Topical Bible: The Earth: Created to be Inhabited

◄ The Earth: Created to be Inhabited ►

Jump to: Torrey's • Library • Subtopics • Terms

Topical Encyclopedia

The concept of the Earth as a divinely created habitat for life is a central theme in the Bible, reflecting the intentional design and purpose of God in creation. This entry explores the biblical perspective on the Earth's creation, its intended purpose, and its significance within the broader narrative of Scripture.

Creation of the Earth

The Bible begins with the account of creation in Genesis, where the Earth is described as being formed by God. Genesis 1:1-2 states, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters." This passage sets the stage for the subsequent acts of creation, where God brings order and life to the Earth.

Throughout the creation narrative, the Earth is depicted as a carefully crafted environment, designed to support a wide array of life forms. Genesis 1:11-12 describes the creation of vegetation: "Then God said, 'Let the earth bring forth vegetation, seed-bearing plants and fruit trees, each bearing fruit with seed according to its kind.' And it was so. The earth produced vegetation: seed-bearing plants according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good."

Purpose of the Earth

The Earth is portrayed in Scripture as a place specifically designed to be inhabited. Isaiah 45:18 affirms this purpose: "For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens—He is God, who formed the earth and made it; He established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited: 'I am the LORD, and there is no other.'" This verse underscores the intentionality behind the Earth's creation, emphasizing that it was not made to be desolate but to be filled with life.

The Earth serves as the stage for God's relationship with humanity. In Genesis 1:26-28 , God creates mankind in His image and grants them dominion over the Earth: "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, after Our likeness, to rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, and over all the earth itself and every creature that crawls upon it.' So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them and said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that crawls upon the earth.'"

Significance in the Biblical Narrative

The Earth holds a significant place in the biblical narrative as the setting for God's redemptive plan. It is the place where humanity's fall into sin occurs, as described in Genesis 3, and where God's promise of redemption unfolds. The Earth is also the location of key events in salvation history, including the covenant with Noah (Genesis 9), the call of Abraham (Genesis 12), and the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

The future of the Earth is also addressed in Scripture, with prophecies pointing to a renewed creation. Revelation 21:1 speaks of a new heaven and a new earth: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more." This vision of a restored creation reflects the ultimate fulfillment of God's purpose for the Earth as a place of life, beauty, and divine presence.

In summary, the Bible presents the Earth as a purposeful creation, designed by God to be inhabited and to serve as the arena for His interaction with humanity. Its creation, purpose, and future are integral to the biblical understanding of God's plan for the world and its inhabitants.

Torrey's Topical Textbook

Isaiah 45:18
For thus said the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he has established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else.
Torrey's Topical Textbook

Library

That all Things were Created for Some Use, Even those Things which ...
... works, it must be that the same providence created man and ... it may be a house, but
that it may be inhabited. ... service; since, whether they are of the earth or of ...
/.../lactantius/the divine institutes/chap iv that all things were.htm

The Gradual Development of Cosmical Order Out of Chaos in the ...
... [6403] The earth itself He did not endow ... [6404] For thus says Isaiah: "He created
it not in vain; He formed it to be inhabited." [6405] Therefore after it ...
/.../tertullian/against hermogenes/chapter xxix the gradual development of.htm

He Then once More Excellently, Appropriately, and Clearly Examines ...
... is created, and after that it is set up, and then it is begotten. "The Lord made,"
she says, "lands, even uninhabited, and the inhabited extremes of the earth ...
/.../gregory/gregory of nyssa dogmatic treatises etc/section 2 he then once.htm

The True Doctrine is to be Sought in the Prophets.
... more he says, "The Lord will shake the cities that are inhabited, and grasp ... faith
to all, and salvation." [949] For "the Lord who created the earth by His ...
/.../clement/exhortation to the heathen/chapter viii the true doctrine is.htm

Fourthly; all the [Credenda, Or] Doctrines, which the True, Simple ...
... the number of men with which the earth is at present inhabited; the late ... That God,
after the formation of the earth, created man at first upright and innocent ...
/.../xiii proposition xiii fourthly all.htm

God did not Make Evil, nor is He at all in any Way the Author of ...
... created the heaven, it is He who prepared the earth and created it, He determined
it; He created it not in vain, but formed it to be inhabited." [2864] For in ...
/.../methodius/from the discourse on the resurrection/part i god did not.htm

The Heirs of Heaven and Earth.
... by them he inherits the earth he was created to inherit ... that the new heavens and
the new earth are the same in which we now live, righteously inhabited by the ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/macdonald/hope of the gospel/the heirs of heaven and.htm

Departed Saints Fellowservants with those yet on Earth.
... inclined to believe that he had once inhabited a human ... on the murderers who were
yet living on earth. ... unsearchable, and past the comprehension of created beings ...
/.../sermon xxvi departed saints fellowservants.htm

God's Approbation of his Works
... bring forth creatures, which, as they inhabited a grosser ... to the lowest; from dead
earth, through fossils, vegetables, animals, to man, created in the ...
/.../wesley/sermons on several occasions/sermon 56 gods approbation of.htm

That Neither the Whole Universe nor the Elements are God, nor are ...
... But if neither the heaven, nor the earth, nor the sea ... same God who created the world,
also created man from ... whole human race; and that which is inhabited is one ...
/.../lactantius/the divine institutes/chap vi that neither the whole.htm