On The Reign of Christ, and the Eternal State
Excerpt from: Prophetical Outlines: Lecture 7, The Reign of Christ, and the Eternal State by H.H. Snell
"the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now."
There is not an animal upon the earth that is exempt from pain; but we are told in the twenty-first verse that there is to be a different state of things—
"Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty [or liberty of the glory] of the children of God."
This is to my mind the key to the eleventh chapter of Isaiah, and other portions which speak of the wonderful blessings of creation that will be connected with the reign of Christ. We are told in Isaiah, that when the King reigns in righteousness,
"the wolf also shall dwell with the Lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the failing together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' 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."
This will have a literal accomplishment; so that not only the Church of God, and Israel, and the nations, but creation also will be brought into marvellous blessing. The Lord will be King over all the earth. And not only will He bring every thing into subjection to Himself, and put all enemies under His feet, but the whole earth will be filled with blessing. All the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord. All nations will call Him blessed. Well might the psalmist exclaim in anticipation of that day,
"Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof. Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord: for He cometh, for He cometh to judge the earth: He shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with His truth."
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