ROMANS 8:18–23; REVELATION 21
I can see and hear the soft wind sweeping through the trees as I look out my open office window. I can also hear birds tweeting. My neighbour’s just-mowed field is scattered with bales of pasture, and the sky is a vivid blue, with big white cumulus clouds standing out.
Aside from the near constant hum of vehicles passing the house and a minor soreness in my back, I am enjoying a tiny slice of paradise. Despite the fact that our world was once entirely good, I rarely use the word paradise very often. Following human sin, the earth was “cursed” and humanity was driven from Eden’s garden (see Genesis 3). Everything on Earth has been in “bondage to decay” ever since. According to Romans 8:18–23, mankind’s fall into sin is the cause of all suffering, illness, and death.
God is making everything new. A new heaven and earth, where death, mourning, crying, and pain will no longer exist (Revelation 21:1–4). It will be a paradise for all. We can enjoy the vivid flashes and occasionally broad stretches of magnificent beauty till that day.
🙏Dear Lord, we are grateful that You let us see glimpses of beauty in a world where sin and degradation can often make things look ugly.
📷: Alphotographic
