Category Archives: Controversial Issues

Will God Annihilate the World? Part II

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(…Continued from Part I)

Qualitative Redemption, not Quantitative Replacement

The fact is that the passages that seem to suggest an absolute annihilation of the heavens and earth followed by a recreation out of nothing do not actually assert this. The original terms translated “pass away” do not mean “be annihilated.” The terms are neutral, referring simply to “going away,” or “departing.” Paul uses one of these terms, parerchomai, to refer to the old things of the believer’s life that have “passed away”: “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away (parerchomai); behold, new things have come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). This implies an extreme makeover of a person’s life and character, not an annihilation of the old and replacement by the new. First Peter 4:3 uses the same Greek term in a similar sense: “For the time already past (parerchomai) is sufficient for you to have carried out the desire of the Gentiles.” The time of former sin has “passed away.” So, this general term does not mean “be annihilated.” It simply means to go away. The question, though, is what “goes away”—the actual substance itself, its behavior, its form, its function, its existence? The mere use of the term “pass away” does not itself imply annihilation. It could refer to a radical transformation of the quality of something rather than to its absolute destruction.

Read in this light, two of the passages that seemed to suggest annihilation actually fit the perspective of a qualitative redemption. Remember the imagery in Isaiah 24:20? “The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard and it totters like a shack, for its transgression is heavy upon it, and it will fall, never to rise again.” Isaiah goes on with an interpretation of the imagery of the stumbling drunkard and teetering shack: “So it will happen in that day, that the Lord will punish the host of heaven on high, and the kings of the earth on earth. They will be gathered together like prisoners in the dungeon, and will be confined in prison; and after many days they will be punished” (Isaiah 24:21–22). So, the utter collapse of the earth refers not to the annihilation of the physical universe itself, but to the judgment of the sinful condition of that physical universe. This will include punishing the spiritual wickedness in the heavens as well as the human wickedness on the earth. God’s anger is directed toward spirits of wickedness and sinful people, not rocks, molecules, atoms, oceans, and air.

Similarly, the passage in Psalm 102:25–26 also suggests an extreme transformation rather than absolute annihilation. The Psalmist wrote, “Of old You founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. Even they will perish, but You endure; and all of them will wear out like a garment.” He then adds, “Like clothing You will change them and they will be changed” (102:26). The image implies an external change, like a person whose clothes become old and tattered. While the outer form is utterly changed, the inner person remains, though completely transformed and renewed.

But more directly related to our question regarding the new heavens and new earth, Peter uses the word apollumi (“to destroy”) when describing the judgment of the world before the flood (2 Peter 3:6). In that case he refers to wiping the earth clean, destroying life and land, but not actually annihilating the universe and recreating everything from nothing. In the case of the flood, Peter describes the destruction of the sinful quality of the world system—both in the earthly and heavenly realms. He was not referring to a literal de-creation and re-creation, but an extreme makeover of the physical universe and especially its human and heavenly institutions.

How “New” Are the New Heavens and Earth?

Revelation 21:1 says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.” John says he had seen “the first earth pass away,” which was part of the vision of the heaven and earth fleeing from the presence of God in Revelation 20:11. Remembering that John had been seeing all sorts of symbolic visions throughout the book, we must allow the text itself to interpret what John is seeing here. The vision could refer to a complete annihilation and re-creation. But it could just as reasonably picture an “extreme makeover” of the present creation—a “new and improved” version that bears little resemblance to the past order of things. Thankfully, the Bible itself helps us properly interpret the vision of the “new heavens and new earth.”

The first place in the Bible where we find a description of the “new heavens and new earth” is Isaiah 65:17–25. We must read the entire passage to see exactly how this “new heavens and new earth” is described.

“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem for rejoicing and her people for gladness. I will also rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in My people; and there will no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping and the sound of crying. No longer will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his days; for the youth will die at the age of one hundred and the one who does not reach the age of one hundred will be thought accursed. They will build houses and inhabit them; they will also plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They will not build and another inhabit, they will not plant and another eat; for as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, and My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands. They will not labor in vain, or bear children for calamity; for they are the offspring of those blessed by the Lord, and their descendants with them. It will also come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will do no evil or harm in all My holy mountain,” says the Lord.

