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I understand your position and I suppose it could have some merit, as long as it’s clear this is not like a progressive resurrection. The resurrection will happen all at once at a time yet in the future.

Eternal rewards is a hot topic in the evangelical community, partly because some people think it is anti-grace and leads to works-righteousness to earn salvation. Nothing could be further from the truth, but that’s the perception.  

So in Genesis 1, the idea is clearly that man somehow represents something of or about God, including His presence in the world and His authority. Since we know from other passages that it is not that God has arms, hands, or other bodily parts, the resemblance must be less concrete and more “essential.” None of the other creations of God (whether animal or angel) are in God’s image. We resemble His attributes as much as the material can emulate the perfect Immaterial.

Marriage is an interdependent relationship in which a wife is dependent on her husband and he is dependent on his wife.

God no more gives up on the Earth than He gives up on us. He is no more done with the Earth than He is done with us. God promises He will reverse the curse:

Jesus said, “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). This never-ending life is promised to those who believe in Jesus. “But how can this be?” you might ask. “After all, everyone will die at some point.” True. But death isn’t the end of the story. Jesus promised that someday we’ll live forever with him. That means we’ll live again after we die.

He’s speaking with a perspective severely limited by his grief. His raw emotion sometimes trumps his actual beliefs with the agony of his grief. 

Returning to the prefall-Adamic state is not our destiny. The glorification we'll experience in the resurrected state will entail the righteousness of Christ which is far beyond the innocence known by Adam and Eve. But the Curse placed on the Earth because of the fall will be removed and the natural world will have an Eden-like quality, as we see from Revelation where the Tree of Life that was in Eden will be on the New Earth.

As a father who loves his children goes out of his way to help them, God promises that he will always give of himself for us. Why? Because he loves us and wants to show forever his appreciation for our loyalty and service to him in this life. Does that mean we deserve God’s grace? Of course not. By definition, God’s grace is something we don’t deserve. If we deserved it, it wouldn’t be grace!

The point isn’t that God had not created the seas. The point is that the seas (or oceans) as we now know them may be radically different than the original seas

So, depending on the response to Deception (because I’ll find out whether readers like Ollie), Lord willing, there may well be one or more other Ollie stories to come.

If you do not worship God seven days a week, you do not worship Him on one day a week. 

Clearly, since the Holy Spirit is a member of the triune God, He will be present for all eternity, no doubt taking an active role in the creation and among God’s people. However, the Bible doesn’t specifically answer the question of exactly what His role will be.

There is no indication that animals have eternal souls. However, God is perfectly capable of recreating (not the same as resurrecting) an animal who has died.