The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 675
“I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the
first earth were passed away.” Revelation 21:1. The fire that consumes
the wicked purifies the earth. Every trace of the curse is swept away.
No eternally burning hell will keep before the ransomed the fearful
consequences of sin.
One reminder alone remains: Our Redeemer will ever bear the marks
of His crucifixion. Upon His wounded head, upon His side, His hands
and feet, are the only traces of the cruel work that sin has wrought. Says
the prophet, beholding Christ in His glory: “He had bright beams coming
out of His side: and there was the hiding of His power.” Habakkuk
3:4, margin. That pierced side whence flowed the crimson stream that
reconciled man to God—there is the Saviour’s glory, there “the hiding of
His power.” “Mighty to save,” through the sacrifice of redemption, He
was therefore strong to execute justice upon them that despised God’s
mercy. And the tokens of His humiliation are His highest honor; through
the eternal ages the wounds of Calvary will show forth His praise and
declare His power.
“O Tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto
Thee shall it come, even the first dominion.” Micah 4:8. The time has
come to which holy men have looked with longing since the flaming
sword barred the first pair from Eden, the time for “the redemption of
the purchased possession.” Ephesians 1:14. The earth originally given
to man as his kingdom, betrayed by him into the hands of Satan, and so
long held by the mighty foe, has been brought back by the great plan of
redemption. All that was lost by sin has been restored. “Thus saith the
Lord ... that formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He
created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited.” Isaiah 45:18. God’s
original purpose in the creation of the earth is fulfilled as it is made the
eternal abode of the redeemed. “The righteous shall inherit the land, and
dwell therein forever.” Psalm 37:29.
A fear of making the future inheritance seem too material
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