One should recognize that the condition described as “new heavens and a new earth” in Isaiah 65:17–25 refers to the future millennial kingdom on this present earth following the tribulation judgments and return of Christ. This present world will endure numerous fiery judgments under the just wrath of God. All wickedness will be wiped clean, and then the world will be restored under the reign of Christ and His saints. During this thousand-year reign the curse of the Fall will be lifted, the earth will be repopulated by righteous survivors of the tribulation, and the inhabitants of the earth will experience a quality of life never seen in history. Satan and his demons will no longer be ruling over the heavens; that realm will be controlled by Christ and His saints. In short—peace, harmony, prosperity, and righteousness will reign supreme. This millennial condition of renewal and redemption—not a re-creation out of nothing—is what Isaiah 65 describes as the “new heavens and new earth.” Clearly, this is a qualitative newness.

Isaiah 66:15–22 also refers to the renewal of the current heavens and earth under the reign of Christ. Following a period of judgment, which we call the coming “tribulation” associated with the second coming of Christ, the earth will be renewed: “For behold, the Lord will come in fire and His chariots like the whirlwind, to render His anger with fury, and His rebuke with flames of fire. For the Lord will execute judgment by fire and by His sword on all flesh, and those slain by the Lord will be many.” This refers to the coming tribulation judgment. Nations will be converted and Israel will be re-gathered (Isaiah 66:17–21). And then God swears, “‘For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will endure before Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘So your offspring and your name will endure.’” All of these details refer not to the eternal state, but to the first thousand years of Christ’s eternal reign—the period often called the “millennium.” Thus, the “new heavens and new earth” in Isaiah’s prophecy refer not to a new creation out of nothing, but to a renewed creation under Christ after the present world system has been judged by the wrath of the tribulation.

In keeping with this same kind of “new creation” idea of redemption rather than re-creation, Paul refers to believers with “new creation” language in 2 Corinthians 5:17. Here believers have not ceased to exist only to be re-created ex nihilo. Rather, the salvation of a sinner is a regeneration, a renewal, a redemption—a buy-back of the old and a transformation into something qualitatively new.

(Continued in Part III…)

Will God Annihilate the World? Part I

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Introduction

When I was a relatively new believer I was taught that the present world will be annihilated. Not just the animals and vegetation, not just the land and the waters—but the subatomic particles themselves would one day be dissolved into nothingness . . . utterly destroyed . . . obliterated. In its place God would then create a completely new heavens and earth—ex nihilo, “out of nothing.” This new heavens and earth would not merely be qualitatively different (“improved”), but quantitatively different (“absolutely new”).

But is this true? Will God utterly annihilate this present universe . . . or will He renew it? Will the original creation of Genesis 1 be rejected as beyond repair . . . or redeemed from its fallen, cursed condition?

“Heaven and Earth Will Pass Away”

Both the Old and New Testaments clearly describe a time when heaven and earth will “pass away” or “perish.” Psalm 102:25–26 says, “Of old You founded the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. Even they will perish, but You endure; and all of them will wear out like a garment.” This same Psalm is quoted in Hebrews 1:10–12. Similarly, Jesus famously said, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away” (Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33). With vivid images, Isaiah 24:20 pictures the fall of the world: “The earth reels to and fro like a drunkard and it totters like a shack, for its transgression is heavy upon it, and it will fall, never to rise again.”

Perhaps the most definitive statements about the ultimate destruction of the universe are found in 2 Peter 3:10 and Revelation 20:11 and 21:1. Peter writes, “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up.” And John records his vision of the new creation in startling terms: “Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them” (Revelation 20:11). And then: “I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea” (21:1).

Read quite literally, these Old and New Testament texts seem to carry a degree of finality—utter destruction of the present heavens and earth and a replacement with a completely new physical universe.

