Pastor's Corner

Is This Life All There Is?

This question has been on the heart of man from the beginning, and for good reason.

There’s something within us, something built into the very fabric of our being, that tells us that we are all meant for something more.

What is it? The answer is found in the Word of God.

The Bible declares that we (mankind) are made in “the image of God” (Gen.

1:26-27).

In Genesis 2:7, in the creation account, we are told, “And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.” The word rendered “being” here is the Hebrew word, nephesh, which refers to a “soul” or “spirit” that is distinct from the body (see Gen.

35:18; I Kings 17:21), yet somehow made complete with a body.

In Ecclesiastics 3:11 we read, “He [God] has made everything beautiful in its time.

Also He has put eternity in their hearts…”.

Summary: You and I are made in the image of God and have a built-in “wiring” for God and for eternity.

We long for home.

The Bible teaches that when man fell into sin (Gen.

3), not only did he bring physical death and chaos to mankind and, worse, separation from God spiritually, but the whole of creation was affected (Gen.

3:17).

What was once in its entirety “pleasant to the sight” in inexpressible beauty, was now overrun with weeds and corruption.

Paradise was lost! And even though we see “glimpses” of its former beauty and splendor, all of creation indeed “groans and labors with birth pangs together until now” (Romans 8:22), waiting to be returned to its former glory! The Bible makes it very clear that God will bring about a “new heaven” and a “new earth”… the two being brought together into one glorious paradise of God! In his landmark book, Heaven, Randy Alcorn writes about the way the Bible describes the future new world, here comparing the book of Genesis (first book of the Bible) with the Book of Revelation (last Book of the Bible): “In Genesis, God plants the Garden on earth; in Revelation, He brings down the New Jerusalem, with a garden at its center, to the New Earth.

In Eden, there’s no sin, death or Curse; on the New Earth, there’s no more sin, death, or Curse.

In Genesis, the Redeemer is promised; in Revelation, the Redeemer returns.

Genesis tells the story of Paradise lost; Revelation tells the story of Paradise regained.

In Genesis, humanity’s stewardship is squandered; in Revelation, humanity’s stewardship is triumphant, empowered by the human and divine King Jesus.

These parallels are too remarkable to be anything but deliberate.

These mirror images demonstrate the perfect symmetry of God’s plan.

We live in the in between time, hearing the echoes of Eden and the approaching footfalls of the New Earth.

Paul Marshall concludes, ‘This world is our home: we are made to live here.

It has been devastated by sin, but God plans to put it right.

Hence, we look forward with joy to newly restored bodies and to living in a newly restored heaven and earth.

We can love this world because it is God’s, and it will be healed, becoming at last what God intended from the beginning’” (Heaven, Randy Alcorn; Tyndale House Publishers, 2004, p.

85).

Now I should point out that the Bible does tell us that we are NOT to love the world system (cosmos) in its falleness, lust and sin (I John 2:15-17).

But we can love this created world with the “glimpses” it gives us of the Paradise it once was and will be again! In the same book, Alcorn talks about the wonder and splendor of the New Earth with mountains and trees and waterfalls…with places to explore, adventures to be experienced.

Imagine what it will be like to explore a resurrected world in resurrected bodies without limitations.

This is a far cry from “a cloud and a harp” that someone made up some time ago…a fairy tale meant to cloud the reality of the true Paradise of God.

But the reason that there will be a “redeemed people” living on a “redeemed earth” at all is because the Redeemer, the Seed of the Woman (Gen.

3:15), God the Word who became flesh in the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:1, 14), came to earth and died on the cross as the Substitute, bearing the penalty for sin in full (see Isa.

53; John 3:16; II Cor.

5:21; I Pet.

3:18) and was then raised bodily from the dead to justify all who put their trust in Him (Luke 24:1-8, 36-43; Rom.

4:25).

The Person of Christ and being with Him in Paradise – the New Earth – is the “something more” every person longs for.

It’s built in.

And best of all…He’s promised His joy and peace here and now to all who know Him (John 14:27).

Do you know THIS Christ? If you would simply repent (turn - in God’s power) from your sin and put your faith and trust in Him alone as your ONLY Lord and Savior, His promise is, “He who believes in Me has everlasting life” (John 6:47).

No, this life is NOT all there is!

Dean Ellis,

Pastor of Evangelism & Outreach

Colfax First Baptist Church