Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. (New International Version)
The world as we now know it will someday pass away. For the Christian, there is a future hope – there is a time coming when it will literally be heaven on earth, a renewed earth. God will descend to dwell with us.
This will bring us full circle to the original design God had in the garden with Adam and Eve –an unhindered relationship between God and humanity in which we are no longer dogged by our sinful nature, a sinful world system, and all the sinful temptations that the devil uses to exploit for his own purposes.
Tears, death, sorrow and pain will be a thing of the past. Eventually, our struggle with sin, guilt, and shame will be completely over.
The message of the Apostle John to the early Church was a very encouraging vision for them. The Church was facing all kinds of trouble and persecution due to their commitment to Christ. To know that contemporary problems would not last, but that Jesus would change everything, was a great comfort and help to the believers in their very real and present troubles.
One of the problems we experience in this present evil age is that we are an impatient people. We want good things to happen, now! All of God’s people throughout history have been looking ahead for the ultimate fulfillment of God’s promises. The Apostle John was not so much giving a brand new revelation to the Church but upholding and anticipating for Christians what had also been true for Israel:
“See, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
and its people a joy.
I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more. (Isaiah 65:17-19, NIV)
When Jesus came in his first Advent, God’s people thought for sure all these promises would be fully realized. But, like a young couple in their engagement period, the promises of God had been initiated and promised, but not yet realized or consummated. Some folks might wonder if those good promises are nothing more than a politician’s word.
Above all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”
But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare. (2 Peter 3:3-10, NIV)
Jesus had John write this statement down: “I am making everything new.” God is now in the process of moving history to its final stage. Can we be patient, as God is, in letting divine purposes do their work until that final day comes, or will we be impatient?
“No step taken in faith is wasted, not by a God who makes all things new.”
Rachel Held Evans
We live in an amazing time in which we have instant communications and can travel anywhere in the world in a relatively short amount of time. The earth is a big place, but we can traverse it by plane in less than two days. It used to be that a ship going across the Atlantic Ocean took about three months from Europe to America. Now, we fly across the ocean in a matter of hours. Yet, we freak out that we have to be to the airport two hours before a flight and grump and complain about standing in a twenty minute line to board a plane.
It used to be that communication moved at the same pace as a ship. Knowing about a significant event that happened in Europe would take three months to reach America. Now we can know about what kind of bread some Frenchman ate for breakfast almost instantly after he eats it because he posted it on social media. And we complain if we have to wait a few extra seconds for something to load on our computers and phones, as if the world were about to end.
Well, actually, it is about to end.
Until that happens, we are not to twiddle our thumbs and simply wait for the end to come, spending our remaining time figuring out exactly the day and hour of Christ’s return. Instead, all things are being transformed. And it will culminate and climax in his Second Coming and the final passing away of the old order of things.
We properly anticipate Jesus coming again when we let God change our hearts and lives, our neighborhoods and workplaces, our families and churches, to be just like Jesus. God is now in the business of preparing for Christ’s return by doing away with the old order to make room for the new.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21, NIV)
The book of Revelation helps us to break our fixation with the past and holding onto the ways we have always done things. It reminds us of God’s capacity and action for renewal. We can walk now in newness of life.
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:4, NIV)
The work of God will ultimately destroy the old and bring in the new. God is now in the process of renewal, changing lives so that Christ can dwell in our hearts through faith as the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, as the One who has no room for any other god.
God knows the whole story. The Lord knows your story. The sovereign ruler of the universe knows how everything is going to turn out. When everything passes away, when all is stripped from our lives, when the world as we know it is done away with, what are we left with?
We are left with God’s purposes, not ours. Then, our own hearts can beat in sync with God’s heart for all creation. Whenever we seek to do away with the evils and troubles of this world; to eradicate global poverty; to end the world of sex-trafficking; to help others come to grips with the evil of this world through changing old satanic ways of operating; to come alongside others in their trouble; then, God is using us to make everything new.
The end is coming, but it is not yet here. Meanwhile, God is presently working to make everything new by bringing salvation of both body and soul to all kinds of people.
Blessed God, the world seems to be spinning out of control. Keep me alert and disciplined in my prayers. More than anything, help me live in constant, redeeming love for everybody. Let my hospitality be endless, generous, and without complaint. Make my tongue, my hands, and my heart a conduit for the light of Jesus Christ, the source of all goodness. Amen.
Rev. Tim Ehrhardt 