Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away... Revelation 21:1, NKJV

"How do you spell 'Broncos,' Daddy?"  Our youngest had been intently creating a colorful drawing last weekend and wanted to personalize it for her older brothers with their favorite team name.  But somehow, in the final stages of finishing her masterpiece, she misspelled one of her brothers' names -- a fact that I became aware of when I overheard a loud wail of frustration followed by the sound of crumpled paper.  By the time I caught up with our young (and now tearful) artist, she was back at it...with a blank sheet of paper.  Instead of drawing over her mistake, she decided to start all over.  Sometimes, when we want to make something new, it goes hand-in-hand with not just revising what's old but doing away with it all together.  And according to Revelation 21:1, when God ultimately makes all things new, it will be hand in hand with a complete end of the first heaven and the first earth.

MORE THAN CORRELATION

Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away... Revelation 21:1, NKJV

It may be a small detail, but that three letter word "FOR" indicates a relationship of causation, not just correlation, between the first and second statements.  In prophetic vision, John could see a new heaven and a new earth because the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.  The newness doesn't just coincidentally come along when the oldness fades away.  No, the newness is contingent upon the oldness ceasing to exist, a process that is thoroughly described in Revelation 20.  

If you're like me, maybe you've wondered why God would plan for a thousand years to pass between the second coming of Jesus and the final extermination of sin and death.  At first glance, it can appear drawn out, even delayed.  Some might even perceive the resurrection of the wicked and the lake of fire at the end of the Millennium to be overkill...literally.  But in reality,

what appears to be a protracted process is a merciful journey toward an eternity of relational wholeness with the God we get to see face to face (Rev. 22:4).  

One theologian articulates it this way:

The universe can continue in perpetual harmony and bliss only if all creatures trust God unreservedly, which can only take place if all questions about God’s character and the way He deals with injustice are answered once-and-for-all (John Peckham, God With Us, 663).

The ultimate desire of God's heart is to restore fallen humanity into relational oneness with Himself.  God isn't only interested in pursuing the outcomes of making all things new.  He's interested in doing the right thing in the right way, a way that builds and sustains right relationships.  The thousand years and the lake of fire allow for every question to be answered, every doubt to be settled, every hurt to be healed, and death itself to be put to death.  What might appear to be drawn out or a little extra is actually what paves the way for oneness with God to be our experience in full and for all eternity.  I can't wait for that day when we hear God declare with finality from His throne, "“Behold, I make all things new” (Rev. 21:5), knowing that without a shadow of a doubt it's because all "the former things have passed away" (21:4).

MORE THAN FUTURE-TENSE

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17, NKJV

While we look forward to that day when God will make all things new in a cosmic sense, we can have hope today in the promise that God can make all things new in the present tense!  Individually and personally, when we exercise faith in Christ and choose to let His story define our story, God looks at us as new creations all together.  The Gospel declares this to be so, not just as an eventual reality but as our present experience.  And just like that end-time anticipation of newness, this present-tense experience of newness goes hand-in-hand with letting all that's old pass away.  

In what ways do you long for God to work out newness in your life -- new habits of thought, new sense of calling and purpose, new character, new competencies, new relationships?  Nothing is out of the realm of possibility for the God who declares us as new creations in Christ!  But let's not forget the companion experience He wants to walk us through in this journey toward newness.  

When we seek the newness we want God to work out in our lives, we must also be willing to surrender to Him the oldness that needs to be laid to the dust.  

In order for all things to become new, the old things must pass away.  And the reality is that this isn't a painless process.  Like Giselle's art project redo, sometimes the scrapping of the old in order to make room for the new can come with plenty of sobs and tears.  But the new creation is always worth it.  Thankfully, the God who miraculously makes all things new in us is also the God who can graciously, tenderly make old things pass away when we let Him.  Old hurts, old trauma, old habits and addictions, old doubts and unbelief, you name it.  These are not too big for the God who makes all things new.

Friends, would you join me in this prayer for newness?  

Lord, I look forward to that glorious day when You will make a new heavens and a new earth.  And until then, lead me to experience today and everyday the Gospel reality that You make all things new in my heart!  I acknowledge that this journey will involve heart searching and deep surrendering of old things that no longer have a place in the new creation of my life, but I trust You with that process, even if it comes with tears.  Thank You for being the God who makes all things new in me today.