God's Destruction of the Wicked in Scripture

As we ponder the question of who God unmakes, we must first consider the nature of God's sovereignty and creative power. In Psalm 104:29, we read that "You hide your face, they are terrified; you take away their breath, they die and return to the dust." This verse highlights God's absolute control over all creation, including the giving and taking of life. However, when we think of God "unmaking" something or someone, we must be careful not to imply that God's creation can be utterly annihilated or destroyed in the sense that it ceases to exist in any form.

Rather, when Scripture speaks of God's judgment and destruction, it often uses language that suggests a transformation or reconstitution of creation, rather than its absolute eradication. For example, in 2 Peter 3:10-12, we read that "the day of the Lord will come like a thief," and that "the elements will melt with fervent heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up." Here, the earth and its works are not annihilated, but rather purified and transformed by God's refining fire, much like the refining of gold in a furnace, as described in Zechariah 13:9.

In this sense, God does not "unmake" his creation in the sense that he destroys it utterly, but rather, he redeems and renews it, as promised in Romans 8:21, where we read that "the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God." Ultimately, God's purpose is not to destroy, but to redeem and restore all things to himself, as we see in Colossians 1:20, where Christ is described as the one through whom God reconciles all things to himself, whether things on earth or things in heaven.