Skip to main content

Demolition Day

                He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:5)

 

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. (II Peter 3:10-13)

 

I used to watch home renovation and redecorating shows, and one of the things homeowners seemed to say frequently was how much fun it was to destroy their room. What I never heard any of them say is, “Hey, I’ve got a great idea. This is just so cool. Let’s leave it this way.” No, they complete their destruction and get to work on making their room into what they want it to be.

Sometimes, we see God as delighting in judgment and destruction, almost for the sake of destruction. This is at least partly understandable. If your whole existence was in the kitchen that the homeowners gutted, you might be upset, because you can only see things from within the kitchen. If you don’t know the plans the homeowners have, it would seem wasteful or even wrong to destroy it.

God sometimes destroys what He made, and since He made it and it belongs to Him, He has a right. But in Genesis 6 and in the prophecies about the end times, God doesn’t destroy the world and “that’s that.” He preserves the lives of some on the ark, and He promises something new at the end of Revelation.

I’ve written before that I believe that when God destroyed the world with the flood, and when He will destroy the world with fire, that the world was and will be unlivable – because of what man does to it. The ceiling has leaks, the plaster is falling off the walls, there are places where you can see the basement through the floor. The refrigerator and the stove only work part of the time. God guts it and starts over because it needs to be gutted.

And there are times when He puts a new coat of paint in our lives, and times when He seems to rip out our hearts – because the one we have, which is all we know and which we believe is necessary to our lives – is doing damage. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more