The earth was formed to be inhabited—it was designed to be the abode
of animated existence—the dwelling place of beings capable of enjoying
life and happiness.
At the time of its creation, it was pronounced by its Author to be
"very good." The term "very good" could have no meaning, unless spoken
with reference to beings who should be capable of experiencing some
benefit from its construction. However beautifully formed—however
grand and magnificent its motions—however skillfully its elements are
combined, or its parts proportioned to each other, yet, if not
designed to be connected with perceptive beings, the earth could not
be pronounced good.
A mass of inanimate elements cannot be organized in any possible form
or proportion so as to benefit or injure itself, and therefore cannot
be good nor bad with reference to itself. Goodness and its opposite
quality, when applied to unconscious matter, always have reference to
conscious beings capable of deriving happiness or misery from these
qualities. This was the meaning of the Creator when he ascribed the
quality of goodness to the earth; it contained every necessary
ingredient to render happiness to the beings who were designed to
occupy it.
After having made every necessary preparation, countless species of
living, moving beings came from the spirit world to inhabit earthly
bodies, and take up their abode upon this magnificent creation. Among
the rest, man—the offspring of deity—left his ancient home—his brother
and sister spirits, and came to a world most beautifully adapted to
his future wants. Here he entered a tabernacle of flesh and bones, and
received dominion and authority over all the lower orders of
existence.
Here immortality reigned, and death had no dominion. The elements were
so wisely arranged and proportioned, that life was derived from all
things ordained for the use of man or beast, fowl or fish. The
nourishing element of life was diffused through the earth, the ocean
and the air. Life pervaded every vegetable and fruit not forbidden to
man. Life reigned triumphantly throughout this vast creation. Death
was unknown; it had not been seen, heard of, nor experienced in all
the varied ranks of earthly beings.
Here, then, was a creation "very good," inhabited by beings capable of
eternal existence, both body and spirit. Here was a creation adapted
to the wants of all its inhabitants, calculated to preserve unchanged
that immortality with which they were endowed. Here, then, was a
creation worth possessing as an eternal abode.
Such was the inheritance given to man, with its vast treasures and
sumptuous luxuries—such was the gift of heaven under certain
restrictions. These restrictions were not complied with—man fell—a
great change came over the fair face of creation—the earth was
cursed—sickness, pain, and misery ensued—immortality yielded to
mortality—death reigned triumphantly throughout the animal kingdom—the
everlasting inheritance on the newly-formed earth was forfeited—all
seemed to be lost—forever lost! While all creation groaned in utter
despair and death, a voice was heard; not a voice of wrath and
indignation, but the voice of mercy and compassion—the voice of the
Creator, proclaiming himself the Redeemer; love flowed through every
sentence—man listened with eagerness—the door of hope was
opened—despair fled away—all things again assumed a new aspect. The
earth, though cursed, was to be redeemed—the body, though corruptible,
was again to put on incorruption—all things lost by the first
transgression were to be restored again in their primitive excellence
and beauty. Though this great redemption was to be universal, yet the
change was to be gradual or progressive, not immediate; the effects of
the fall were to continue for a season, until all the inhabitants of
the spirit world, designed for this creation, should learn by bitter
experience, the unhappy consequences of sin. Hence, the whole world
still groans under the sad effects of the original transgression.
Sorrow, mourning, and death, still prevail—the aged, middle-aged, and
infant still feel the force of these evils—all are made partakers in a
greater or less degree of the wretchedness and miseries of the
fall—none escape—none can proclaim themselves immortal, or free from
these direful effects.
The universal redemption of the posterity of Adam from the fall will
be fully accomplished after the earth
has been filled with its measure
of inhabitants, and all men have been redeemed from the grave to
immortality, and the earth itself has been changed and made entirely
new.
But a universal redemption from the effects of original sin, has
nothing to do with redemption from our personal sins; for the original
sin of Adam, and the personal sins of his children, are two different
things. The first was committed by man in his immortal state; the
second was committed by man in a mortal state; the former was
committed in a state of ignorance of good or evil; the latter was
committed by man, having a knowledge of both good and evil. As the
sins are different, and committed entirely under different
circumstances; so the penalties are different also. The penalty of the
first transgression was an eternal separation of body and spirit, and
eternal banishment from the presence of Jehovah; while the penalty of
our own transgressions does not involve a disunion of body and spirit,
but only eternal banishment. The first penalty not only shut man out
from the presence of God, but deprived him eternally of a body; the
second penalty permits him to retain his body, though in a banished
condition. As the penalties are different, so also is the redemption.
