"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.'" (Rev.21:5)
Oh what a promise! He is making ALL things new. Right now, at this very moment--even in the midst of disease and death and defeat and discouragement--the Lord Jesus is making every single thing new and whole and beautiful...pristine and perfect as they were originally meant to be. And He adds that His words--the words of the Eternal Word--are trustworthy and true. We can bank our lives on, and place our hope in, them.
Just read some powerful words on this verse from Nelson Ould--a pastor in Richmond who is one of my husband's dear friends. After helping with the funeral of a friend, Nelson reflected upon death and eternal life. He writes--
"I helped officiate a funeral at another church this week, and it gave me a chance to reflect on eternal life. What I’m realizing is that eternal life has more to do with the quality of the life than the duration. Nobody gets excited about this life... extended. Nobody gets excited merely about endless life. Who wants this life – including its struggle and futility – forever?
Instead, what Bible writers describe is new life. New life is resurrection, not simply resuscitation. C. S. Lewis argues, for example, that what our souls long for is a resurrection of our senses. Take memory. Lewis argues that memories today are a dim foretaste of what our memories could be, and what our souls long for. Lewis writes, “I can now communicate to you the fields of my boyhood… by words. Perhaps the day is coming when I can take you for a walk through them.”
I hope you’ll let your thoughts and imagination expand to consider resurrection life. Then and only then you’ll have a little taste of what the apostle Paul says will be unimaginable joy of the resurrected life in heaven and in the new creation (I Corinthians 2:9). Let the resurrection encourage you today! For all who are in Christ, this is where our lives are moving."
That's good stuff. Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You are not simply improving all things...nor are You disposing of all things and starting over. You're not trying to make us a bit better, and You're not throwing up Your hands and giving up on us altogether.
No, You are making all things new. Making us new--new bodies, new attitudes, new desires, new habits, new heart, new love. And making everything in this universe new--no more sorrow or sickness or despair or bewilderment or cruelty or manipulation or loneliness or separation or frustration or misunderstanding. No more shortages or pollution or death. It will all be remade into something redeemed, resurrected, and gloriously new.
We can't begin to understand the miraculous breadth of that kind of resurrection power...but we rejoice that You said it, You proved it by rising from the dead, and You undeniably validated that all Your words are trustworthy and true. Yes, all the dying and decay on this planet is so, so hard...but Christ is making all things new...even right at this very moment. Thank You for not simply resuscitating us...but resurrecting us into abundant, glorious, eternal new Life. No doubt about it--the best is yet to come!
To God be the glory.
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