to their lives on this earth. God placed us here because he loves us, and so the earth cannot be anything but a good place to be, even though at present we see it only subject to sin and corruption. Without fail all things will be redeemed in Christ, and if we remain faithful we will see that redemption and share in it. We do not focus on the kingdom of darkness but on the kingdom of God, and will seek to see that kingdom worked out in every area of life. The reign of Christ the King began at his ascension to take his seat at the right hand of God. By his Spirit he has been working in the world to establish justice and peace. The forces of darkness have been active against that reign, and have on occasion seduced many into supporting them in their struggle, albeit unwittingly in some cases. However the certainty of our Christian hope is that Christ will indeed eventually reign as Lord on the earth. His kingdom will be established and the rule of darkness destroyed forever.

The return of Christ to reign is not a temporary interlude before we all are taken to heaven, but it is the culmination of the whole plan of redemption. The earth and all its creatures will be restored to newness at the return of Christ, culminating all the work of redemption which has been going on through all ages. At the return of Christ we will see all things fully restored, and on the new earth every area of life will be subject to the Father. Then we will once again set about the task of caring for the new earth, only this time we will be carrying it out in obedience to God.

This Biblical perspective on life in the creation takes a positive view of our everyday activity. Our tasks are to be done in the light of the inauguration of the Kingdom in Jesus Christ, while recognising that Christians should expect to be a despised and persecuted minority. While we may be able to make a worthwhile contribution to our society, in many situations Christians will find themselves rejected and persecuted. The mark of the Kingdom is both the Crown and the Cross. Thus to confess Christ is to live in the hope that human society in its fullness will be redeemed, to see every aspect of human life, every product of human activity, every relationship between God's creatures on earth, restored to what God intended. At present we still await this renewal of the whole creation, and we can only do our work obediently, seeking redemption of our lives now, while we hold the hope of the renewal of all things before us. However we can have confidence that our work will be blessed by the Lord and that at His appearing will be revealed for the kind of work that it is. That which is done in an through the grace of God will be seen as such, while that which is done in the power of the flesh will be discarded.

Renewal of our society will not spring into being overnight. It is only by dedicated hard work that we will see fruit come forth. We have fallen prey to the mentality which seeks quick and easy solutions, without realising that God himself has already been active in the earth, working with, and at times against, those whom he has called to be his tools. We must be willing to endure hunger and thirst in order to see the rule of Christ over all things prevail. That does not mean simply going without food and water, but that sufferings and hardship will not prevent us from pressing on to the goal we have set before us.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

If we continually fix our vision on the Biblical promise that all things will be renewed, the heavens and the earth restored so that evil and suffering will be done away, on the hope of the resurrection of the body and of new life in the new earth, then we will not disparage our present earthly existence, but instead long for it to be set free from sin and bondage to decay, and fix our hearts on the hope that all we do will find its place in the eternal kingdom of God.

Our Father in heaven, holy is your name,
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

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