“Earth-Bound”

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Why do churches/denominations teach that Earth will be destroyed and that all good people go to heaven when the Bible is clear that the earth will be here forever and will be inhabited by people forever, this being His purpose for the earth?  Eccl 1:4, Ps 104:5, Ps 119:90, Ps 93:1, Isa 45:18, Ps 37:29, Matt 5:5, Ps 115:16 all seem to point to the idea of a permanent heaven and earth.  Many teach that the earth will be burned with fire or somehow destroyed, but in Rev. 11:18, it says that He will "bring to ruin those ruining the earth."  Why would He bring to ruin those ruining the earth and then destroy it Himself?  I do ask this with sincerity.  I hope that is related in this.

Sincerely,
Paradise On Earth

Dear Paradise On Earth,

You gave a great list of verses that tell us that God establishes and protects the earth, but those verses don’t teach that He will always protect the earth.  They only teach that God establishes the earth as long as He sees fit.  1 Pet 3:10-12 tells us that eventually God will destroy the earth by fire.  After that, He will establish a spiritual universe (heaven) where those who love Him will exist forever.  Here is a list of verses that teach on that subject:

1) 1 Cor. 15:42-50
-    vs. 47 says our bodies will not consist of earthly components
-       vs 50 says flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom
2) Lk 20:34-38
-       vs 36 says we will have bodies like angels
3) Jhn 14:2-4
-       vs 2 says we will dwell where God dwells (heaven)
-       vs 3 says Jesus is preparing a place for us now
4) 2 Pet 3:10-13
-       vs 10 says that when God uses fire to destroy the earth, He will both destroy the works of the earth and the earth itself.
5) Heb 1:10-12
-       vs 11 says the earth and heavens will perish like an old garment
-       vs 12 says that the earth and heavens will be changed like one would change and put on new clothes – the new heaven and earth will not be a redo of this earth, but an entirely new garment.
6) Matt 24:35
-       Heaven and earth are temporary, unlike God’s Word
7) Heb 11:13
-       faithful people are considered strangers and wanderers on this earth
8) Php 3:20
-       our citizenship is in heaven, not on earth
9) Jhn 18:36
-       Jesus refers to His kingdom as not being “of this world”.

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