All Creation Groans— Instrument of Judgment

Text: “30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore.” (Exodus 14:30).

As we look at how creation, itself, testifies to what God has done for you in Jesus Christ, we would be remiss if we did not acknowledge creation as an instrument of God’s judgment.

Some of you may remember the days when a natural disaster sent pastors into their pulpits calling on people to “Repent!” That fire— that earthquake, that flood, that tornado— was a sign of God’s wrath, His judgment. The proper response was acknowledging our sin and turning back to God. We’ve moved away from that, in our day, vut that doesn’t make it less true. Creation, itself, can be an instrument of God’s judgment, both actively— through Moses calling down the plagues on Egypt— and passively— through the natural disasters that cause so much harm. They are instruments of God’s judgment.

It’s easy to see how the plagues that God inflicted on Egypt through Moses are instruments of God’s judgment. Each time Pharaoh hardened his heart, all of Egypt felt God’s anger until, finally, in our first reading from Exodus 14, God drowned Pharaoh’s army in the Red Sea. There are plenty of other examples through the Old Testament: the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah; Elijah withholding the rain; the Flood. God repeatedly used creation as an instrument of His judgment.

But so-called natural disasters are also in that group. The name ‘natural disasters’ is actually a misnomer, is it not? This is not how creation was designed to function. There is nothing ‘natural’ about them. There were no wildfires, there were no tornados, there were no floods or earthquakes until after Adam and Eve’s sin corrupted this world. As God told Adam, “Cursed is the ground because of you” (Genesis 3:17). That meant that it would produce “thorns and thistles” rather than good food (Genesis 3:18) and that it would be “by the sweat of [his] face [that he would] eat bread” (Genesis 3:19). But there was far more. What we call ‘natural disasters’ originated on that day. Each one, from an overcast, Michigan day to a tsunami and everything in between, all of it is a sign that this creation is corrupted by sin. It’s a subtle— or not so subtle— reminder of God’s judgment.

That means your old pastors were not wrong when they climbed into the pulpit and called on people to repent. The victims of an wildfire or a tornado or an earthquake are not worse sinners than others— that’s not why the natural disaster impacted them— but, when the wildfire or tornado or earthquake hits, “unless you repent, you will… likewise perish” (Luke 13:3, 5). According to the Apostle John the signs that Judgment Day is drawing near include disasters on land, in the sea, from the sky— those disasters will continue to be instruments of God’s judgment.

That’s especially true of one day in particular. It was a day when the earth shook and the sun refused to shine. As Jesus hung on the cross, bleeding and dying, the sun refused to shine on Him (Matthew 27:45). When He gave up His spirit, the earth shook and the rocks were split (Matthew 27:51). And it was, in fact, because He was a worse sinner than others. He was the worst sinner because He had taken your sin and mine upon Himself when He went to the cross. They were testifying to God’s judgment being poured out in full force upon Him instead of being poured out on you.

Ever since, those natural disasters offer a slightly different testimony to you. I mentioned the plagues that Moses called down on the Egyptians. For the Egyptians, they were a painful judgment. But for the Israelites, they were amazing. Imagine being in slavery and watching God’s servant turn the waters of your captors to blood. Imagine watching God’s servant call down locusts and darkness and hail and fire on them when they refused to set you free. Imagine seeing perhaps the greatest army of their day destroyed in a moment as the waves of the Red Sea crashed down upon them until none of them remained (Exodus 14:28). Imagine seeing all of that and knowing that it was all for you. God did it all in order to set you free.

That’s what they mean for you, as God’s people. The flood of God’s wrath is being poured out upon all flesh. Meanwhile, you have been gathered into the ark of the One, Holy, Christian, and Apostolic Church and are being carried, safe and secure, until we rest safely on Mount Zion and the Holy Spirit appears with the olive branch of eternal peace with God.

From now until Christ returns, “25 there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near”” (Luke 21:25–28). Each earthquake, each wildfire, each thunderstorm— heck, every depressingly cloudy day— testifies to the fact that salvation is nearer to you now than when you first believed (Romans 13:11). They will continue to be painful, to do real damage, but they are now the birth pains of eternity, pressing us on toward the day when God’s temple in heaven is opened and the ark of the covenant is seen within his temple, accompanied by flashes of lightning, peals of thunder, and earthquake, and heavy hail (Revelation 11:19). To the day when God’s people will lead all of creation in singing praise to God who has drowned Satan and his angels in the cleansing flood of Jesus’ blood (Revelation 11:9-11). To the day when “The kingdom of [this] world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).

As we look at how creation, itself, testifies to what God has done for you in Jesus Christ, we would be remiss if we did not acknowledge creation as an instrument of God’s judgment. We would be remiss— and we would miss out on the chance to hear their testimony about what God has done for you in Jesus Christ.