There is a temptation to focus so much on the coming of Jesus and eternity that we don’t think that creating and building things of value on earth has any importance. What that does is limits our impact, our purpose, vision and potential.
It’s interesting to think about the first two chapters in Genesis and the fact that God made the world on purpose and created man to live and rule it. God made us out of what he is, which is spirit, and then put us in a dirt body that functions and is sustained by the earth.
God gave Adam and Eve authority over everything on the earth and told them to produce things of value. To tend the garden and make babies for the purpose of causing the whole earth to function like Eden.
Genesis 1:28
God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”
Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-20
“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Jesus restored our position to cause the whole earth to be conformed to the kingdom of heaven. He said, “make disciples of all nations”. Our job is here on earth. Jesus restored our connection with God and with that our duties and responsibilities on earth. To sit around and wait for heaven is to forfeit our reward and to neglect our responsibilities.