The motto of a class of mine was: We End to Begin. The concept was that the experience of graduation was an ending, but also a beginning of a new context of life for the students. Under God, the end of the present earth is to begin a new earth. It is likely that most persons have not tangled with the mystery. I would not remark on it, if it were not introduced in Scripture. It appears that God will not be thwarted from his original plan, to have a perfect earth. What God had in mind in the arrival of the first Adam/Eve, by whatever process he used to get them to the Garden, that purpose will be achieved in a new beginning.
Coincidentally to my interest in this theme, the History Channel carried a somewhat lengthy program about the end of the earth. Without explanation, the producers of the program used the Bible as the script for part of the program, and the comparisons/contrasts with other scenarios of the end of the earth. In one passage the concept of the end was related to the Nostradamus affect. It has to do with: God’s vengeance against the earth. The program was outlined from the Seven Seals of The Revelation of John the Apostle. The question was: Is the end of days now converging in the 21st Century? The program affirmed that it was working from two sources of information: 1) -the studies of Christians; and, 2) -the studies of scientists. It was noted that these last were humanists, so as to offer some critique on the biblical story in the light of verifiable facts. The conclusion to the program, asserted at various points during the program was to get to the Seventh Seal which, at last, indicates the end of days. (One does not always know if the reporters believe what they are presenting, or simply offering what they have found in the documentation, and so to leave it to the listener to determine the truth or fiction of the reports. Other reporters are clear about their own views growing out of what they have learned.) Christians, accepting the authority of Scripture, tend to be more dogmatic about what will occur, and may conjure more detail than the text warrants.
Scripture, meant for all persons, is cast in sufficient detail to indicate direction and meaning, but designed to be understood in any culture. In that light, Jesus preached using parables and human experience rather than scientific factual reporting. The call of Scripture is to accept persons as they are; accede to the fatherhood of God; leave the creation in his hands – so to indicate that Christians should exert effort, in their time, through witness and prayer that focuses on the God benefit for all persons, even one’s enemies. We know we will not receive all we ask for, but assured that, in biblical pattern, prayer affects God’s plan. It is clear from Scripture that one of the motivations for Christians is to sense the eternal, which is always immediate. Since time may not be a factor outside of creation, the anticipation of currency makes anything God does to be soon in the achievement. Whatever is of God has the miracle of today in it.
Since that mystery of a day as a thousand years, and a thousand years as a day, is not a human experience in mortality, we have some difficulty in interpreting meaning. Skeptics might turn any explanation into an unjustified accommodation. Since the issue is not vital to the basic tenets of the Christian experience, one tends to leave it there, with the suggestion that we deal with what we experience, and its effects. All this can be turned around in argumentation. For example, what is unknown in science is greater than that which is known. This does not prevent the devoted scientist from pressing on to discover what he can. In all this study and debate, the persuasion is not really to be found in a scientific (natural) syllogism of logic, but in the nature and quality of life found in the person. The secret is implied in the Bible passage above. Faith in Christ is proven to the individual in the evidence of righteousness and a signature of devotion in one’s life. It sustains itself, which is an important biblical concept: I will never leave you or forsake you. The context of Christianity is not that of the natural world, but incorporates it. Comfort is offered in Scripture to permit patterns to play out. God will unravel conflicts, with fair conclusions. There is common belief that earth as we know it will end. Scripture argues for recovery. *Mark W. Lee, Sr. — 2016, 2020