But there’s a problem, because Scripture also says . . .

“Heaven and Earth Will Not Pass Away”

In Psalm 148:3–6, all creation is called to praise God. We read: “Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all stars of light! Praise Him, highest heavens, and the waters that are above the heavens! Let them praise the name of the Lord, for He commanded and they were created. He has also established them forever and ever; He has made a decree which will not pass away.” Clearly the sun, moon, stars, heavens, and waters have all been established “forever and ever.” In fact, God’s decree “will not pass away.”

In Psalm 89:36–37 the promise of the eternal covenant with David and His descendents is linked to the eternality of the heavens and earth: “His descendants shall endure forever and his throne as the sun before Me. It shall be established forever like the moon, and the witness in the sky is faithful.” We know that this Davidic covenant is fulfilled eternally through Jesus Christ, the final Davidic King. So, just as the Davidic King will endure forever, the sun and moon, likened to the Davidic promise, must also endure forever.

Similarly, God solidifies His promise of everlasting faithfulness to His covenant with Israel by appealing to the continuation of the heavens and earth: “Thus says the Lord, Who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; the Lord of hosts is His name: ‘If this fixed order departs from before Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘then the offspring of Israel also will cease from being a nation before Me forever.’” If the heavens and earth were intended for absolute destruction in the future, then this promise of God to Israel could be broken!

These passages describe a creation that is not expected to pass away or be destroyed. In fact, the sun, moon, stars, and heavens could not cease to exist without disastrous implications for the faithfulness of God and the reliability of His promises.

So, which is it? Will heaven and earth pass away, as the Bible says? Or will heaven and earth be preserved forever, as the Bible says? Does the Bible contradict itself? Or is there a way to harmonize these two apparently contradictory truths?

(Continued in Part II…)

i’m Distracted by me

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It has somehow become trendy to do away with the capital “I” for the first person pronoun in praise and worship songs, especially if the lyrics are projected on a screen. The goal, I suppose, is to reflect (or promote) personal humility. Apparently if we use a lowercase “i” we will be (or appear to be) more humble. But for me this practice produces the opposite effect. When projected song lyrics use a lowercase “i” my attention is actually drawn to the pronoun rather than turned away from it. It distracts me, and the thing that attracts my thoughts is the very thing the lowercase “i” is supposed to be deflecting!

ironic.

Look, nobody sees a capital “I” and thinks, “How self-centered! That person sure must think highly about himself to be capitalizing the first person singular pronoun!” No, the capitalization of “I” is simply a convention of the English language. To put things in perspective, the German language actually capitalizes all nouns in a sentence, but Germans aren’t thereby saying every person, place, thing, or idea deserves to be worshipped or honored.

I struggle to understand the motive behind using a lowercase “i,” wondering if it may, in fact, actually promote a prideful humility—“Look at how humble i am!” or “You people who use a capital ‘I’ sure are egocentric (unlike us, who use a lowercase ‘i’)!” On the other hand, a desire to be less self-absorbed and me-focused is a noble and needed corrective in contemporary worship. But songwriters and worship leaders who want to pursue this goal can do so in far more effective ways. Let me suggest two.

First, we could use less I and me and more Him and He. How about more song lyrics that just don’t mention “I” or “me” all that often? Instead, let’s tell the story about the Triune God, singing praises to the Father, confessing faith in Jesus Christ, and proclaiming the work of the Spirit. Keeping the focus on Him in our lyrics will remove the necessity to constantly sing about how I feel about God, what I gain from salvation, how I can personally benefit from my relationship with God. Songs that obsess with a lowercase “i” could avoid the problem by ejecting the pronoun entirely.

Second, we could use less I and Me and more us and we. Far too many of our contemporary worship songs are individualistic, emphasizing personal faith, personal problems, personal salvation, personal growth, personal eschatology. How difficult would it be to change some of the lyrics of these songs to a plural pronoun? Often the lyrics of worship songs communicate to the worshippers that they are simply a large mob of individuals engaged in private, personal communion with God. Let’s leave individual worship at home in our prayer closets and come to church to worship in community.

