“Behold, I am making all things new.”

Revelation 21 (NASB) from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. ² And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, ⁴ and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”

⁵ And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” ⁶ Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. ⁷ He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. ⁸ But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

⁹ Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

¹⁰ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, ¹¹ having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. ¹² It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. ¹³ There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. ¹⁴ And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb…

²² I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³ And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. ²⁵ In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; ²⁶ and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; ²⁷ and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.”  2 Corinthians 5:17 says:    Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.     Making all things new is why Jesus left His place in heaven and came to earth as a man. He lived a sinless life and gave His life as a sacrifice to redeem, reconcile, restore and renew all things, both man and creation to God and His will.

Surely the description of the coming new heaven and earth is not something that should make people fearful. The text says:  “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, ⁴ and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.”    The description continues, saying:   I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³ And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. ²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. ²⁵ In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; ²⁶ and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; ²⁷ and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

Here is the key for those who are believers. When Jesus was here on earth He preached the gospel. He said:  "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:15)   "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." (Matthew 4:17)  When He sent out His disciples He told them:    "And as you go, preach, saying, 'The kingdom of heaven is at hand.' 8"Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give (Matthew 10:7-8)   Jesus message, when He was here on earth was that the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Jesus taught us to pray:   ”Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.”        In Christ all things are made new. When Jesus was on the cross He said:     "It is finished!" (John 19:30)

“It is finished” Jesus fulfilled and completed the work and the will of God the Father. God is eternal.  He exists outside of our finite time. He is the  “Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end." There will be a time, in our finite time when this world will pass away and there will be a new heaven and new earth, a place that is described in today’s text.     We who believe are called to live in the kingdom now and forever. In Christ we should live victoriously in the heavenly kingdom even now on earth.  We should live now in this reality: and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them,  and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain;

In verse 8 of today’s text there is a list of those who will not inherit the promised kingdom of heaven. It says: But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”   Look at the beginning of the list. The cowardly, some translations say the fearful and the unbelieving, are at the head of the list. Jesus message, when He spoke of the kingdom being at hand, was that we should repent.

 Repent is defined as:  ·  1 :  to turn from sin and dedicate oneself to the amendment of one's life ·  2 a :  to feel regret or contrition b :  to change one's mind

In order to live in the kingdom, both now and forever we need to repent. It is not though only our sinful actions we need to repent of, we also need to change our mind. We need to repent of the way we think and believe. We need to stop being fearful and unbelieving. In Mark 11:24 Jesus says:  ^“Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.”  That’s kingdom living. It doesn’t mean that we will get things we ask for selfishly. It means that if we pray as Jesus taught us to pray: Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven, if we pray that way, repent and believe, we will see the realities of heaven manifested here and now on earth.

Just before He left this earth, Jesus spoke these words: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. ¹⁶ He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. ¹⁷ These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:15-18)  

And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He *said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” ⁶ Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. ⁷ He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son.

Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ; precious Holy Spirit, it is finished. You have indeed made all things new. The kingdom of heaven is at hand. It is here now. Forgive me for my unbelief, help me Holy Spirit, to change my mind, to believe. Empower me to walk in the fullness of the power and evidence of the kingdom as You declared:  These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues;  they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.   Amen.