Hope past hope’s conceiving - Day 7
Revelation 21:1-5
21 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them; 4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”
5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
A day is coming, a day towards which we live our lives, a day towards which we invite others to live their lives. A day when every tear will be wiped from every eye; when mourning and crying and pain will be no more. A day when death will be no more. The present way of things will be gone, in its place God will have done a new thing.
Four times the word “new” is used in this passage. When something is new, we don’t yet have the words to explain it or describe it. The new is beyond what we have experienced before and so it defies description. And this new is not just the old improved – for the old way (the first things, vs. 1 and 4) is gone – and the new has come. This new is beyond the normal patterns of description.
This seems unimaginable, and it is unimaginable, it is beyond hope’s conceiving. Because it is unimaginable, the end of vs. 5 is important – God says, “These words are trustworthy and true.” They can be believed, this will happen. People promise new and improved all the time – the new is better people say. We have heard those lines so often that we doubt that new is possible, we are skeptical that there can be anything new. But God says, “this is my promise, I am making all things new.” When Christ will come again – all will be made new.
We live in that hope and we lift the eyes of a tired and hurting world to see the new that God is bringing. We see this present moment in which we live through the promise of God, “Christ will come again.”
PRAYER:
God of the new, you are bringing a new world where tears will be wiped from every eye, where death will be no more. We look forward with anticipation when that day will be realized, the day when Christ will come again. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. In Jesus’ name. Amen.