Sin, the Soil, and Salvation
By J.B. Hixson, Ph.D.
03/31/2021
For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. (Romans 8:22)
What is wrong with this world? Everywhere we look it seems that things have gone awry: evil, crime, loss of freedoms, persecution, tragedies, corruption, heartache… It is all around us. How can a loving God allow so many bad things to keep happening? How can there be so much inequity and unfairness in a world where God is in charge? These questions have plagued the minds of great thinkers for millennia. Yet, philosophers are not the only ones who ponder the question of evil in the world. This deep longing for justice cries out from the heart of every human being.
The answer? The world as we know it today is not the world that God created. God created a world in sinless perfection. As God spoke the elements of the world into existence out of nothing, He looked at what He had created and said repeatedly that it was good. When He was finished, He looked it all over and declared that it was very good (Genesis 1:31).
This was true of all of creation. Life on earth was a utopian paradise. No natural disasters; no blizzards, or avalanches, or hurricanes, or tornadoes; no animosity or death; the wolf and the lamb played together; the baby and the cobra played together. There were no thorns on rose bushes; there was no poison ivy; grapes were the size of basketballs; the skies were the most perfect shade of blue. It was an idyllic, perfect world.
The highest pinnacle of creation, mankind, also was created in sinless perfection. But then something happened. We sinned. God gave us a choice and we chose to rebel against the protective warnings of our Creator. When we sinned, everything changed. God and man became estranged, and the earth became cursed because of sin. Sin not only affected mankind, but it also affected the very soil on which we walk. God told Adam, “Cursed is the ground for your sake.” (Genesis 3:17)
What is the result of the curse of sin on creation? Animals have become wild and ferocious; plant life produces weeds to hinder productivity. Crops are not as bountiful as they once were. Some plants even contain poisonous toxins that can kill a person—like certain mushrooms or berries or roots. My family and I live in the beautiful Rocky Mountain region of Colorado. As stunning as these mountains are, can you imagine just how spectacular it must have been 6,000 years ago before the curse of sin?
What if we could hike the Rocky Mountain National Forest without having to carry bear spray or a sidearm? What if the trails were firm and solid with no risk of slipping and tumbling to our death? What if there was no fear of being stalked by a predatory mountain lion? The effects of sin are all around us. Sin is a degenerative disease that does not get better over time. “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” (Romans 8:22)
Paul warned that “evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:13) This is true not only for fallen mankind—evil men getting worse and worse—but for fallen creation as well. Things are getting worse, not better. Certainly, it is true that there are some beautiful places on planet earth where the glory of God is strikingly manifest. My family and I have had the privilege of visiting many of them right here in our own country: the stunning views of the cascade mountains from the lush region of Coeur d’Alene, ID; the whales and sea lions that frolic in the frigid Pacific waters off the coast of Juneau, AK; the eagles that run up and down the Conejos River in late fall before it freezes over; the tranquility of Glacier National Park; the alluring mystery of the Smokey Mountains; the tropical paradise of Maui and the road to Hana. You probably have your own list of places to add to this catalogue of the most beautiful places on earth.
Yet, upon closer examination, the effects of sin on creation are readily visible as they creep to the surface like rust on an old bicycle that used to sparkle in the sunshine on a warm summer day. Like chinks in the armor of a mighty warrior, the earth is showing signs of wear. 6,000 years is a lot of time for decay. Sin brings with it not only the natural curse on creation itself, but the divine judgment of God. It did not take long for the depravity of man to boil over past the point of God’s tolerance so that He had to intervene. Some 1,656 years after God spoke the universe into creation, He judged the world because of its wickedness with a great global flood in 2348 BC. (Genesis 6:5-8)
We can see the unmistakable result of this divine judgment when we stand on the rim of the Grand Canyon. The flood may have been the most dramatic and far-reaching of God’s divine interventions in judgment on earth to date, but there have been others: the drowning of the Egyptians in the Red Sea; the destruction of cities like Jericho and Nineveh; the demolition of Jerusalem in 70 AD because of Israel’s rejection of her Messiah. History tells the tale of hundreds of examples where God has used volcanos, earthquakes, or other so-called natural disasters to remind mankind that He alone is Holy…that the earth is under the curse of sin…and that God will not be mocked.
Indeed, geologists have documented a meteoric rise in the number of earthquakes across the globe over the last few decades measuring 6.0 or higher on the Richter scale. What used to be a rare, newsworthy event is now commonplace. Jesus said that just prior to the end of the age, the world will witness the greatest earthquake ever seen in the history of creation, as the earth heaves and convulses one final time before Christ returns. (Revelation 16:18)
There have been other significant earthquakes, such as the one that occurred in conjunction with the death and resurrection of Christ. The earth under Satan’s regime did not like the victory that was won that day on Resurrection morning. “And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.” (Matthew 28:2) Still, the earthquake that is simmering beneath the surface today, ready to explode at the end of the age, is in a class by itself.
What’s wrong with this world? Sin! That is what is wrong with the world. The earth is under the curse of sin. But it will not always be that way. God is working out His plan precisely as He said He would. Not one day escapes His calendar; not one subterranean groaning escapes His notice. In His time and in His way, He will make all things new once again. If the message of the Resurrection tells us anything, it is that God is a God of new beginnings… new beginnings for this very earth around us that groans to be made new once again…and new beginnings for every human being who trusts in Jesus Christ and Him alone for the free gift of eternal life paid for by His own death and resurrection.
