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Seven Reasons for Desiring the Lord’s Return: Reason 3

Seven Reasons for Desiring the Lord’s Return: Reason 3
By Dr. David Reagan

3. For God’s Promises to the Creation to be Fulfilled

There is a third reason that I am interested in the return of Jesus, and that’s because the return of Jesus is going to fulfill the promises that God has made to the creation. God has promised regeneration, restoration, and renewal. Those are the promises of God to the creation.

When it comes to God’s promises made to the creation, this is something most Christians have not thought about. When the creation was originally created by God, He created it perfect, and it was beautiful. He said it was all good.

Have you ever stopped to think about the implications of that? That means that when the earth was originally created there were no poisonous plants. There were no poisonous animals. There were no natural calamities like hurricanes and tsunamis and tornadoes — none of that existed. It was all in perfection.

But, when man sinned against God, the whole thing was thrown askew. As a result of the sin of man against God, God put a curse upon the creation. And, as a result of that curse, some of the animals became meat-eating animals. Some of the animals became poisonous. Some of the plants became poisonous. Man had to strive against nature. The whole of creation was thrown askew as a result of the sin of man. And thus, the original creation has been corrupted by the sin of man. It has been corrupted by the curse of God. It has been corrupted by the evil works of Satan.

But, the good news is that at the moment God put that curse upon the creation He made a promise, the first Messianic prophecy in Genesis 3:15. God said that one day He would redeem all of creation, not just men and women, but all of creation through the seed of woman, meaning through one who would be virgin born. The promise meant that the creation would be returned to its original perfection. A day is coming when God is going to return it to its original perfection.

In the Old Testament times, the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies once a year and he sprinkled blood on the Mercy Seat. The Mercy Seat covered the Law of God. The sprinkling of the blood on the Mercy Seat was a symbolic prophecy that one day through the shedding of the blood of the Messiah that the mercy of God would cover the Law of God.

The High Priest also stepped back and he sprinkled the blood on the ground, and that was a symbol that the death of the Messiah would not only result in the redemption of mankind, but the redemption of all of God’s creation. God loves His creation. He wants to redeem the creation. And, He is going to do it when Jesus Christ returns.

Look at Isaiah 11:6 which foretells a future time when, “The wolf will dwell with the lamb. And the leopard will lie down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together. And a little boy will lead them.” Why? Because these predators will no longer be dangerous. They will be like pets!

Then it says in Isaiah 11:7, “The cow and the bear will graze; their young will lie down together; and the lion will eat straw like the ox.” No more will you see nature documentaries of animals eating other animals. My wife loved to watch the Animal Channel. Every time I walked through the room there was one animal eating another animal, but that will not be the situation for much longer. The world is all going to be living in a state of perfect peace and perfection.

Isaiah 11:8 foretells, “And the nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child will put his hand in the vipers’ den.” Why? Because the animals will no longer be poisonous, and so they will be playthings for little children. This is not fantasy! This is not Alice in Wonderland. This is a promise of God that He is going to redeem all of nature when the Lord Jesus Christ returns.

As a result of this biblical imagery there have been many artistic expressions made, some funny and some very serious. My favorite funny picture depicts a lion sitting and reading a book with a little lamb who’s just peacefully lying beside him sound asleep. Everybody is happy and everything is copacetic. What is the book he’s reading? Veggie Recipes!

Then there are the serious works, like “The Peaceable Kingdom” that was painted in 1834 by America painter Edward Hicks. On the right side, little children are seen playing with all of these wild animals, but they are in no danger whatsoever. Once natural enemies are now at peace. In another rendition, a little boy lays sound asleep on the back of a wolf. This is not fantasy! This is what the Lord is promising when Jesus Christ returns.

In the fourth part of our series concerning why we should be desiring the Lord’s return, we’ll take a look at the fourth reason.

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