In a world ridden with evil, suffering, disasters, sickness and disease, God hitting the reset button seems like a no-brainer and an easy fix to everything that's wrong with it.
So why doesn't God do it? Why doesn't He just go back to the drawing board?
Well, for the simple reason that He would be spitting in the wind.
It simply wouldn't work and Noah's story is the proof in the pudding.
You see, in a very real sense, Noah was a second Adam who was told to “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (see Genesis 9:1).
God chose to wipe out the then known world through a flood and start over with Noah and his family.
Sadly, it was not long before Noah took after his ancestor Adam in sin.
After the flood, Noah is found drunk and naked at the door of his tent trying to sleep off the effects of his drunkenness (see Genesis 9:21) which is reminiscent of the shame of nakedness of Adam and Eve after the fall in the garden of Eden.
It's a downward spiral from then on and here we are again in the thick of the effects of sin.
So God has already tried a do-over.
You see, the trouble of starting over is the fact that it only deals with the effects of sin but it doesn't deal with the root of it.
It treats the symptoms — our sinful actions, but it doesn’t deal with the root cause of the problem — our sinful nature, which we inherited from Adam.
The truth of the matter is, the engine is already bad on account of Adam and unless you change the engine, you can't fix the car.
So God in His infinite wisdom chose to deal with our sinful nature first, which in turn empowers us to live above our sinful actions.
God starting over without first dealing with our sinful nature is tantamount to going around breaking alcohol bottles to end an alcoholism pandemic. As long as the alcohol making companies are still standing, this is an exercise in futility, as more will still be produced.
God dealing with our sinful nature first however is akin to closing down the alcohol making companies altogether.
God has chosen to first deal with what makes people sin through the cross of Jesus and the effects of sin latter.
Doing it any other way is pointless, as we would still find ourselves in the same predicament hours, days, months or years down the line.
So God's strategy to fix a broken world is not to do away with all the bad people and all the bad things in it which is what many of us would advocate for, but to change the hearts of people through the gospel of Jesus and in so doing, prepare them for the new heaven and the new earth (see 2 Peter 3:13).
In truth, when God finally winds up this world and starts over with a new heaven and a new earth, He is not going to allow any bad person into it to spoil it ever again.
He will only allow perfect people into His perfect world so He has to perfect the people before He allows them into His new perfect world.
In a sense, if you think about it, with the new creation, God has reversed the order of creation.
Whereas in the old creation He started with heaven and earth and finished with people, in the new creation, He has started with people and He will finish with the new heaven and the new earth.
In this we see the mercy and wisdom of God because had He started with the new heaven and the new earth none of us would be suitable to inhabit it not to mention we would ruin it.
Whether we admit it or not, we have all done our fair share of destroying this world and God in His wisdom will not allow us, in our current state, into His new world just to spoil it again.
So instead of starting over, God chose to send Christ over.
Instead of sending Jesus as Lion and Judge, He chose to sent Him as Lamb and Redeemer first.
What a merciful God!
So if you're one of those advocating for God to do away with all the bad people and start over, remember that if He were to do that today, neither you or I would make the cut.
This explains why God hasn't done away with this world just yet.
Just like He waited for almost a millennium for the people in Noah's day to repent before He sent the flood, He is waiting for as many people as possible to repent and come to Christ before He draws this world to an end.
The Bible says He is long-suffering and He doesn't want any of us to perish (see 2 Peter 3:9).
He wants all of us to live in His new heaven and earth.
That is what the cross is about. God salvaging as many people as He can and preparing them for the new heaven and earth, which only those He has salvaged through salvation with inhabit it, as allowing any other persons in will ruin it.
So God is giving you and I a golden opportunity to say yes to Him by receiving Christ as Lord and Savior and become part of His family who will have the rare privilege of dwelling in His new world.
God bless you.
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