The grand metanarrative of history, as God reveals in His written Word, is a story that comes full circle from Genesis to Revelation. It is a story of the redemption of all of creation, as we return to the pre-fall, idyllic, utopian world of the Garden where “true righteousness will once again dwell in the new heavens and new earth.” (Revelation 21:1)
03/31/2021
For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. (Romans 8:22)
What is wrong with this world? Everywhere we look it seems that things have gone awry: evil, crime, loss of freedoms, persecution, tragedies, corruption, heartache… It is all around us. How can a loving God allow so many bad things to keep happening? How can there be so much inequity and unfairness in a world where God is in charge? These questions have plagued the minds of great thinkers for millennia. Yet, philosophers are not the only ones who ponder the question of evil in the world. This deep longing for justice cries out from the heart of every human being.
The answer? The world as we know it today is not the world that God created. God created a world in sinless perfection. As God spoke the elements of the world into existence out of nothing, He looked at what He had created and said repeatedly that it was good. When He was finished, He looked it all over and declared that it was very good (Genesis 1:31).
This was true of all of creation. Life on earth was a utopian paradise. No natural disasters; no blizzards, or avalanches, or hurricanes, or tornadoes; no animosity or death; the wolf and the lamb played together; the baby and the cobra played together. There were no thorns on rose bushes; there was no poison ivy; grapes were the size of basketballs; the skies were the most perfect shade of blue. It was an idyllic, perfect world.
The highest pinnacle of creation, mankind, also was created in sinless perfection. But then something happened. We sinned. God gave us a choice and we chose to rebel against the protective warnings of our Creator. When we sinned, everything changed. God and man became estranged, and the earth became cursed because of sin. Sin not only affected mankind, but it also affected the very soil on which we walk. God told Adam, “Cursed is the ground for your sake.” (Genesis 3:17)
What is the result of the curse of sin on creation? Animals have become wild and ferocious; plant life produces weeds to hinder productivity. Crops are not as bountiful as they once were. Some plants even contain poisonous toxins that can kill a person—like certain mushrooms or berries or roots. My family and I live in the beautiful Rocky Mountain region of Colorado. As stunning as these mountains are, can you imagine just how spectacular it must have been 6,000 years ago before the curse of sin?
What if we could hike the Rocky Mountain National Forest without having to carry bear spray or a sidearm? What if the trails were firm and solid with no risk of slipping and tumbling to our death? What if there was no fear of being stalked by a predatory mountain lion? The effects of sin are all around us. Sin is a degenerative disease that does not get better over time. “For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now.” (Romans 8:22)
Paul warned that “evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (2 Timothy 3:13) This is true not only for fallen mankind—evil men getting worse and worse—but for fallen creation as well. Things are getting worse, not better. Certainly, it is true that there are some beautiful places on planet earth where the glory of God is strikingly manifest. My family and I have had the privilege of visiting many of them right here in our own country: the stunning views of the cascade mountains from the lush region of Coeur d’Alene, ID; the whales and sea lions that frolic in the frigid Pacific waters off the coast of Juneau, AK; the eagles that run up and down the Conejos River in late fall before it freezes over; the tranquility of Glacier National Park; the alluring mystery of the Smokey Mountains; the tropical paradise of Maui and the road to Hana. You probably have your own list of places to add to this catalogue of the most beautiful places on earth.
Yet, upon closer examination, the effects of sin on creation are readily visible as they creep to the surface like rust on an old bicycle that used to sparkle in the sunshine on a warm summer day. Like chinks in the armor of a mighty warrior, the earth is showing signs of wear. 6,000 years is a lot of time for decay. Sin brings with it not only the natural curse on creation itself, but the divine judgment of God. It did not take long for the depravity of man to boil over past the point of God’s tolerance so that He had to intervene. Some 1,656 years after God spoke the universe into creation, He judged the world because of its wickedness with a great global flood in 2348 BC. (Genesis 6:5-8)
We can see the unmistakable result of this divine judgment when we stand on the rim of the Grand Canyon. The flood may have been the most dramatic and far-reaching of God’s divine interventions in judgment on earth to date, but there have been others: the drowning of the Egyptians in the Red Sea; the destruction of cities like Jericho and Nineveh; the demolition of Jerusalem in 70 AD because of Israel’s rejection of her Messiah. History tells the tale of hundreds of examples where God has used volcanos, earthquakes, or other so-called natural disasters to remind mankind that He alone is Holy…that the earth is under the curse of sin…and that God will not be mocked.
Indeed, geologists have documented a meteoric rise in the number of earthquakes across the globe over the last few decades measuring 6.0 or higher on the Richter scale. What used to be a rare, newsworthy event is now commonplace. Jesus said that just prior to the end of the age, the world will witness the greatest earthquake ever seen in the history of creation, as the earth heaves and convulses one final time before Christ returns. (Revelation 16:18)
There have been other significant earthquakes, such as the one that occurred in conjunction with the death and resurrection of Christ. The earth under Satan’s regime did not like the victory that was won that day on Resurrection morning. “And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door, and sat on it.” (Matthew 28:2) Still, the earthquake that is simmering beneath the surface today, ready to explode at the end of the age, is in a class by itself.
What’s wrong with this world? Sin! That is what is wrong with the world. The earth is under the curse of sin. But it will not always be that way. God is working out His plan precisely as He said He would. Not one day escapes His calendar; not one subterranean groaning escapes His notice. In His time and in His way, He will make all things new once again. If the message of the Resurrection tells us anything, it is that God is a God of new beginnings… new beginnings for this very earth around us that groans to be made new once again…and new beginnings for every human being who trusts in Jesus Christ and Him alone for the free gift of eternal life paid for by His own death and resurrection.
The grand metanarrative of history, as God reveals in His written Word, is a story that comes full circle from Genesis to Revelation. It is a story of the redemption of all of creation, as we return to the pre-fall, idyllic, utopian world of the Garden where “true righteousness will once again dwell in the new heavens and new earth.” (Revelation 21:1)
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