All Things New

Introduction

Good morning, Trinity Fellowship. It is always an honor to preach to you, but today it is a special honor, for today is the day we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord.

Please join me in turning to Revelation chapter 21. Our special attention this morning will be on verse 4, but let’s read verses 1-8 together.

Revelation 21:1–8: 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.” 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. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. 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.”

Illustration

When my family first arrived in Addis a year-and-a-half ago, we almost immediately began learning Amharic. We still have a lot of work to do, but I think we have many of the basics down now. We can negotiate prices, get around in taxis, order food, shop, and all the basic needs. One of the first things we did when we first started learning Amharic was memorize common phrases.

“Salam no?” “Exabari Maskin” “Exabari Yestiling” “Yuh He Min di no?” “Siet Sinti no?” and of course, “en-deeee?”

Another one of the phrases we learned was “ai-zo.” Which, for some of our non-Amharic speaking friends, means something like “it will get better,” “have hope,” or “chin up.” You say it when people are hurt or sad as a way of comforting and encouraging them. Well, as I was practicing these phrases, I was learning animal vocabulary at the same time. And little did I know, that I made a big mistake and mixed up two very similar sounding words. And instead of saying “ai-zo” to people, I was accidently saying “a-zo.” Which, if you’re not familiar, means “alligator.”

So if I saw someone crying, I’d walk up and say “a-zo.” I’d give money to a begger and say “a-zo.” I’d see someone trip and hurt themselves, and I’d look them in the eyes and say to them “a-zo.”

In fact, when the Pastors College students found out about this, they decided to make me a coffee mug - and this is what it looks like. So I have this coffee mug up in my home, and I laugh at myself as I drink out of it very often.

Ai-zo is such a beautiful word. It shows something that I love very much about Ethiopians: Ethiopians are very compassionate people, very loving people, very caring people. But it shows something else also - it shows that Ethiopians are people who love to give others hope. Hope that things will get better, and hope that that’s something to look forward to.

Hope is something we all need desperately. Without hope, we’re a miserable, discouraged, depressed people. In some ways, we are people who live on hope. To look forward to something, to place our hope in something, is hardwire into us.

Maybe you hope that your business will succeed.

Maybe you hope that your marriage will get better.

Maybe you hope that you’ll graduate school, or find a spouse, experience healing, or finally defeat a sin that you’ve been battling for many years.

We all hope for something.

MP1: The Birth of Death

MP2: The Death of Death