I AM MAKING EVERYTHING NEW!

NEW

Can you believe, only a few more hours left until the new year

Where has time gone? It feels like only a couple of months ago that we were talking about 2017 approaching

Some of us with dread

Some of us with excitement

Maybe with “it’s just another year” attitude

Whatever our attitude about the new year, we know that it is a symbol of change, something different

We leave the old behind and we are looking forward to something different.

All of us can think of new things which we have received

We like the looks of new things, the smell of new things, the feel of new things

New car

No dings, no scratches, dependable, that new car smell

New gadgets, the newest i-Phone

People rush out to get the newest model of whatever is on the shelf

New baby

New gadgets. The new i-Phone

I think there is a sense in which we all approach a new year with a feeling of expectation and anticipation.

Some of us with dread

Some of us with excitement

Maybe with “it’s just another year” attitude

Whatever our attitude about the new year, we know that it is a symbol of change, something different

We leave the old behind and we are looking forward to something different.

One of the best and hope-filled statements in the Bible is found in (NIV)

5 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.”

God is a God of NEW THINGS! When a person has a true encounter with the living God, things change. They become new

New Beginnings

(NIV)

18 “Forget the former things;

do not dwell on the past.

19 See, I am doing a new thing!

Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?

I am making a way in the wilderness

and streams in the wasteland.

Moses

Children of Israel

New Wine

New Creations

New Heaven and a New Earth

2. A New Heart

(NIV)

24 “ ‘For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Surgeons today can do a lot of things, pretty remarkable things

A New Creation

my aunt has had two liver transplants and is doing well

They can even take your heart and replace it with one that works better.

What they can’t do is give you a new heart. The best that they can do is give you a used one.

And what they certainly can’t do is give you a new heart that God is talking about:

That part out of which you speak and act and live.

That part out of which you either love God or reject Him.

3. A New Creation

(NIV)

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 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.

4. A New Commandment

John 13:34–35 ESV

34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

John 13:34-35

How/Why is this a new commandment?

Leviticus 19:18 ESV

18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.

In the past, it was simply a command: “LOVE”

Now he is giving them an example: “Just as I have loved you”.

Now, there is a significance attached “So that everyone will know that you are my disciples”

No longer is it, they will know you are my followers by how well you keep the Sabbath, the law, the sacrifices.

That’s not how people will identify you as my people

Rather it is by the love that you have for each other.

1 John picks up on this theme:

If you claim to love Christ, then you need to walk as He walked

If you claim to love Christ, but you hate your brother, then you really aren’t one of His children

If you hate your brother then you are walking in darkness

So the command is new:

Because of the example given

Because of the significance attached

5. In the future: A New Body

(NIV)

Awaiting the New Body

5 For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.

1 Corinthians 15:35–38 ESV

35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body.

1 Corinthians 15:35–58 ESV

35 But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body do they come?” 36 You foolish person! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. 37 And what you sow is not the body that is to be, but a bare kernel, perhaps of wheat or of some other grain. 38 But God gives it a body as he has chosen, and to each kind of seed its own body. 39 For not all flesh is the same, but there is one kind for humans, another for animals, another for birds, and another for fish. 40 There are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is of one kind, and the glory of the earthly is of another. 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory. 42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. 43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. 44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 46 But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. 47 The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. 48 As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven. 50 I tell you this, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. 53 For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality. 54 When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” 55 “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

1 Corinthians

Wintertime: we deal with a lot of sickness

We get older. Our bodies start disagreeing with us more

physical peak is around 30

6. In the future: New Heavens and Earth

(NIV)

A New Heaven and a New Earth

21 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. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 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. 4 ‘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.”

a. This earth is growing tired

natural resources won’t last forever—60 years of fossil fuels left

population continues to grow

I love to see or imagine areas that are “pristine”, untouched or undamaged by humans.

Those areas growing few.

I love to see or imagine areas that are “pristine”, untouched or undamaged by humans.

Mount Namuli by Gurue

“This world is not my home, I’m just a passing through”

Christian gnosticism—presumes that matter (this world) is bad and the spirit realm (Heaven) is good

I understand the sentiment—longing for something better—looking for a better country

But John saw a NEW heavens (sky) and NEW earth because the old ones had passed away or been destroyed

I believe that God is going to recreate this earth in perfection:

No more conflict, no more sin. No more of the earth groaning, waiting to be redeemed

I saw the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven

Like a bride adorned for her husband

This new city will be on the new earth

Not us “flying away” to be with Jesus, but the Heavenly City coming down to the new earth that is created.