ESCHATOLOGY - “Concerns expectations of the end of the present age, human history, or the world itself.”1 The study of “last things” seeks to answer the questions, “what is this world and this life all about?” “Where is this all going?” And, “Why am I even here?”
Genesis 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth”
28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue (conquer) it, and have dominion (literally “rule”)
When it comes to the future, and what God has planned for both us and planet earth, we have to start at the beginning. The plan that is represented there is the blueprint for all eternity. Remember these important attributes about God:
God is described in scripture as omniscient – that is, God knows everything there is to know. (eg. 1 Jn 3:20). If God knows everything, then he has eliminated every other possible plan and determined this plan is perfect. There is no other plan.
God is described in scripture as omnipotent – or all powerful (eg. Job 42:2). This implies that God has more than sufficient ability to ensure that plan A is going to work. When God initiated the plan from Genesis, there was no escape hatch built in, God was going to see plan A through to its fulfillment, and its fulfillment is guaranteed based on his unlimited ability and knowledge working together.
God is described in scripture as omnipresent – or fully present not only at all places but also in all of time (eg. Psalm 46:1; Isaiah 57:15). So God is personally present in all places and at all times overseeing the advancement of plan “A”. He is personally involved in its progress which further ensures its fulfillment.
There is no plan “B”. Plan “A” is the only plan, and it is going to work.
Now think about some of the implications of this blueprint found in the opening pages of scripture. First, God is a creative God. In creating the physical universe he created something of infinite beauty and wonder. When God was finished creating the physical universe, he rested not in the sense that he needed a nap, he rested in that he was finished with the work of creating and then turned his attention to working on humans.
Genesis 2 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3 So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.
Humans, being created in the image of God, are in some sense “like” God. They are to reflect his attributes on the earth as his representatives. So humans have enormous creative potential and God ordained authority on the earth. We were created to make our own mark on the earth, so to speak.
God created by “speaking”. As humans exercise their creative will they are to do the same, again being “like God”. Through prayer we access divine resources to manifest things on the earth that function to make improvements upon the raw materials that God has provided for us. Prayer and meditation energizes our imagination with possibilities of the good things that could be wrought on the earth for the mutual benefit of others. When we speak those things to God in prayer, the resources of heaven are activated to bring those things to fruition if we are diligent and follow through.
Just as God progressively created the physical universe, we are to progressively develop and organize the earth into a garden of Eden environment, or a utopia, or even what we typically think of as “heaven”. This is why we love creativity, progress, development, and improvement so much. We are programmed for it. We are designed to experience great pleasure, meaning, and purpose when progress happens. The process involves obedience and cooperation on many levels to bring it to completion.
Gen. 2:15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. (having access to divine resources to be effective in their mission and mandate)
19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.
Here God begins working with human beings, training them to access and utilize their creative imagination. First they are assigned to work (improve) and keep (maintain) the garden of Eden. They have job assignments. Then humans also are assigned to engage their imagination and exercise their authority in naming the animals. This is also God training humans to give expression to their dominion.
This blueprint is what we are designed to be and to do forever. It describes the environment in which we are designed to live and rule forever. There is much to be learned from these verses about our destiny. Remember, there is no “plan B”.
In our previous series we talked about building a house of worship, a house of prayer, and a house of learning. This is the blueprint for the new testament church. We are to be about this business specifically in a focused way both as individuals and as a gathered body. This is the means by which God is both restoring the broken image of God in humanity and developing it through a process of spiritual evolution, which will eventually lead to what we call in Methodism “glorification” at the resurrection from the dead. It is vital work that is the business not only of the here and now, but of eternity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eschatology#CITEREFCarroll2000