1508. The Glory of This Cosmos Passeth Away
The Glory of This Cosmos Passeth Away
"The fashion of this cosmos passeth away" (1Co_7:31).
1. The glory of the cosmos preceding the flood was overwhelmed by the wrath of God. Where is the glory of the tower which men built, and said as they built, "Let us make us a name"? Their tower was cast down by the hand of God, it passed away.
Where is the glory of the Babylon over which Nebuchadnezzar exulted? Its king was dethroned, and its glory was undone–it passed away.
Where is the glory of the Roman Empire and of the kingdoms which the devil showed to Christ–it passed away.
But what of the glory of this present cosmos, a glory that outreaches anything the world has ever known? God says, it passeth away (see 1Jn_2:17).
2. The collapse of. this cosmos. It is most illuminating to open the Book of Revelation and to study the catastrophic collapse of this present civilization, and to consider the judgments of God upon this cosmos. It is not surprising that the cosmos hates the Book that foretells its coming woes.
In the first four seals and four trumpets, we have the beginning of sorrows; as we pass into the later seals and trumpets, we have the judgments of God intensified; finally, when we come to the vials, we have the wrath completed. All of these present the judgments of God upon this cosmos.
In chapter 18 we see Babylon in its unspeakable glory, as it represents an unparalleled commercialism and an unrivaled wealth. The chapter describes how all is utterly consumed–in one brief hour it passes away. By land and by sea those who dealt with Babylon and were made rich thereby are crying out in despair,
3. Let those who are building treasures upon earth and who are living for the things that perish take warning. The god of this cosmos is still showing forth the glories of his regime. At the same time, he is blinding the eyes of the unbelieving to that greater and more abiding glory of Christ, which is yet to come.
When a sinner understands the collapse of the present cosmos, and catches the vision of the enduring glory of the coming cosmos, he is ready to repudiate the things which perish and will be shaken, for the things which remain and which can never be shaken.
Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR