S150P3 – This precious Earth: awaiting its renewal

Jn. 3:16-17

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

When we think of salvation and rebirth, we typically think of humankind.  When Adam and Eve lost that perfect garden, sin became part of our default.  Our spiritual genetic makeup became flawed.  The perfect lamb had to be sacrificed in order that perfection would return to us through redemption.  He gave his life for us, but his sacrifice was not just about humankind.  We must remember that sin’s entrance was not just into people but into the world at large.  The corruption of sin goes beyond the human condition.  It has corrupted all of God’s creation.  That which He made and declared good was no longer so, and He desires to restore it all to its original perfect state out of his love. 
When Christ returns, and sin is finally no more, this will not affect just people.  There is a reason why we experience what we call natural disasters, these terrible weather events and earthquakes and tsunamis. [Rom. 8:18-25]   We are not the only ones who will be restored and renewed when Christ returns.  This planet will still be here, and we will be on it, but it will not be the same.  All of creation groans along with the inward groanings of the saints as we await the redemption of our bodies.  Christ came to redeem it all.  The world God loves is not just about people.  He loves the creation He made, and He will not let it remain imperfect.  Jesus also died for everything around us to be made new.
We marvel at the beauty of the snow capped mountains now, but they will be so much more beautiful once they are perfected.  The same goes for the flowers of the fields, for the oceans and the lakes, for the plains and the deserts.  The plants, the animals and even the rocks are a mere shadow of what they were designed to be.  It is God’s love that will bring about this transformation.  He will not redeem us only to have us remain in this imperfection.  Christ died so that all of creation would be free from its bondage to the corruption of sin.  Father, thank You for the hope of living on a redeemed Earth and the great love which will bring about that restoration.