Have you wondered what is going on with the Earth? Last week alone, there were 1,090 earthquakes 1.5 or greater. There are 40 to 50 active volcanoes, with 20 erupting on any given day. There are hurricanes and typhoons pummeling the Pacific and Atlantic, and if that isn’t enough, the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Current is slowing down. There’s no doubt about it; our Earth is groaning.
Why in the world would the Earth be groaning? Because long ago, in the mists of time, something terrible happened. The Earth was created perfect, and then sin entered the world, and the creation was changed in an instant. Originally, there was no death. Man and animals coexisted in peace. Man was a vegetarian, and the animals also ate grass and plants.
When sin and death entered the world, it all changed. Think about all the earth has endured. We’ll skip the pollution and ecological disasters we have witnessed, but if nothing else, think about all the wars that have happened on the earth. Think of all the blood that has been spilled on the earth over the millennia, all of the humans buried in the earth, all the animals that have died. Not a pretty picture. The earth has absorbed the results of the follies of man, and it is ready for a change.
I don’t completely understand how the Earth knows, but it knows that a change is coming. It knows it is going to be free from the bondage of sin that it has endured these millennia. It longs for a time when Christ will return and set things right on the Earth. Scripture says, “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” Romans 8: 19-22
There will be a time on the Earth when all will be made well. Christ will return, and then rule and reign on the Earth, and all will be as He made it to be before man corrupted it. Scripture also gives us a beautiful picture of what it will be like. “The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat. The calf and the young lion and the fatling together.; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Isaiah 11: 6-9
Some of you reading this may not believe any of this. But have you ever been to a funeral and watched them lower a casket into a grave? Instinctively, you know something is not right. You know it because we were never created to die. Death is an intruder and a destroyer, and there is no way that we can become comfortable with its effects.
A change is coming, and we must get ready for it. The Earth is groaning. It is letting us know that the time has almost come for it to be set free. Can you hear the groaning? I can. It’s telling us that it is time to get to know The Liberator, Jesus Christ, the one who will make all things new again.
Have you ever been in the delivery room and heard someone groaning in the next room? You know when that happens, the person is in pain. They are suffering and laboring to deliver a baby.
Likewise, we look around the Earth and we see earthquakes, volcanoes, fires, floods, hurricanes, typhoons. So many of these occurrences are setting records for frequency and intensity. Let’s face it, the Earth is groaning.
When God created the Earth, it was perfect. The Scripture says, “Then God saw everythingHe had made, and indeed it was very good.” Genesis 1: 31The Lord placed man in a garden, and it was a beautiful, wonderful place to live. The Earth was in balance, and man was in balance with nature. There was no sin, death or decay in the world.
Eventually, man sinned and everything changed. Sin brought death into the world. The beautiful creation suddenly lost its perfection. God said to Adam, “Cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life. Both thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you, and you shall eat the herb of the field.” Genesis 3:17-18
Man became more wicked and sinful, and eventually the Lord decided to destroy the Earth with a flood. He sent rain upon the Earth for forty days, and all life was destroyed on the Earth. One family (eight persons) was saved in an ark. When the water receded and they came out of the ark, God again spoke to a man, Noah, about the earth. “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. And the fear of you and the dread of you shall be on every beast of theearth, on every bird of the air, on all that move on the earth, and all the fish in the sea. They are given into your hand.” Genesis 9:2
Fast forward several thousand years. Again, like I said, the Earth is groaning. We see signs of it everywhere. Is this caused by Climate Change or Global Warming? Is this just a matter of too many greenhouse gases in the atmosphere? Hardly. The Scripture explains to us what is happening. “for the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of thesons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. FOR WE KNOW THAT THE WHOLE CREATION GROANS AND LABORS WITH BIRTH PANGS TOGETHER UNTIL NOW.” Romans 8:19-22
That’s right. The Earth is groaning, awaiting the time that it will be renewed and restored as it was in the beginning when God created it. It will be beautiful, balanced and all creation will be in line with the perfect will of God. The Lord will return to the Earth and set things right. Let’s look at what it will be like at that time:
“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like an ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra’s hole, and the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper’s den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Isaiah 11: 6-9
So the next time you take a good look at the Earth and start reading the stats about the frequency and intensity of earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, floods, and fires; don’t start wringing your hands and wondering what we can do. The Earth is speaking to us. It is in labor and we are past the first stage. We may be in transition or moving towards the final stage of labor, delivery. It’s groaning alright. Can you hear it?