Redemption from the first penalty is unconditional on the part of man;
redemption from the second penalty is conditional. Unconditional
redemption is universal; it takes within its scope all mankind; it is
as unlimited as the fall; it redeems men from all its effects; it
restores to them their bodies; it restores them to the presence of
God.
The children of Adam had no agency in the transgression of their first
parents, and therefore they are not required to exercise any agency in
their redemption from its penalty. They are redeemed from it without
faith, repentance, baptism, or any other act, either of the mind or
body.
Conditional redemption is also universal in its nature; it is offered
to all, but not received by all; it is a universal gift,
though not universally accepted; its benefits can be obtained only
through faith, repentance, baptism, the laying on of the hands, and
obedience to all other requirements of the Gospel.
Unconditional redemption is a gift forced upon mankind, which they
cannot reject, though they were disposed. Not so with conditional
redemption; it can be received or rejected according to the will of
the creature.
Redemption from the original sin is without faith or works; redemption
from our own sins is given through faith and works. Both are the gifts
of free grace; but while one is a gift forced upon us unconditionally,
the other is a gift merely offered to us conditionally. The reception
of the one is compulsory; the reception of the other is voluntary. Man
cannot by any possible act, prevent his redemption from the fall; but
he can utterly refuse and prevent his redemption from the penalty of
his own sins.
The earth, like the posterity of Adam, was cursed because of the
original sin, and like them, it will be redeemed unconditionally, and
restored again into the presence of God. So far as the original sin is
concerned, mankind and the earth keep pace with each other. When one
falls, the other falls also. When one is redeemed, the other is
redeemed also.
Had there been no other sin but that of Adam's, the redeemed earth
would have become the eternal abode of all the posterity of Adam,
without one exception. But both man and the earth have been still
further corrupted by other sins. The posterity of Adam have
transgressed the code of laws given since the fall, and subjected
themselves to its penalty. This penalty does not interfere with the
first penalty. Man will be redeemed from the first before the second
will be fully inflicted. When his redemp tion from the first death is
completed, then comes the judgment, when his own sins will be inquired
into, and not Adam's. As he stands before the judgment seat, he will
find himself entirely innocent of Adam's transgression, and entirely
redeemed from the effects of it, but he still finds himself guilty of
his own individual sins, the penalty of which is a second death, not a
dissolution of body and spirit like that of the first death, but a
banishment from the presence of God, and from the glory of his power.
Redemption from the second death, as we have already observed, is
conditional. Man having voluntarily committed sin, must voluntarily
comply with the conditions of redemption; otherwise, he must suffer
the penalty. If any should feel disposed to doubt whether the second
penalty will be inflicted, let them look at the infliction of the
first, during the last 6,000 years. The first death, with all its
attendant evils, has extended its ravages among all nations and
generations since the first law was broken. If God, then, has
fulfilled His word in the first provocation, to the very letter, why
should anyone suppose that He will not inflict the second death as a
penalty of the second provocation?
All generations bear witness to the faithfulness of His word spoken
in the garden of Eden. Why, then, should we suppose that justice shall
be frustrated, and His word become null and void in regard to any
future penalty with which the sinner is threatened? If the sin of one
man brought the first death upon unnumbered millions, why not the sin
of each man bring the second death upon himself? There is no escape
for the sinner from the second death, only through the conditions of
the Gospel. All who will believe in Christ, and repent of their sins,
and be baptized by immersion for the remission of them and
receive the Holy Ghost through the ordinance of the laying on of
hands, and continue faithful unto the end, shall escape the penalty of
the second death. All who reject these conditions must suffer it, for
the word of God cannot become void, and justice be thwarted from his
stern decrees.
