Reader Question:
Regarding the Book of Revelation in the Bible.
Will the Universal Father truly destroy the earth in the near future?
–Manny
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Response:
Well, that is a pretty serious question . . . and I appreciate you asking it.
Based on the theology and other information in The Urantia Book, the Universal Father is not going to destroy the Earth in the near future, or at any point.
Our dear Father is dominated–is the very source–by LOVE. This is a love that you can truly feel when you commune with Him, but this love also touches humanity and all creation as a whole. Our Divine Parent views us as children and is doing everything He possibly can to help us wake up and begin living His will, to discover the incredible destiny he has for each of us. If you visualize the most compassionate, understanding, sympathetic, patient, strong, stable, and loving Father, if you can visualize how this ideal father would respond to a confused child, or even a rebellious child, you will start to get an idea of The Universal Father’s attitude. Just look at Jesus: He was the Father incarnate; if you look at his behavior, you are looking at The Universal Father.
The other factor is that God is fair. While we often suffer the mistakes our fellow humans have made, often endure their mistakes, and sometimes their deliberate evil (sin), the Father does not judge us or penalize us based on the actions of others. These effects of many hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions and billions of misdeeds, can create confusion, havoc, and pain on this world. But, this in no way changes the Father’s attitude toward us or the ultimate purpose of this planet. He has to let these choices be made because he gave us free will.
The Father’s plan will not be thwarted. In time, the Earth and humankind will evolve to a stage which The Urantia Book calls “Light and Life.” At this point, though people are born and still must choose between right and wrong, still must choose the follow the divine leading within, the vast majority of people recognizes the Father and society has progressed to an incredible point where all nations are in harmony. It begins to resemble heaven on earth. And, if we could be there at that time, if we could be transported from where we are now, we would swear we were in heaven.
Based on this information from The Urantia Book, we see that the Earth and humankind is still evolving and will continue to do so until it reaches a state of perfection. This will most likely take a remarkable amount of time (in my opinion, tens of millions of years), but what an adventure for us all! We get to take part in fighting the good fight and helping the Father with His plan. Therefore, the Father is not going to destroy the Earth. He knows that eventually, humankind will evolve to a point where all acknowledge Him and work to create an ideal society and care for the beauty of this planet. (See The Urantia Book for more detail.)
The kingdom of heaven has–at that point–manifested at it’s highest degree on Earth. But, I don’t think we should think that we have to wait for the kingdom of heaven to arrive . . .
As the Master teaches in The Urantia Book, the kingdom of heaven is within: it is an inner spiritual experience that can give rise to spiritual living that gives rise to the fruits of the spirit that create a spiritual society, and eventually, light and life on Earth.
Many feel that The Kingdom of Heaven is a far-distant place or future goal (The Urantia Book does say there is a heaven, a heaven filled with endless and fascinating places for all of us), but in reality, The Kingdom of Heaven is the presence of God. We experience varying degrees of the kingdom to the degree that we try to do the Father’s will and discipline our minds and bodys to let his Spirit talk to us. The Uranita Book has a detailed paper on The Kingdom of Heaven.
When I think of the perfect divine plan for creation, when I think of our loving, tender, and affectionate, our strong, forceful, and fair Father, I know that this planet has a bright future that He has foreseen in eternity and invites us to help build.
We are in the kingdom now to the extent that we are working with God. And, when we cooperate with Him, we get to help him experience our struggles and triumphs, our pains and joys, as we build a new world each day.
What a stupendous adventure to live on Earth, and for eternity! We are truly the children of God.
–Chris Lepine
Urantia Book New Reader Services
Manny, I appreciate your question about John’s revelation. I quite agree with all that Chris says about Earth’s future, but what of the horrors John was given a glimpse of? The UB refers to his vision as “a great revelation,” only fragments of which made their way into our Bible.
I believe that, since God does not punish nor ordinarily break His own perfect laws of nature, John saw a future horrific natural event, a working out of nature itself. And things look bad for humans in this event!
Bad things happen to good people. To all people. The laws of nature and the consequences of others’ sins may work against us, but they never negate the watchful, loving overcare of our heavenly parent, nor relieve us of our assignment, so often repeated, to be not afraid and to rejoice, to be light of heart, a feather on the breath of God.
“Be of good cheer” counseled Jesus to his disciples in the dark days if His time here.
Rejoice! We are eternal. We are pure spirit, given a body for a brief spell here on Earth. Earth shall be fair, and all her people free. Earth shall be reborn in light and life, it has been promised. Perhaps John saw the painful birth pangs of that transition. Perhaps we have all chosen to be here for a great cleansing of our earthly home.
Paper 139, Section 4, penultimate paragraph, contains the reference to the Book of Revelation.