All Things New
The Greatest Story • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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1 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. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 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. 4 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.” 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.” 6 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. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 8 But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Revelation 21:1
What does it mean that the first heaven and first earth have passed away?
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. 11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
21:2
New Jerusalem?
9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
This New Jerusalem is the Bride of Christ, the church.
7 Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; 8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
What are these righteous deeds?
It is living a life of faith!
Living like we actually believe what we say we believe, living like this life is short and eternity is long, like all of these things are passing away and we will stand before God one day to give an account of everything we have done.
It is not working to be saved but rather living like we are saved.
For the church, we are in a time of preparation, awaiting the return of Christ, when we will be fully united with Him.
21:3
23 “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).
Genesis 1-2
Remember Ruth
21:4
33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”
It’s true we live in a broken and fallen world, the effects of sin are all around us, but in this we have hope, that things will not always be this way.
We are awaiting this day.
Some will say that this is just wishful thinking, but I will choose to cling to what God’s Word says because He has never failed me yet.
21:5-8
A new heavens, a new earth, a new Jerusalem.
All these things to be enjoyed by His new creation.
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
In Revelation 21 we see God doing in the rest of creation what He has already done in us.
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
The really good news is that for we who are in Christ, we don’t have to wait for this new life, it has already begun.
We are a new creation, we do walk in newness of life.
How do I know that these things are true, that one day Christ will make all things new?
Because He has made me new, because I have seen His effect on my life.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the 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 we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
Once we have tasted of this new life there is no going back to the way things were before.
God places within us this inward longing for Christ, through His Spirit.
The only One that can make things new is Jesus.
What do you need Him to make new in your life today?