The earth came from the hands of the Creator perfectly formed and balanced. All the elements of nature worked in perfect harmony. Due to atmospheric and hydrological operations there was evidently an even temperature throughout the earth's surface. The earth's axis was probably perpendicular to the ecliptic plane so that there was no winter nor summer. Evidently semitropical conditions existed even at the poles. There were no deep oceans, with shallow seas and rivers flowing north and south from the equator distributing the heat from the equatorial regions evenly over the earth's surface. In addition, there was a large quantity of water vapor in the atmosphere to distribute the solar energy to all latitudes. Not only were the surface conditions in balance, but the very foundations of the earth were in rotational balance. The mass of the solid crust was distributed so evenly that there was no torsional imbalance. Even the plasma of the inner core rotated smoothly, with no turbulence, so that the magnetic field was constant and true to the geographic poles.
Then this delicately balanced equilibrium was disrupted by two very catastrophic events. First, the entrance of sin profoundly changed all life on earth, both animal and vegetable; death and decay fell upon all living things. Second, some 1200 years later, the worldwide Flood and the accompanying catastrophic upheaval resulted in the breakup of the physical structure of the earth. Some cataclysmic event, such as the impact of a large asteroid, knocked the earth off its original axis of rotation perpendicular to the ecliptic plane. This sudden change resulted in tremendous torsional forces that caused the breakup of the earth's crust. The pieces of this crust which eventually became our modern continents, began drifting on the underlying magma in an effort to establish rotational equilibrium. We observe this process today in the movement of the continental plates. Also, the inner core was affected and started sloshing around so that the magnetic field of the earth fluctuated wildly as evidenced in the apparent reversal of the magnetic poles in ancient lava beds. The earth's magnetic poles have been mapped as spiraling toward true geographic north and south as the core attempts to achieve rotational equilibrium.
The earth has never recovered from the cataclysmic effects of the Flood, and man has never recovered from the deadly effects of sin. In order to save the human race, God has intervened and provided a way of escape. Today we live in an unbalanced, shaking world, physically and spiritually. We are pulled in many directions by Satan's deceptions and by "every wind of doctrine"(Eph. 4:14). Only those who have planted their feet firmly on the solid foundation of God's word will be able to stand in a shaking world as "solid Christians."
