Shaken, Not Stirred: A Theology of the Resurrection and of Earth's Final Conflagration

Many of us probably think about the apocalypse through the lenses of Hal Lindsey or Left Behind. We think of the earth being thrown into complete engulfing fires until finally it blows itself up into a trillion pieces, never to be seen again. When God makes a new heavens and a new earth, we do not think that it is really going to be THIS earth. It will be a completely different earth.

The ancient Gloria Patri says, As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Do we really believe it?

Isaiah 24-26 is Isaiah's apocalypse. We read some versions and think that Lindsey must be right. But it is really so? The answer may be surprising. Whatever God will do to this earth to reconstitute it and thus make it eternal, the main idea of these chapters is the resurrection. It isn't destruction, but judgment that results in eternal punishment (not annihilation) for the wicked, but everlasting life for both God's people and his creation.