by Roy Diestelkamp<\/p>\n
In song songbooks by many congregations is the old hymn: \u201cFor The Beauty Of The Earth.\u201d The first verse says:<\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cFor the beauty of the earth,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For the beauty of the skies,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For the love which from our birth\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Over and around us lies,\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lord of all, to thee we raise\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 This our grateful hymn of praise.\u201d\n
The song reminds us of the love of God, who not only made us but then placed us on this very comfortable and beautiful earth. The earth is just what man needs to live and to thrive. It is in the perfect position in our universe and solar system for man to be able to live. If the earth was closer to the sun, it would be too hot for human life. If the sun were further from the earth, it would be too cold to sustain us. But God made us, and loved us, and put us in this good place.<\/p>\n
The earth too is beautiful. We marvel at the beauty of the sunrise and sunset. We are enthralled by the purple mountain majesties, sometimes topped by snowcaps, or the crashing sound of white-capped ocean waves rolling onto a sandy shore, or the lush foliage and flowers of tropical jungles. We stand in awe of the glory of stars, planets, and the moon, that we see at night in the sky, and the \u201cnorthern lights\u201d that can dazzle us with their color, and the rainbow that appears in a cloud on a sunny day.<\/p>\n
Yes, the hymn writer was right, \u201cfor the beauty of the earth!\u201d God made this world good for us, and beautiful too. He could have made the earth utilitarian, but drab, mundane, or even ugly. We could have lived on that kind of earth. But God made the earth good, useful, and beautiful too, for the benefit of man. We did not advise God as to how the earth should be; He made it for us, as it is.<\/p>\n
I say this to remind us that God made heaven too, and it will be even better than this earth. The earth is carnal and temporary; heaven is spiritual and eternal (John 14:1-3; II Timothy 2:10). The same God who made the earth beautiful has made heaven more beautiful and glorious! When John was inspired to describe heaven for our human understanding he used the most beautiful earthly words he could, to give us a glimmer of its magnificence. He described heaven as being of pure gold, and precious dazzling stones (Revelation 21:18-21). It had a river of water as clear as crystal, and on the side of the river wonderful fruit on the tree of life (Revelation 22:1-2). The throne of God in heaven was described like precious stones, surrounded by a rainbow, and a mirror-like floor as of crystal (Revelation 4:2-6). Heaven is not made of these earth-like materials, but it was the best John could do to make us understand how valuable and beautiful it is.<\/p>\n
We cannot imagine with our minds the magnificence of heaven. However, we know it is the home of the God who made this earth (Acts 7:49), and we know it will be even more beautiful, and better than this earth.<\/p>\nSurely we do not want to fail to receive this heavenly home. There is nothing on earth, worth missing heaven for. If we love this earth, we will love it more. But remember, heaven is only for the prepared. \u201cAnd there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth \u2026 but they which are written in the Lamb\u2019s book of life\u201d (Revelation 21:27). Let us make sure we are ready for heaven (II Peter 1:10-11).\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Roy Diestelkamp In song songbooks by many congregations is the old hymn: \u201cFor The Beauty Of The Earth.\u201d The first verse says: \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cFor the beauty of the earth, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For the beauty of the skies, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For the love which from our birth \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Over and around us lies, \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lord of all,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[46],"class_list":["post-3266","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-heaven"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":89602,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/thoughts-of-spring\/","url_meta":{"origin":3266,"position":0},"title":"Thoughts of Spring","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Bobby L. Graham via Biblical Insights, Vol. 15 No. 2, February 2015 \"My beloved spake, and said unto me, Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/spring-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":21780,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-the-bible-state-the-world-is-flat\/","url_meta":{"origin":3266,"position":1},"title":"Does the Bible state the world is flat?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 25, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: [This is the first point in an overly long document that was sent, purporting to prove there are errors in the Bible. 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