Beginning to End: The God Who Makes All Things New

Reading of the Scriptures

Revelation 21:1–6 ESV

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And 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 from the spring of the water of life without payment.

Key Question: Why does it matter how anything begins and ends?

J.I. Packer aptly stated about God and Revelation:

In revelation, God is the agent as well as the object. It is not just that men speak about God, or for God; God speaks for Himself, and talks to us in person.

J. I. Packer

God speaks clearly to us from Genesis to Revelation with consistent passion, urgency, and decisiveness. God unfurls His splendor and glory before a humanity that is dead in sin, lost in darkness, deaf, mute, and blind to the spiritual reality of this creation.

Why focus on this as we look at the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024?

YHWH is Timeless and Unchanging

We hold to this confession from the words of the Bible, which are echoed by Geisler and Feinberg:

God’s will is subject to His own unchanging nature.

Norman Geisler; Paul Feinberg

This deeply personal God is the one who sets history on its course. All Kingdoms of the earth derived their substance from Him.

This personal God is the one who has established all things under His perfect will and holds all things to His glory.

This holy being is the one who is three persons who being different in personality and work are each the fullness of God at work with, through, and in us.

How does this answer the question before us?

Because the same God who was there prior to our birth is the same God who will be there at the end of history to fulfill his promise to make all things new.

It matters how it all begins and ends because of YHWH.

Jesus Allows Us to be Deeply Known and Saved

Can you remember all the ups and downs of 2023? How about the ups and downs of the last decade? Your entire life, perhaps? Without God it would be depressing and maddening to recall all the deep vales and trenches of pain, agony, and distress.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, without God, it would be a narcissistic and self-aggrandizing to recall the mountain-top moments of life and the Icarus moments that make us feel like we are flying close to the sun.

Taking all things human into the account of our respective lives we are able to see how Jesus makes all things redeemable before God. We are moved away from the meritorious intent of our broken hearts to seek God’s affirmation and love, while simultaneously being pulled away from despair and darkness that comes from spiritual corruption.

Rightly do we see Jesus making the Gospel plain for us today:

Mark 1:14 ESV

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,

and justifiably do we see the Old Testament affirm this in Zechariah:

Zechariah 8:20–23 ESV

“Thus says the Lord of hosts: Peoples shall yet come, even the inhabitants of many cities. The inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying, ‘Let us go at once to entreat the favor of the Lord and to seek the Lord of hosts; I myself am going.’ Many peoples and strong nations shall come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the favor of the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days ten men from the nations of every tongue shall take hold of the robe of a Jew, saying, ‘Let us go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.’ ”

Because God is with His people (Those called by His name) there is peace and blessing among them because He alone is the one to renew that which is broken, old, and dead. God alone gives us the strength and compelling passion to follow after Him from day to day, month to month, and year to year; ultimately leading us from time to eternity.

Why do we move from year to year with the end in sight?

Because of Jesus Christ

For those who are Christians, by grace, through faith, we have been given the privilege to be called “children of God.” In our position as coheirs with Jesus Christ we have an enduring hope that is echoed by our Scripture reading today, which came from Lamentations 3.

Because His mercies are new every morning we can go forward into the unknown challenges and adventures of 2024 because our God is already there, just as he is in 2023, and as he is with us even today. The comfort of YHWH is that we are His and He is ours.

For those who are outside of the faith, receiving the common grace of a new day, rain, sunshine, and sustenance from His hand, today is the day. You can know Him and relish Him as your father, deliverer, and friend. You can receive what is promised in the verses we have read about this glorious future, where we may come to drink of the fountain without price, even now, because the price has been paid at Calvary; because death could not grasp him in the cold tomb.

Consecrate this year to Him today, and set your eyes for a goal, in eternity, and let history record how your changed perspective will change the pace of your life here on earth.

Key Question: Why does it matter how anything begins and ends?

Answer: Because eternity rides on who we stand in the end.