3. The Transformation of This World and the Renewal of Life in God
World Scripture
On the day when the earth will be changed to other than the earth, and the heavens likewise, and they will come forth unto God, the One, the Almighty…
Qur’an 14.48
And then when retribution shall come for their offenses, Then, O Wise One, Thy Kingdom shall be established by Good Thought, For those who, in fulfillment, deliver evil into the hands of Truth! And then may we be those who make life renovated, O Lord, Immortals of the Wise One, and O Truth, bring your alliance, That to us your minds may gather where wisdom would be in dispute! Then, indeed, shall occur the collapse of the growth of evil, Then they shall join the promised reward: blessed abode of Good Thought, Of the Wise One, and of Right, they who earn in good reputation!
Avesta, Yasna 30.8-10 (Zoroastrianism)
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth and the works that are upon it will be burned up. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved, and the elements will melt with fire! But according to his promise we wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
2 Peter 3.10-13
Civilization as we know it is only transitory; it will finally pass away as the new age dawns and the true civilization is born. That will mark the end of the “provisional” world we live in today. God wills a reckoning for the old civilization and the establishment of a new one, and the time of His reckoning is at last drawing near.
Until now evil forces have had wide latitude in civilization, but in the transition from the old to the new, they will be weeded out. All people will go through an inexorable process of cleansing. The world will be terribly afflicted in payment for untold sins gathered over millennia. The great affliction is the sign that all societies and nations are being purified, and it will lift humankind to a new level of existence where good prevails.
The transition, which is actually upon us now, is the last stage before the beginning of an earthly paradise. In the upheaval, every sphere of life and every corner of civilization will be transformed. Those who believe in God and repent will witness the coming of the new world, and they will be able to start on the road to salvation. But those still heavily burdened with sin and unable to overcome their malicious ways will end this life in absolute misery and may find no salvation in the next.
Johrei (Sekai-Kyusei Kyo)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
The Bible states that in the Last Days the Lord will come to judge us. Catastrophic upheavals will occur, the sun and moon will fall from the heavens, and the earth will be destroyed. The concept of the Last Days is widespread among religions. In Buddhism it is called the Age of the Extinction of the Dharma. In Christianity we call it the Last Days.
Why should there be a Last Days? The world planned by the absolute God must be an absolute world. Once it begins it should last forever. We surmise that it was not God’s original plan to bring the Last Days upon this world. Rather, because evil entered the world as a consequence of the Fall, the Last Days became necessary… God cannot abandon this fallen world. He must restore the world to its original state.
Therefore, the Last Days means one era passes and a new era arrives. If in the Last Days, because of Satan, God were to destroy the sun, the moon and the earth which He Himself created, He would be a God of failure. The sun and the moon are already resentful enough that they must shine upon evil humankind. Theirs would be a miserable fate if God destroyed them in the Last Days.
Actually, the end-times is when humanity will soar upward, after cleansing and renewing the entire course of history and setting up one victorious point as the consummation of human history. The words that promise the coming of the Last Days are words of blessing. The word “judgment” is not a bad word; it brings good news. The Last Days are the time to dissolve the thousands of years of resentment and sorrow buried so long in the hearts of God’s children. Therefore, the coming of the Day of Judgment is good news.
(Way of Unification 1.4.1)
Despite its evil beginning, the world under the sovereignty of Satan must one day be transformed into the world where goodness reigns, where the three great blessings are fulfilled centered on God. The Messiah comes at this time of transformation.
The Last Days is this time, when the evil world under satanic sovereignty is transformed into the ideal world under God’s sovereignty. Hell on earth will be transformed into the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. Therefore, it will not be a day of fear when the world will be destroyed by global catastrophes, as many Christians have believed. In fact, it will be a day of joy, when the cherished hope of humankind, the desire of the ages, will be realized.
(Exposition of the Divine Principle, Eschatology 3.1)