Haiti and God's New World

This week for my New Testament class, as part of our meditative Bible reading, I have been meditating on Isaiah 65:17-25. This passage (read it on your own; it's short) deals with the hope of the new world Christ will create at His Second Coming. This is the oft-cited passage filled with the imagery of lions lying down with lambs, and the world being filled with prosperity, longevity, and close communion with God. This is a picture of the future hope that we are all looking forward to. We acknowledge, along with scripture, that Christ has been exalted to God's right hand where He rules the world as His kingdom is established (Phil. 2: 9-10, Acts 2:33). As Christians who are in Christ, we have become part of the new creation that God is undertaking. We get to look forward to the bright future ahead as both hope and motivation for doing the work of God on earth.

Strangely, I am meditating on all this within the week that a huge earthquake has struck the island of Haiti and killed thousands of people. While we could ask hundreds of questions concerning the goodness of God in allowing this to happen or the origin of evil, including natural disasters, what I would like to consider is how to evaluate this with the coming Kingdom in mind. How do we understand this sort of tragedy that occurs based on simple plate tectonics? Will the coming kingdom involve such tragedy? I do not know. I do not believe we can assume all natural processes will stop when God restores the world. The Isaiah passage itself suggests that natural life cycle processes will still occur (Is. 65:20), while at the same time making the world seem rather safe through the use of the lion and the lamb metaphor. I do not think this passage is to be taken literally, because if it is, then we have a terrible contradiction (people will die, but soulless animals will not?). I believe that everything God created is good, including the forces of nature. What I think this passage is trying to show is the extent of cosmic restoration the world will undergo. So will events like this occur in the new creation? Perhaps, but with no widespread destruction like what we see there. In our resurrected bodies, I imagine we shall be immune to the effects of death and destruction, because that is the final enemy that will be conquered (1 Cor.15).

So, as we see the effects this earthquake has had on the island of Haiti, let's do the work of the coming kingdom. While we live in these present bodies that are subject to the laws of death, let's look ahead to a better time. It is the job of a Christian to help out those who cannot help themselves. The poor, the oppressed, the hungry, those who have been displaced, these are the ones who God is calling into his kingdom. Failure to assist these people is failure to participate in the mission of the kingdom of God. Sending money, help, or prayers is the least we can do as beneficiaries of God's grace. While we may not understand why God allowed such evil to happen, we do know what His will is in it. His will is for us to show the people Christlike love.