All Creation Groans: Made New

Text: “5 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.”” (Revelation 21:5)

We’ve considered several ways that creation, itself, testifies to God’s plan of salvation. Tonight we conclude the series by thinking about our relationship with this creation.

It is no small thing that you have a place like this that is your ‘home.’ A place where your roots go down deep— not only here within the congregation, but within our community. You have a shared history, a shared heritage that ties you together. You can just refer to “the old Hahn place,” or the Elenbaum farm, or so-and-so’s old shop and people know exactly what you mean. They know exactly what you’re talking about. It is a beautiful thing, isn’t it?

And it must tremendously sad, as well. It can be hard to put into words, but it must be there. The hymn, “Abide with Me” describes it really well, doesn’t it? “Swift to its close ebbs out life's little day; earth's joys grow dim, its glories pass away. Change and decay in all around I see. O thou who changest not, abide with me” (Lutheran Service Book, #878, stz. 4). Even if we ignore, for a moment, all the evils in the world ‘out there’, the sad reality remains: the beautiful things in this life grow dim and fade away; the pleasant things in this world inevitably change, the precious things in this world slowly decay.

Solomon wrote that “[God] has put eternity into man’s heart” (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Even though it grows dim, even though it decays, He puts beauty into this world so that our hearts remember that there is something more than just the world you see around you. C.S. Lewis described it as a “desire for our own faroff (sic) country” (Lewis, C.S. “Weight of Glory”). The change, the fading away, the slow decay of so many beautiful things awakens that memory of eternity in your heart— that knowledge that you were created for something more, something eternal. ‘Bittersweet’ doesn’t even come close to capturing that feeling, does it?

That, too, is part of creation’s testimony to the work of God. C.S. Lewis called it “the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited” (Lewis, C.S. “Weight of Glory”). However you describe it, that testimony, which wakes up the eternity in your heart, is a precious thing.

It’s made even more precious because the devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh would like nothing more than to extinguish that longing.

They begin by trying to persuade you that [this] earth can be made into heaven, [trying to satisfy] your sense [that you are living in] exile in [this world]. [But], they [have to] tell you that this [heaven on earth] is still a good way off in the future, [trying to quiet the obvious reality] that [it, most certainly,] is not here and now. [And, whatever else they do, they must always] keep out of your mind the [awareness of the fact] that even if all the happiness they promised could come to [human beings] on earth, …still each generation would lose it by death, including the last generation of all, and the whole story [of human history] would be nothing, not even a story, for ever and ever.

(Lewis, C.S. “Weight of Glory.”)

That longing would be unbearable if it weren’t for your Savior. Without His teaching— without revealing His Kingdom to you— the longing in your heart would be nothing more than nostalgia. It would all be vain speculation without the testimony of the Son of Man, who descended from heaven (John 3:13) to declare that “The kingdom of Heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2, 4:17; Mark 1:15).

God putting eternity in your hearts would be sheer torment if He did not also send His Son to be lifted up on the cross, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life (John 3:15). It would be nothing more than a starving man dreaming of bread.

But it is so much more than just a dream. After making purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (Hebrews 1:3) where His throne and His kingdom are forever and ever (Hebrews 1:8).

And, from His throne, He declares, “I am making all things new” (Revelation 21:5).

Yes, you are still waiting for the day when “4 He will wipe away every tear from [your] eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away”” (Revelation 21:4), but the day is coming when “6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. 7 The [day is coming when the] cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den. 9 [The day is coming when t]hey shall not hurt or destroy in all [His] holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:6–9). Those words were trustworthy enough when Isaiah spoke them. How much more trustworthy and true are they now that they have been signed and sealed in the blood of Christ? How much more true are they now that you have been given the Holy Spirit as a deposit and guarantee (2 Corinthians 1:22)?

In the meantime, His Kingdom is yours right now. “17 [If] anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). “3 …According to his great mercy, he has caused [you] to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead[. He has caused you to be born again] 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:3–7).

The longing for eternity is still there, but it has a much different character now. Now there is an eagerness to it. In fact, creation’s testimony tonight brings us all the way back to the place we started six weeks ago: “19 [T]he creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but [you, y]ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as [you] wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of [your] bodies. 24 For in this hope [you] were saved” (Romans 8:19–24).

All too swiftly, life’s little day draws to its close. Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away. You will continue to see change and decay all around you. But the One who put eternity in your heart, the One who changes not, the One who makes all things new will abide with you now and to eternity.

I don’t know if “the old Hahn place,” or the Elenbaum farm, or so-and-so’s old shop will be part of the new heaven and the new earth (I look forward to finding out), but I hope that you never look at them quite the same way again. In Jesus Christ, they now testify to a creation that is being made new— starting with you.