In Part one of this series we looked forward to the way the world will be after Jesus returns to remove sin and its effects from among mankind. Everything, we are told, will be made new, including man’s part on the new earth. Question: Will this be the first time that there was peace and plenty on earth? Was there a time when the world was free of sin and its effects, when man lived in peace and wanted for nothing as the future world under Christ and His saints (holy ones) will be? Answer: Yes. It was that repaired world written about in Genesis that serves as the example for the soon-coming world ruled once again by the Lord. We will now return to that world and that time to see how things were when God was in charge and man was obedient to Him.

In Genesis we find Elohim (Gods–Yahweh and the Word Who later came to earth as Jesus of Nazareth) restoring the earth to its original form following the war that took place between Themselves and Their angels and Lucifer and his angels. It was the Word (Logos–Spokesman) Who created the original universe under the direction of Yahweh and by the power of the Holy Spirit (Psalm 33:6,9). John 1:1-4,14 tells us that the Creator of all things was the Word. In Psalm 110:1 David refers to the two Gods in this manner: “The Lord (Yahweh) said to my Lord (the Word) ….” It was the Word (a God, as John 1:1-4,14 tells us, that actually created the universe. Understand that Yahweh Himself did not create. The Word created everything at the command of Yahweh. The Word spoke everything into existence. His words carried the Holy Spirit’s power into the situation and made everything He said come to pass. For a look back at the restored earth and heavenly bodies we will turn to Genesis chapter one.

Here we find the Gods, which will be referred to as God (singular) because the Hebrew word used is Elohim–a singular word that is plural in its application–like family, team, etc. which are single entities having multiple parts. Now back to the re-creation of the earth.

In Genesis one we find God creating all things that would inhabit the restored earth–animals, fish, birds, etc. He then commanded all creatures (created entities) to multiply and replenish the earth, each according to “its kind.” In verse 26 we find Him creating man, His most prized creation. He created man in Elohim’s (mental, spiritual) image and (physical) likeness. No other creature was given the spiritual, mental and physical characteristics of man. This tells us that God had much more in mind for man than to merely exist, as was the case with all other creatures.

In order to understand why God will make the future earth a paradise in every way, we need to know how He created the earth for the original man and his descendants. He created a paradise for them that would expand to cover the entire earth as their numbers increased. Notice that the Garden of Eden provided everything that Adam and Eve would ever need. All that was required of them was to obey God’s commands relative to the care needed to take care of the garden and the other creatures. Life for Adam and Eve was designed to be one long time of enjoyment. They would want for nothing. Every aspect of their lives was to be perfect, as they were commanded to be through doing what God told them to do. Had they obeyed His instructions, we would not be in the mess we are in today. But they didn’t. The rest is history.

Every plant having seed for reproduction was given to Adam and the animals for food. The only tree from which they were not to eat was the tree of the knowledge of (the power to determine for themselves) good and evil. The other tree in the midst of the Garden was the Tree of Life which they were allowed to partake of if they so desired. Note that they were not forbidden to eat of that tree. Doing so would have given them eternal life. Knowing this, Satan moved quickly and decisively by convincing Eve that God had lied to her and Adam by telling them that if they ate of the forbidden fruit they would, on that day, die, meaning to die spiritually. Satan then described the forbidden tree as one whose fruit would make them “… as gods, knowing (able to determine) good and evil” (3:3-5). What more could man want than to decide for himself what was good and what was evil. Sound familiar? It should, for the church has taken this power to herself by doing away with God’s Law, which determines good and evil, and creating her (the church’s) own laws which declare man’s version of good and evil, depending on the church with which one identifies. Having nailed the eternal, holy, just and good Law (Rom. 7:12) to Christ’s cross, the church, as did her original parents, has created her own rules of engagement known as “church doctrines.”

In summary, God re-created the earth perfectly so that man could live forever in a paradise designed specifically for him. Read Genesis 1:26-31 to see what God prepared for man. This will give us a good idea as to what the future world will be like. L.J.