Behold, I Make All Things New

Today’s Passage – Revelation 20 – 22; (Click on the references to listen to the audio – click here to view the text from the Blue Letter Bible website)

(Second Milers also read –Psalms 146 – 150; Proverbs 30)

Memory passage for the month of November – Luke 1:26 – 38

Listen to this morning’s Scripture song – Psalm 47:1

“And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.” – (Revelation 21:5)

The context of Revelation 21 is the unveiling of the city, New Jerusalem. This is the beautiful place that God has prepared for his bride to live out eternity in. We won’t actually get to move in until after the end of the 1000 year Millennial Reign of Christ on the earth, but, I assure you, it will be worth the wait. As we read about the description given of this city in the chapter, we see that it is unlike any earthly city. It is a place of exquisite beauty. It also is unique in its dimensions: it apparently is a perfect cube, which means that law of gravity will no longer be the same there. There will be no night there, and the light for the entire city will be the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. What a place! I can’t wait to get there.

As we are approaching the New Year, I have been thinking a lot lately about the phrase in verse 5: “behold, I make all things new”. God is a master at putting away the old, and creating the new. The chapter above speaks of the passing away of the old heaven and earth, and the revealing of the new. People who have trusted Christ as Saviour are said to be “new creatures” in Christ. God purges out the old, unprofitable us, and recreates us into His image; and someday, we will have a glorified, new body to spend eternity in.

New Years is a time when we reflect on the old year, and determine to make the necessary changes in our life that God would want us to make. For the Christian, I believe the greatest resolution that we can make is to surrender our stubborn wills to the will of God; to quit resisting His Holy Spirit as He conforms us to the image of Christ. The great goal of all Christians for the New Year should be to be transformed by the renewing of our mind. However, there may be some other sub-categories of goals, or resolutions, that all help us achieve the greater goal. It may be that we will resolve to spend more time in the Bible, or in prayer. It may be that we will determine to witness to all of our friends and family. It may be that we will want stop doing some things that are inconsistent with what God would want for our lives. These are all good resolutions because they all point to the greater goal of Christ-likeness.

As you consider the approaching New Year, make your relationship with Christ your number one priority. As Paul the Apostle said:

“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;” – (Philippians 3:10)