FBCD_FaithEssentials_June_FlipBook

Todd Gaddis

will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper’s nest” (Isaiah 11:7,8).

WHEN MAN FELL, CREATION FELL

Paul says, “creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed.” It “has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time” (Romans 8:19,22). When mankind fell, creation fell. Sin blighted the physical earth as well as the souls of humans. Creation grows increasingly weary of decay and disaster. It longs for a time void of hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, etc. The new heaven and new earth peace will usher in such an era. Another key element of the new earth is the presence of a river –“ the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city” (Revelation 22:1,2). Some see this merely as a symbol of God’s presence, but I beg to differ. Just like literal rivers (Pishon, Gihon, Tigris and Euphrates) held prominence in Paradise before the fall, I view this as an actual river with great visibility on the new earth. Note, first its source. Every river starts somewhere. I grew up on the banks of the mighty Ohio in western Kentucky. This 981-mile waterway originates at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers in downtown Pittsburg. The world’s longest river, Africa’s 4,l60-mile Nile, has Lake Victoria as its source. No river on the old earth, however, can compare to this body of water on the earth to come, which originates at the throne and Lamb of God. This clearly indicates that God is the source of all life. God said, “whoever finds me finds life” (Proverbs 8:35). Jesus proclaimed, “I am the . . . life” (John 14:6). These truths will be evident in the age to come.

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