Though all mankind are to be fully redeemed from the effects of the
original sin, yet we have great reason to fear that but few will be
redeemed from their own sins. Those few who are redeemed will receive
the earth for an eternal inheritance; for the earth, as we have
already observed, will be unconditionally redeemed from the curse of
the original sin, and so far as that sin is concerned, it will be no
obstacle to the earth's entering into the presence of God. But as the
earth has been corrupted by other sins than the original, it must
partake of the curses of the second death, after it is redeemed from
the curses of the first, unless God has provided a way for its
sanctification and redemption therefrom. It has seemed good unto the
great Redeemer to institute ordinances for the cleansing,
sanctification, and eternal redemption of the earth, not from the
original sin, but from the sins of the posterity of Adam.
The first ordinance instituted for the cleansing of the earth, was
that of immersion in water; it was buried in the liquid element, and
all things sinful upon the face of it were washed away. As it came
forth from the ocean flood, like the newborn child, it was innocent,
it arose to newness of life; it was its second birth from the womb of
mighty waters—a new world issuing from the ruins of the old, clothed
with all the innocency of its first creation. As man cannot be born
again of water, without an administrator, so the earth required an
agency independent of itself, to ad minister this grand cleansing
ordinance, and restore it to its infant purity. That administrator was
the Redeemer himself.
The second ordinance instituted for the sanctification of the earth,
is that of fire and the Holy Ghost. The day will come when it shall
burn as an oven, and all the proud, and all that do wickedly shall be
as stubble; after which, the glory of God shall cover the earth, as
the waters cover the deep. Here then is a baptism of fire first, then
of the Holy Spirit. As man receives the baptism of fire and the Holy
Spirit through the laying on of the hands of a legal administrator, so
the earth receives the same, not through its own agency, but through
the agencies ordained of God. As man becomes a new creature by being
born again, first of water, then of the spirit, in the same manner the
earth becomes a new earth by being born again of these cleansing and
purifying elements. As man becomes a righteous man by the new birth,
so the earth becomes a righteous earth through the same process.
Righteousness will abide upon its face, during a thousand years, and
the Savior will bless it with his personal presence: after which the
end soon comes, and the earth itself will die, and its elements be
dissolved through the agency of a fire. This death, or dissolution of
the earth is a penalty of the original sin. Infants and righteous men
die, not as a penalty of their own sins, but because Adam sinned; so
the earth dies, or undergoes a similar change, not because of the
transgressions of the children of Adam, but because of the original
transgression. But all mankind are made alive from the first death
through the resurrection, so the earth will again be renewed, its
elements will again be collected, they will be recombined and
reorganized as when it first issued from the womb of chaos. As
the bodies of the righteous are made immortal, eternal, unchangeable,
and glorious, so the earth itself will be so constructed as to be
capable of everlasting endurance. Immortality will be indelibly
stamped upon every department of this creation. It will be crowned
with the presence of God the Father, and shine forth in all the
splendors of celestial glory. But who will be its inhabitants? Those
who have passed through the same process of purification, and none
else. As all who partake of the second death must be banished from the
presence of God, it necessarily follows, that they must be banished
from the glorified earth; for that is redeemed into the presence of
God, and enjoys the glory of His power; and no beings can inhabit it
but those who are sanctified by the same ordinances and law.
As the earth passes through its great last change, two of its
principal cities—the Old Jerusalem of the eastern continent, and the
new Jerusalem of the western continent, will be preserved from the
general conflagration, being caught up into heaven. These two cities,
with all their glorified throng, will descend upon the redeemed earth,
being the grand capitals of the new creation. "Without" (or exterior
to these holy cities, and upon other creations of an inferior order,
far separated from the glorified earth) "will be dogs, and sorcerers,
and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever loveth
and maketh a lie. (Rev. xxii. 15.)" These are they who are banished
from the presence of God, and from the glory of a celestial earth.
It is the meek only who shall receive the promised inheritance—they
are the lawful heirs. "Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit
the earth," was the promise of the great Redeemer.
But who are the meek? By what peculiarities are they distinguished
from other men? There must be some qualities about them far superior
to the generality of mankind, or they would not become the exclusive
heirs of the new earth. The law of meekness includes all the laws of
the Gospel, with its ordinances and blessings, Priesthood and powers,
through obedience to which mankind become justified, sanctified,
purified, and glorified. Such are the meek of the earth, and none
others. And as the Gospel has not been preached nor administered by
authority on the eastern hemisphere for the last seventeen centuries,
consequently, during that time, there have been none possessed of the
requisite qualities of meekness sufficient to entitle them to the
promised inheritance upon the new earth. A few only will be saved—a
few only will receive the law of meekness and continue therein.
