Making all things new- Revelation 21:1-18

Revelation 21:1-8

                                                            Romans 8:18-25

This is my new ride-on mower.

When I say new, I mean second hand which I bought last July.

It runs like a dream……..when it runs.

So far, after 7 months of using this baby, I have had to replace a few things on it.

It has had two new deck belts, one new spindle on one of the blades, after I broke the first one running over a rock, a new front wheel, a new steering wheel axle, after the first one had its’ teeth had eroded, and finally a couple of weeks ago, it got a new spindle for the other blades, as they too had eroded.

After another couple of repairs, I could have just bought a new one for the same amount of money I have spent on it- but it’s too late now, this mower, “Murray select”, a model which is no longer made, is part of the smith family, it may be old, and it may continue to break down, but it will continue to have repairs and new parts to patch it up.

Well, until I finally give up on it and enough is enough!

Today, as we look at this passage from Revelation 21, we are going to consider what it means when God said to John in a vision……from verse 5

 “Behold, I am making all things new”

What did God mean, when he said, “Behold I am making all things new”?

What did he mean by all?

Is God making my Murray select ride on mower new?

What did he mean by new?

Is God patching everything up, and fitting new parts onto what he has already made?-

Just like my ride on mower

Well, I suppose the first thing we have to establish, is that when God said he was making all things new, he meant- “everything”- everything he created in the first place.

And there is nothing in this universe that God did not create- from the stars, to the mountains, to rivers, oceans, this planet, all the other planets,- God created everything, He created them from nothing, ex-nalo – out of nothing as the Latin term means and most importantly, he created everything good.

When we read through the creation account in Genesis chapter 1, after God had finished all his creating on the sixth day, he labelled it all “good” and then even labelled us, humans “very good”

It begs the question, if God made everything good, then why would he need to make everything new?

Well, we know that after he made everything good, sin entered the world and things became broken- just like my ride on mower, everything became broken, things started to fall apart, from the relationship between God and man, to the relationships, between humans, to even the very ground being cursed, with thorns and thistles.

God made everything good but because of our sin, it was all tinged with bad, it was all broken by sin- the wheels started to fall off, the spindle wore out, and everything good that God created was broken.

Ever since Adam- the head representative of the human race, disobeyed God, and followed his own evil desires…we have all been suffering the effects of sin ever since.

People die….this is the ultimate consequence of sin.

Wars are continuous, as we see across the world right now in Gaza, Ukraine and other places.

Families and relationships are broken.

Sickness and disease keep our doctors and nurses busy.

I don’t need to convince you, that our world is broken…I think even the most ardent atheist would agree…..but unlike the atheist, who may put suffering and pain down to “pot luck”, we know that the brokenness of our world, is not just some random acts of luck or bad luck, but we know that this brokenness of our world, is all part of God’s plan for his creation.

Just look at Romans 8:20 with me:

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it.

Here, it clearly tells us that this world was subject to futility, which means it has been groaning since the beginning of time… or let me put it another way……. this world was broken by sin, but………..but…….. not because of some random acts, but because God allowed it to be broken by sin.

Now some would argue, that God should never have allowed this world to be broken by sin in the first place.

And perhaps that is a fair point…… there are some things, in fact many things that we don’t know, why God did what he did, or does what he does, and that is OK- in fact it is more than OK- we just have to trust that whatever God does is good, and so if God allowed sin to break this world, then we have to trust that it was for the best.

We have to trust is was all part of his good and glorious plan.

Because, if you believe that God is still in control of this broken world, as his word tells us, then you can also trust that one day……one day he will fix it all permanently, once and for all……..one day, He will make all things new.

In Revelation 21, it tells us that God will make a new heaven, a new earth, a new Jerusalem, he will make everything so new, that there will be not more death, there will be no more sin, there will be no more crying, no more pain. All of those things, which are the result of sin, will be the old order of things, they will pass away and God will make everything new.

And if you will, just indulge with me for a moment to think about what this “new” may look like?

What will this new heaven and new earth and new Jerusalem look like?

I think this new, will have some continuity with the old.

What do I mean?

Well, clearly from the description of heaven in Revelation 22, heaven is described as a garden-city, a garden that has a river running through the middle and trees yielding all kinds of fruits- sound familiar? -

It is like heaven will have some resemblance of the garden of Eden, which is how God first created this world, before it was broken by sin.

And then there is the continuity of us?

Humans.

In 1 Thessalonians 4, it tells us that in this new heaven and new earth, we will be able to recognise loved ones who have died as believers, just as James, John and Peter recognised Moses, Jesus and Elijah on the mount of transfiguration, as they got a glimmer of this “new”.

In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul describes a continuity of our new bodies that we will receive in heaven. He described our bodies now, as a seed and then when we die, we will receive a new spiritual body which sprouts from the seed of our earthly body, and so clearly there is some continuity when God makes all things new.

And yet as we reflect on what God will do eventually when he makes all things new, let us also reflect on what God is doing right now, in all those who believe in his son.

Look at Romans 8:22-25

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 first fruits 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.

As a believer now- you have the first fruits of this renewal- you have the spirit of God working in you, and transforming you more and more into the image of our heavenly representative- Jesus.

Even though our outward body wears out, our inner self is being renewed day by day, by God’s spirit working in us.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says this:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

This means that right now, as we have the spirit of God in our hearts, the old order of sin has already passed, we no longer suffer eternal death for our sins, because Jesus took the punishment for us, no longer are we running to our agenda, but we are running to God’s agenda…….and yet that transformation isn’t yet complete, and it won’t be complete until that day that God makes everything new.

And so, as believers in Jesus, yes we are a new creation in Christ, and yet we will still struggle with sin in this life, we still suffer the effects, but the as God’s spirit continues to work in your hearts and transform you, the more you will yearn for the new heaven and the new earth to come. The dimmer the idols of this world become.

We are now new creations in Christ, but we are not yet the fullness of that new creation.

As God’s spirit continues to work in your heart, you get a deeper sense that this earth is not your eternal home.

You know there is better to come.

And unlike me, who tries to repair my mower every time it breaks down, even though I have no idea what I am doing, we don’t try and fix ourselves, we don’t try and bring in this new ourselves, but instead as Romans 8:25, tells us, we just have to wait patiently for God to keep his promise.

Friends, let 2024, be a year, where we wait patiently for God.

We wait patiently for God to work in our hearts and others also.

Let us pray.