I Make All Things New

Revelation 21:1-5

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.”

As we look at these verses found in revelation, I want to pick up on some things in the first four verses to help us understand verse 5. We know John penned Revelation from the isle of Patmos where he had been exiled for sharing the gospel. This is the entrance to “The Cave of the Apocolypse”. This is said to be where John stayed while on the island. This is the mosaic above the actual entrance. You may be thinking, that’s cool and all but why is this important? Patmos was a real place that was settled during the Hellenistic period. John the apostle was a real person who lived the last years of his life on this island for his beliefs. It was in this cave that John received his vision from the Lord. So, what did John see? He saw a new Heaven and a new Earth, he saw New Jerusalem descending from Heaven. This sets the stage for us. John hears the voice proclaim the dwelling place of God is with man. Here is the visual weight of what John is seeing. He believes that Jesus Christ is the messiah and that he came to Earth as God incarnate. But that was temporal, it was the beginning. Jesus prepared His disciples by teaching them that He would return to the Father in Heaven. The last we see of Jesus is his ascension. That was the beginning, John is seeing a vision of the ending. The completion of what the Father started by sending His beloved son to this earth to be the sin sacrifice for humanity. Let that sink in for just a minute. John is being shown a future event and told that God the Father will reside with man. Now, we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. In the future we will share the fullness of His presence. If that doesn’t give you hope and joy this morning, I’m not sure what will. Let’s try this, then.

The voice continues and tells John that “He will”, who will? God will, he is the subject. What will He do? He will wipe away every tear. Not just some. Not one or two. Not just the tears that are here now. Every tear will be wiped away. I feel like one of those guys that sells things on the infomercials, “but wait, there’s more”. “Death will be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things are passed away.” Check this out. Death began in the Garden of Eden and reigned for thousands of years. Death’s power was broken on the Cross of Calvary. And in this future, Death will be put in his place which will not be with the Father.

Now, that prepares us for verse 5. “And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” We have to understand that there is a throne in Heaven. We have to get the fact that it is God who is sitting on this throne. The throne signifies power. It is the place where power resides. Royal decrees come from the throne. Judgements are made from this place. It is the symbol for complete power. If the throne is the symbol of complete power, it follows that he who sits on this throne wields complete power. And if he who sits on this throne wields complete power, we should listen when he speaks.

“I am making all things new.” We have established it is God the Father who sits on the throne and is speaking. “I am making...” implies a constant state of renewal. In this future time as we understand it, He is constantly renewing . What is He renewing? “All things...” The word “all” is a peculiar word. All means all. He is making all the things new. Everything is being renewed. Now let’s look quickly at 3 aspects of what God is making new.

1. He Restores

I love God most for his ability to restore. He restores us to a right relationship with him through the gift of forgiveness and justification. He can restore earthly relationships. And he can even restore days and years that have been lost to the effects of sin (Joel 2:25). That must be greatest evidence of the extravagant nature of God’s mercy. Not only can he renew a life and redeem its future, but he can also redeem its past.

Our hope rests in the promise that Christ will come back for us one day and make all things new.

In Scripture, we see God’s power of restoration countless times. When Jacob was finally reunited with his lost son, Joseph, he described the grief-filled days of his life as “few and evil” (Genesis 47:9). But in his last days, through God’s mercy, Jacob was able to look back on his life and see that God had been his shepherd all along and that he had been redeemed from the evil that once marked his life (Genesis 48:15-16). In the story of Ruth, we see God take a family whose name faced extinction and not only restore to them a secure future but knit them into his grand story of redemption by placing them in Jesus’ family line.

In the New Testament, we see Jesus live a ministry of restoration. He restores sight to the blind, the ability to walk to the crippled, hearing to the deaf, and new clean skin to the diseased (Mark 8:22-26; Matthew 9:2-8; Mark 7: 31-37; Luke 5:12-25). In all these accounts, Jesus didn’t just heal a condition. He restored life, security, and hope to broken people.

What has God restored to you? Time? Relationships? What are hoping in Christ for in the new year?

2. He Renames

Names carried a lot of significance in Scripture. Throughout the Bible, people are introduced to us by name and by the meaning of their name. Eve was “the mother of all the living,” Isaac was “laughter,” and Samuel was “asked of God” (Genesis 3:20, 21:6; 1 Samuel 1:20).

What’s even more significant is the renaming of people in Scripture. When God gave someone a new name, it was always a sign of renewed purpose and a redeemed life. God changed Abram’s name to Abraham to signify his promise to make him the father of many (Genesis 17:5). He changed the names of Hosea’s children from No Mercy and Not My People to My Loved One and My People to symbolize his love for Israel and his plan to redeem her from idolatry (Hosea 1-2). Simon became Peter, and Saul became Paul when they became Jesus’ disciples (Matthew 4:18; Acts 13:9). They received new identities in Christ as they forsook life in the flesh.

While we may not actually receive new names when we become Christ-followers, we certainly receive new identities. My name, Roy, happens to be a great reminder of this to me. It’s an English-Norman name that means “royal” or “king”. The irony is that my sins make me anything but royal or kingly. But because of Christ’s sacrifice, I am washed white like snow, pure and clean. I get to wake up and put on Christ’s righteousness every day as if it’s my own.

So, as I look at the new year ahead, I can trust and hope in my identity in Christ. I know that no matter how I fail, God’s mercies are new every morning (Lamentations 3: 22-23). He has made me worthy of my name and called me his in Christ.

If you are in Christ, you have been given a new name, a new identity. Are you living according to your new name with renewed purpose and redemption?

3. He Resurrects

God makes dead things alive again. Literally. He has power over death in every sense, and he demonstrated that to us when he raised Jesus from the grave. Scripture says that, as believers, we have that same power dwelling in us. It’s what gives life to our dead souls (Romans 8:11).

I can get so easily discouraged when I think about all the times I’ve failed and given in to temptation…just in the last week. And it makes the idea of fighting this battle for another year of life seem overwhelming. But this truth, that I have the same power that raised Christ from the grave dwelling in me, gives me great hope. If I lay down my weak, flawed existence every day, I can trust that God will resurrect it with new life and new grace.

Do you trust in God’s power to resurrect? Are you living in the truth that God can bring new life to your soul each day? Or are you living as one defeated by sin and shame?