I must clarify, though, that nothing in the Bible suggests that using “I” and “we” in corporate worship is wrong. Many psalms are written in the first person singular. Many of our great hymns and worship choruses have endured as individual poems of devotion. The Christian faith clearly involves both individual and corporate aspects of prayer, study, and worship. To emphasize one over the other would create an unbiblical and unhealthy imbalance. But in a culture like ours, driven by thoroughgoing metheism, it might not hurt to rethink how and what we sing.

The Problem with Prayer

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For many, there appears to be a problem with prayer. How many times have you heard (or thought) some of these responses to prayer?

· “It’s a one-way conversation.”

· “It doesn’t seem to work.”

· “God takes too long to answer.”

· “God does what He wants anyway.”

Crushed between the mortar and pestle of life, it’s easy to think there’s a serious problem with prayer: God. When God doesn’t answer according to our will, we can get frustrated. We can feel like our prayers are just floating around the universe like a comet adrift, too insignificant to catch the Creator’s attention. In the midst of this disappointment, we’re often too slow to accept that the problem with prayer is not God, but us.

I used to think that life would be a lot easier if God answered a few more strategic prayers—just a couple key petitions to remind us that He’s listening. I was convinced that a profound healing here and there would add spice to the life of the church.

Then God healed Karen.

Our Sunday school class gathered for desperate prayer the night before the surgery scheduled to remove a tumor from Karen’s brain. The surgery would probably render her unable to speak for a long time. Leading the prayer, I asked God to comfort her husband, daughter, and family at this time of crisis, to help the surgeons, to speed her recovery, and—if He willed—to miraculously heal her.

Of course, that last part was just to satisfy the expectations of the group. Although I believed God could instantly heal Karen, I was certain He would use less glorious means. As we drove home, I even told my wife, “Karen will probably never be the same again.”

The next morning the tumor had disappeared.

I assumed Karen’s response would be just as profound as God’s answer to prayer. After all, when a person experiences the awesome intervention of the Almighty God, we should expect an explosive revival, right?

Less than a year later, Karen left the church and divorced her husband.

I had always thought answers to prayer would strengthen faith and ignite thanksgiving. Disappointed in Karen’s life choices in light of her healing, I was reminded that even the Israelites grumbled and rebelled in the midst of powerful answers to their requests (Numbers 11:1-4).

You see, the problem with prayer is not God, but us.

There’s also a problem of abusing prayer. When I was a new Christian, I mistakenly followed the “prosperity gospel,” the “name it-claim it” theology that overwhelms Christian television and bookstores. “Don’t make negative confessions,” I was told. “If you’re sick, confess that you’re healed!”

On one occasion I mentioned to a self-proclaimed “prophetess” that I was going bald. Instantly, she placed her hand on my head and shouted, “No you’re not—in the name of Jesus!” That “prophetess” treated prayer like a gift card she could whip out at any time to make major purchases.

We may not be as extreme as that woman, but we can all fall into the trap of abusing prayer. While we may tack on a halfhearted “Thy will be done,” deep down we think, “No! My will be done!” Yes, Christ said, “Ask, and it will be given to you” (Matthew 7:7), but his brother James reminds us, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives” (James 4:3).

Once again, the problem with prayer is not God, but us.

How do we correct the problem with prayer? After a dozen years in Bible college, seminary, and Ph.D. studies, I’d hoped to finally have a handle on prayer. I don’t. In fact, the more I pray, the less I understand its profound mysteries. However, I’ve come to several conclusions that might help correct our perceived problems with prayer.

First, we need to understand that the purpose of prayer is not for God to please us, but for God to change us. If a father constantly gives in to a little child’s whiny demands, we’d take him for a lousy parent. Why, then, do some think God’s a stubborn God when He doesn’t give us everything we want? We need to trust that God is wise and powerful enough to answer rightly—and right on time. First John 5:14 says, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.” That is, God won’t jump at every loose-lipped confession. Prayer offered up in true faith submits to His will—our sanctification (1 Thessalonians 4:3). God’s will is to change us, not please us.

