| The foreshadowing of the new age |
|---|
We
do not know the time when earth and humanity will reach their
completion, nor do we know the way in which the universe will be
transformed. The world as we see it, disfigured by sin, is passing away.
But we are sure that God is preparing a new dwelling place and a new
earth. In this new earth righteousness is to make its home, and
happiness will satisfy, and more than satisfy, all the yearnings for
peace that arise in human hearts. On that day, when death is conquered,
the sons of God will be raised up in Christ; what was sown as something
weak and perishable will be clothed in incorruption. Love and the fruits
of love will remain, and the whole of creation, made by God for man,
will be set free from the frustration that enslaves it.
We are warned indeed that a man gains nothing if he
wins the whole world at the cost of himself. Yet our hope in a new earth
should not weaken, but rather stimulate our concern for developing this
earth, for on it there is growing up the body of a new human family, a
body even now able to provide some foreshadowing of the new age. Hence,
though earthly progress is to be carefully distinguished from the growth
of Christ’s kingdom, yet in so far as it can help toward the better
ordering of human society it is of great importance to the kingdom of
God.
The blessings of human dignity, brotherly communion
and freedom – all the good fruits on earth of man’s co-operation with
nature in the Spirit of the Lord and according to his command – will be
found again in the world to come, but purified of all stain, resplendent
and transfigured, when Christ hands over to the Father an eternal and
everlasting kingdom: “a kingdom of truth and life, a kingdom of holiness
and grace, a kingdom of justice, love and peace.” On this earth the
kingdom is already present in sign; when the Lord comes it will reach
its completion.
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