All Things New

Each year around the new year I begin think about the word “New”, or more specifically the phrase in the Bible “All Things New.” It’s a wonderful phrase to ponder this time of year because it drives my vision from what has been into what can become with a fresh start. I feel at times as though the idea of a fresh start is a bit of a pipe dream because every new start caries with it the lingering effects of the prior season. No matter the perspective of our prior or upcoming season - we are linear souls, always on a forward march. And just as the nation of Israel carried the golden calf from Egypt into the desert, so often we cary our past into our NEW.

As Jesus so eloquently put it in His parable of the Kingdom and the dragnet -

New American Standard Bible (1995) Chapter 13

And Jesus said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure

Everyone of us has pieces of our past that make up who we become in the future. Moses in desert was lead from the investment of his years in Egypt and Midian. David the king was forever impacted by his years as a shepherd, as indicated by Psalm 23 most likely written in his later years as Israels King. Paul often reflected on his years as Saul -

1 Timothy 1:13 NASB95

13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief;

When thinking of the word new, we are not thinking of loosing ourselves to gain a new self - but rather partnering with a God so perfect, that this Ancient of Days, literally never ages, never tires, never grows weary - and therefore is never old, and yet always new. When our old self touches the Ancient of Days we become a renewed person. His new wine fills our new wineskin.

The word NEW is used One hundred and Eighteen times in the Old Testament, and Fifty three times in the New Testament. Each translated word has profound meaning and a prophetic edge.

Hebrew:

“tiros” - sweet wine, new wine, recently pressed

“hadas” - new, fresh of this year, having recently come into being

“karmel” - new grain

“briah” - something new, unheard, something created, new thing

“dese” - tender herb, green grass, new growth

“hlp” - to come turns, pass on, fly over, replace, cause to succeed, change, alter, replace, become new

“yrs” - take possession of, be an heir, to occupy, to posess, to receive an inheritance

Greek

“neos” young, new, fresh, not old yet

“kainos” new, fresh, anew, afresh, new style, unused, has not previously existed

“neomenia” new moon, the first of the month

“neophytos” newly converted, newly planted, young plant, recent convert, novice

“prosphatos” new, recent, lately slain, fresh slain, fresh, still moist, still fresh

Throughout these fifty three passages we find there is new:

New Wine

Gen 27:28, Gen 27:37, Deut 7:13, Deut 11:14, Deut 12:17, Deut 14:23, Deut 18:4, Deut 28:51, Deut 33:28, Judg 9:13, Ps 4:7, Prov 3:10, Isa 24:7, Isa 62:8, Isa 65:8, Jer 31:12, Hos 2:8, Hos 2:9, Hos 2:22, Hos 4:11, Hos 7:14, Hos 9:2, Joel 1:10, Joel 2:19, Joel 2:24, Haggai 1:11, Zech 9:17, Matt 9:17, Mark 2:22, Luke 5:37–39

New Treasures

Matt 13:52

New Fruit of the vine

Matt 26:29, Mark 14:25

New Tomb

Matt 27:60, John 19:41

New Teaching

Mark 1:27, Acts 17:19–21

New Garment

Mark 2:21, Luke 5:36

New Tongues

Mark 16:17

New Covenant

Jer 31:31, Luke 22:20, 1 Cor 11:25, 2 Cor 3:6, Heb 8:8, Heb 8:13, Heb 9:15, Heb 12:24

New Commandment

John 13:34, 1 John 2:7–8, 2 John 5

New Lump

1 Cor 5:7

New Creature

2 Cor 5:17

New Creation

Gal 6:15

New Man

Eph 2:15

New Self

Eph 4:24, Col 3:10

New Moon

Num 29:6, Ps 81:3, Isa 66:23, Col 2:16

New Convert

1 Tim 3:6

New Way

Heb 10:20

New Heavens and Earth

Isa 65:17, Isa 66:22, 2 Pet 3:13, Rev 21:1

New Name

Isa 62:2, Rev 2:17, Rev 3:12

New Jerusalem

Rev 3:12, Rev 21:2

New Song

Ps 33:3, Ps 40:3, Ps 96:1, Ps 98:1, Ps 144:9, Ps 149:1, Isa 42:10, Rev 5:9, Rev 14:3

All Things New

Rev 21:5

A Biblical Pattern of Newness

Across both Testaments, “new” is not about novelty or improvement.

It signals God initiating a decisive transition—one that breaks old containers, forms new people, and advances toward cosmic renewal.