Second, we need to accept that the power of prayer is perceived in even the smallest response. I’m convinced that humans don’t fully comprehend how little we deserve God’s love and grace. Consider that what we regard as “crumbs” of answered prayer may really be bountiful feasts once we realize that God owes us nothing (Genesis 32:9-10; Luke 7:6-9). When we adjust our attitude about our own unworthiness to receive God’s favor, we’ll never regard “small” answers to prayer as insignificant.

Finally, we need to acknowledge that the process of prayer is not as important as the attitude of prayer. When God chose in His sovereignty to heal Karen, He did so even though none of us expected it. Our feeble prayer was a simple act of faith—turning our worries over to God’s care (Philippians 4:6; 1 Peter 5:6-7). Christians can get hung up on method, worried that they haven’t said the right words, haven’t prayed hard or often enough, or haven’t believed deeply enough. That’s hocus-pocus, not prayer (Matthew 6:5-8). If you’re concerned about not praying with the right words or for the right things, memorize Romans 8:26—God’s Spirit even helped Paul pray!

Of course these reminders are easy to read, but they’re not easy to live. To our finite human minds, we’ll always perceive “problems” with prayer. Are you struggling with your prayer life, not seeing results, wondering if God is listening? It might be time for an attitude change. It might be time to finally accept that the problem with prayer is not God, but us.

[This essay is adapted from my article, “The Problem with Prayer,” Insights (October 2005): 1–2, (c) 2005, Insight for Living, and used with permission.]

Where Do I Sign?

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Four and a half years as a legal assistant at least taught me to read the fine print before I sign anything. But if “An Evangelical Manifesto” mentioned here asserts what I think it does, it will echo many of my same frustrations with evangelical perpetrators and victims of right-wing politics—the same frustrations, I have noticed, that are shared by many of my own thirty-something generation of evangelical theologians, pastors, and lay-people.

Here’s how I’ve generally sized up the situation as it has developed over the last couple of decades: Many American evangelicals have been duped by a simple equivocation of the word “conservative.” They have assumed that being a conservative Christian was the same as being a Christian conservative. That is, so many evangelicals act as though being conservative theologically and morally obligated them to being conservative socially, politically, and fiscally. They had to engage in conservative foreign policy, conservative environmental policy, conservative economic policy, conservative immigration policy, conservative everything. But this is simply uncritical rubbish . . . an excuse for not having to actually think through issues. They have been far too willing to be told what to believe about political issues by people like Rush Limbaugh or Sean Hannity.

I think biblically faithful Christians have made major mistakes here. They have blindly engaged in narrow-issue politics, finding themselves unquestioningly supporting a party that would affirm their pro-life, anti-gay agendas with heartless vigor. But what about the poor? What about the suffering? What about the outcasts? What about the sick? What about sharing the truth in love? When our political combat becomes an excuse for neglecting Christ-like love of the helpless and hopeless, we’ve gone way too far. I’ve actually been told by a fellow evangelical scholar that he applies Christ’s admonition to care for the poor by voting Republican! The argument goes like this: Republicans lower taxes . . . lower taxes stimulate economic growth . . . economic growth promotes job growth . . . job growth leads to higher pay . . . higher pay rescues the poor from poverty. Wow.

Over the last twenty years or so evangelicals have spent millions of dollars either defending or promoting Christian convictions in the political arena—Congress, the Courts, the White House. But I hate to think how many individuals have been alienated by the political wing of the evangelical subculture . . . and how many souls have been lost in the process. Have evangelicals unwisely diverted too much time, money, and personnel from advancing the words and works of the Gospel? I think it’s worth considering.

I’m looking forward to reading the “Manifesto,” I doubt it will satisfy my current concerns without sparking new ones, but I suspect it will hit the mark close enough for many of us to finally breathe a sigh of relief.