Over the last two weeks, I’ve written about what the Bible says about heaven and about hell, so earth is next on the list.
Most of the events written about in the Bible take place on earth, so for starters we could say that nearly the whole Bible says something about earth. It is the place where God’s created people dwell. We are here to give Him glory, and to pursue relationship with Him until the day when we can be with Him forever in heaven (or without Him forever in hell).
The main thing that the Bible says about earth is that it was created, and it says this a lot! Some examples are Genesis 1:1, Exodus 20:11, Psalm 104:5, Job 38:4, Isaiah 42:5, Colossians 1:16-17, Jeremiah 10:12, and Hebrews 11:3. Some who live on earth today adamantly refuse this fact and believe that the earth just magically appeared out of goop or something, but the Bible clearly teaches that was not the case. God created the earth as a place for His creation to dwell.
We know that the earth belongs to God, as does everything in it (Psalm 24:1-2). The earth is full of the knowledge of God (Isaiah 11:9 and Romans 1:20), so even if a person does not have the opportunity to hear the good news about Jesus Christ, they can still see God’s presence in the earth simply by living here.
But, earth is not the perfection it was once created to be. In Genesis 1:31, God said that all of His creation was very good. But in Genesis 3, humans messed it up by wanting to be like God and thinking they could actual attain that. Not only did this curse people but also the entire earth! Genesis 3:17b-18 says, “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.” Isaiah 24:4-6 echoes this fact, by saying: “The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers, the heavens languish with the earth. The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. Therefore earth’s inhabitants are burned up, and very few are left.”
Because we messed up the earth, one day it will pass away (Isaiah 65:17 and Revelation 21:1). When that day comes, all of those living on earth will be sent to either heaven or hell, depending on God’s judgment of them.
God has created this earth for us to dwell in, until such time that He is ready to restore all of creation to Himself and usher in the new heaven and the new earth. What are you doing in your life to make your time on earth worthwhile, to give God glory and prepare for the day that you’re no longer on this earth?
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