I. He Is Breaking - INCOMPATIBILITY

The new cannot live in old containers - Wine, garment, covenant, lump, tomb, man, self, creation

These “new” words expose a hard truth:

God does not renovate the old order—He replaces it.

New wine / new garment — the old structures cannot hold what God is doing (Matt 9:17; Mark 2:21–22)

New covenant / new commandment — a new governing relationship, not a revised law (Luke 22:20; John 13:34)

New lump — the old leaven must be purged (1 Cor 5:7)

New tomb — untouched, uncontaminated, fit for resurrection (Matt 27:60)

New man / new self / new creature / new creation — identity is recreated, not improved (Eph 2:15; 4:24; 2 Cor 5:17; Gal 6:15)

Newness begins with discontinuity. What God makes new cannot be contained by old identities, systems, or mindsets.

II. He Is Giving A New - EXPRESSION

The new reality must find a new voice - Song, name, teaching, way, tongues, treasures, fruit of the vine

Once God makes something new internally, it demands expression.

New song — worship that rises from redemption, not ritual (Ps 40:3; Rev 5:9)

New name — a revealed identity given by God, not self-assigned (Isa 62:2; Rev 2:17)

New teaching — authority that flows from revelation, not tradition (Mark 1:27; Acts 17:19–21)

New way — access opened through Christ, not the old path (Heb 10:20)

New tongues — empowered witness for a global mission (Mark 16:17)

New treasures — old and new rightly understood in the Kingdom (Matt 13:52)

Fruit of the vine (new) — covenant life shared in communion (Matt 26:29)

Renewal is not silent. A new state produces a new confession, a new worship, and a new way of life. If nothing changes in how we speak, worship, or live, we have not embraced the new.

III. He Is Giving Us A New - EXPANSION

The new creation cannot be contained - Jerusalem, moon, heavens, earth, all things

Here the scope widens. What begins in us does not end with us.

New Jerusalem — a renewed people forming a visible city (Rev 21:2; 3:12)

New moon — old rhythms fulfilled and reoriented in Christ (Col 2:16)

New heavens and new earth — creation itself restored, not discarded (Isa 65:17; 2 Pet 3:13)

All things made new — nothing left untouched by redemption (Rev 21:5)

God’s new work expands outward:

from new heart → new people → renewed creation

We are not creating the new heavens and earth, but we are living as people of that coming reality, bearing witness to it now.

“You are waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God…” (2 Pet 3:12)

The Four Responses To God New Beginning

There are four prophetic passages that need to be seen to understand how God brings His newness into our current lives.

A New Creation - “All Things”

Revelation 21:4–5 “4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” 5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.””

Greek: Kainos: new, fresh, anew, afresh, new style, unused, has not previously existed

Scope: Cosmic

Voice: God enthroned

Nature of the Work: Total renewal of creation

This is the end toward which everything moves. Not escape from the world, but the world healed, restored, and reordered under Christ. History is not circling—it’s advancing.

Key Insight:

God’s plan is not replacement, but redemption and renewal.

A New Deliverance - “Something New”

Isaiah 43:19 NASB95

19 “Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert.

Hebrew: hadas = new, fresh of this year, having recently come into being

Scope: Redemptive-historical

Audience: Israel in captivity

Nature of the Work: A new act of deliverance

God confronts Israel’s tendency to idolize past moves of God. The Exodus was real—but God is not locked into yesterday’s methods.

Key Insight:

God’s faithfulness is dynamic, not nostalgic.

A New Disruption “Something In Your Days”

Habakkuk 1:5 NASB95

5 “Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing something in your days— You would not believe if you were told.

Scope: Political / global

Audience: A prophet demanding justice

Nature of the Work: Shocking, disruptive sovereignty

God is working—but in a way that offends religious expectations. Babylon is not righteous, yet God uses them. This exposes a hard truth: God is not obligated to work in ways we approve of.

Key Insight:

God’s activity can look like chaos before it looks like redemption.

A New Creature

2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB95

17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.

Greek: kainos: new, fresh, anew, afresh, new style, unused, has not previously existed

Scope: Personal / covenantal

Audience: Believers in Christ

Nature of the Work: Internal regeneration

This is not metaphorical self-improvement. Paul is declaring ontological change—a new identity, new nature, new standing.

The future kingdom has invaded the present through transformed people.

Text Arena What Is “New”? Who Acts Required Response

Isaiah 43:19 History Deliverance God Perception

Habakkuk 1:5 Nations Sovereign judgment God Humility

2 Corinthians 5:17 Individual Identity & nature God (in Christ) Faith & surrender

Revelation 21:5 Cosmos All things God enthroned Hope & endurance