“No more let sins and sorrows grow
nor thorns infest the ground:
He comes to make His blessings flow
far as the curse is found.” (From “Joy to the World” by Isaac Watts)
Any careful reading of the Bible provides a lot of evidence to support the claim that trying to make all things good and beautiful is very much a part of being God's people. When Jesus saved us, He called us to be partners with Him in the work that He wanted to do in the world. There is little doubt that our Lord very much wants to recreate this world through us and make it like new. Part of the reason why Jesus came into the world and saved us from sin was for just that purpose. Through us who are saved and sanctified by His grace, He wants to renew the earth. God's will is that everything, ourselves included, should be made new and beautiful again. The Bible says as much in Romans 8:19ff:
"For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who His children really are. Against its will, everything on earth was subjected to God's curse. All creation anticipates the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right to the present time. And even we Christians, although we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, also groan to be released from pain and suffering. We, too, wait anxiously for that day when God will give us our full rights as His children, including the new bodies He has promised us." (Romans 8:19-23 NLT)
-- Tony Campolo in “Following Jesus Without Embarrassing God”
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