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by upholding the Word of God through fulfilling their responsibility. Only in this way can we be restored to the original ideal purposed by God at the creation. (Exposition of the Divine Principle, Fall 4.2)
❖ 3. The Transformation of This World and the Renewal of Life in God On the day when the earth will be changed to other than the earth, and the heavens likewise, and they will come forth unto God, the One, the Almighty…
will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire! But according to his promise we wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Qur’an 14.48
2 Peter 3.10-13
And then when retribution shall come for their offenses, Then, O Wise One, Thy Kingdom shall be established by Good Thought, For those who, in fulfillment, deliver evil into the hands of Truth!
Civilization as we know it is only transitory; it will finally pass away as the new age dawns and the true civilization is born. That will mark the end of the “provisional” world we live in today. God wills a reckoning for the old civilization and the establishment of a new one, and the time of His reckoning is at last drawing near. Until now evil forces have had wide latitude in civilization, but in the transition from the old to the new, they will be weeded out. All people will go through an inexorable process of cleansing. The world will be terribly afflicted in payment for untold sins gathered over millennia. The great affliction is the sign that all societies and nations are being purified, and it will lift humankind to a new level of existence where good prevails. The transition, which is actually upon us now, is the last stage before the beginning of an earthly paradise. In the upheaval, every sphere of life and every corner of civilization will be transformed. Those who believe in God and repent will witness the coming of the new world, and they will be able to start on the road to salvation. But those still heavily burdened with sin and unable to overcome their malicious ways will end this life in absolute misery and may find no salvation in the next.
And then may we be those who make life renovated, O Lord, Immortals of the Wise One, and O Truth, bring your alliance, That to us your minds may gather where wisdom would be in dispute! Then, indeed, shall occur the collapse of the growth of evil, Then they shall join the promised reward: blessed abode of Good Thought, Of the Wise One, and of Right, they who earn in good reputation! Avesta, Yasna 30.8-10 (Zoroastrianism)
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens
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Johrei (Sekai-Kyusei Kyo)
2/1/2007 3:15:15 PM