Different portions of the earth have been pointed out by the Almighty,
from time to time, to His children, as their everlasting inheritance.
As instances—Abraham and his posterity, that were worthy, were
promised Palestine. Moab and Ammon—the children of righteous Lot—were
promised a portion not far from the boundaries of the twelve tribes.
The meek among the Jaredites, together with a remnant of the tribe of
Joseph, were promised the great western continent. The righteous of
all nations who shall in this dispensation be gathered to that land,
will receive their inheritance in common with the meek who formerly
sojourned upon the land. In the resurrection, the meek of all ages and
nations will be restored to that portion of the earth previously
promised to them. And thus,
all the different
portions of the earth
have been and will be disposed of to the lawful heirs; while those
who cannot prove their heirship to be legal, or who cannot prove that
they have received any portion of the earth by promise, will be cast out into some other kingdom or world, where, if they ever
get an inheritance, they will have to earn it by keeping the law of
meekness during another probation.
How great will be the disappointment to the rich, the high and the
noble, who have rejected the messages of eternal truth, sent forth in
different ages for the redemption of men, when they find that there is
not a foot of the new earth that they can call their own; the whole of
it having been lawfully disposed of to the poor and the meek.
Howl, then, ye rich men, who reject the message of the servants of
God; for your portion is in this life, and you have no claim upon the
everlasting inheritance. God will rescue the earth from under your
dominion, and give it to those unto whom it is promised. Howl, for the
miseries that shall come upon you!
It has been conjectured by some, that the earth will not be
sufficiently capacious to accommodate the nations of the righteous.
But such a conjecture will appear erroneous to anyone who will
exercise his reasoning powers sufficient to calculate the superficial
contents of our globe, and compare the same with the probable number
of inhabitants who are destined for this creation.
In round numbers, the surface of our terrestrial spheroid contains
197,000,000 of square miles, or over one hundred and twenty-six
thousand millions of acres. Now, if from the creation of the earth to
its final glorification, there should elapse a period of eight
thousand years, or eighty centuries, and if we should suppose the
population to average one thousand millions per century (which is
probably an average far too great), yet there would be an abundance of
room upon the new earth for all this vast multitude. There would be
over one acre and a half for every soul.
But when we reflect how few will be saved—how few have received the
plan of redemption, even when it has been proclaimed by authority in
their ears, and how many generations have passed away unto whom the
Almighty has sent no message, we are compelled to believe that not one
out of a hundred will receive an inheritance upon the new earth. But
even though we suppose one percent of all this immensity of
population shall, through obedience to the Gospel, become lawful heirs
to the new earth, then there will be over one hundred and fifty acres
for every soul. If the new earth contains only the same proportion of
land as the old, there would still be about forty acres for every
redeemed soul. But the new earth is represented by the Apostle John, as
being without any sea, which increases its capacity for inhabitants
above the old four fold. The farmer who is looking forward to the
new earth for his everlasting inheritance, need have no fears of
being too much limited in his possessions. There will be ample room
for the delightful pursuits of the agriculturist. He can have his
pleasure grounds; his orchards of the most delicious fruits; his
gardens decorated with the loveliest flowers; and still have land
enough for the raising of the more staple articles, such as manna to
eat, and flax for the making of fine robes, &c.
Who, in looking upon the earth as it ascends in the scale of the
universe, does not desire to keep pace with it, that when it shall be
classed in its turn, among the dazzling orbs of the blue vault of
heaven, shining forth in all the splendors of celestial glory, he may
find himself proportionably advanced in the scale of intellectual and
moral excellence? Who, but the most abandoned, does not desire to be
counted worthy to associate with those higher orders of beings who
have been redeemed, exalted, and glorified, to gether with the
worlds they inhabit, ages before the foundations of our earth were
laid? O man, remember the future destiny and glory of the earth, and
secure thine everlasting inheritance upon the same, that when it shall
be glorious, thou shalt be glorious also.