Abolish

There is coming a day when the Lord of hosts will have a day of reckoning. On that day all our idols (things or concepts that take the place of God in our lives) will be abolished.

• Isaiah 2:12-18 HCSB For a day belonging to the LORD of Hosts is coming against all that is proud and lofty, against all that is lifted up--it will be humbled-- 13 against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up, against all the oaks of Bashan, 14 against all the high mountains, against all the lofty hills, 15 against every high tower, against every fortified wall, 16 against every ship of Tarshish, and against every splendid sea vessel. 17 So human pride will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted on that day. 18 The idols will vanish completely.

On that great day the Lord Jesus will abolish all “rule and all authority and power” and hand over the kingdom to His Father.

• 1 Corinthians 15:23-24 HCSB But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at His coming, the people of Christ. 24 Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when He abolishes all rule and all authority and power.

Jesus will reign on the throne until all enemies have been put under His feet. The last enemy to be vanquished and abolished will be death.

• 1 Corinthians 15:25-26 HCSB For He must reign until He puts all His enemies under His feet. 26 The last enemy to be abolished is death.

God will abolish all pain, suffering, hunger and thirst. He will wipe away all our tears.

• Revelation 7:15-17 HCSB For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve Him day and night in His sanctuary. The One seated on the throne will shelter them: 16 no longer will they hunger; no longer will they thirst; no longer will the sun strike them, or any heat. 17 Because the Lamb who is at the center of the throne will shepherd them; He will guide them to springs of living waters, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Even this very universe will be abolished. It will be rolled up like a scroll and in a great roar the elements themselves will be destroyed in the intense heat. Then a new heaven (space) and new earth will be created in its place.

• Isaiah 34:4 HCSB All the heavenly bodies will dissolve. The skies will roll up like a scroll, and their stars will all wither as leaves wither on the vine, and foliage on the fig tree.
• 2 Peter 3:10-12 HCSB But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief; on that day the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved, and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed. 11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness 12 as you wait for and earnestly desire the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be on fire and be dissolved, and the elements will melt with the heat.
• Revelation 21:1 HCSB Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea existed no longer.

When we read the Scriptures as unbelievers, it was as though we read through a veil that darkened our spiritual insight. We got some truth but not all. With the step of faith that becoming one of the Ransomed entails, comes the Holy Spirit and with Him a new clarity. The old sinful veil that stood between us and our understanding of the Word is abolished.

• 2 Corinthians 3:12-17 HCSB Therefore having such a hope, we use great boldness-- 13 not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel could not look at the end of what was fading away. 14 But their minds were closed. For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside only in Christ. 15 However, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, 16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.