Everything New
My patio door and I used to have a love-hate relationship. I loved having a sliding patio door, but that was about the extent of the love part of our relationship. The door was old and decrepit. It wasn't the old part I disliked, but the decrepit part. The worst part was that its track was somehow bent or worn - so much so that the door wouldn't slide. It got to the point that it was almost impossible to move at all. The younger kids couldn't budge it, and those of us in the older crowd had to really struggle to get it to move even a little. What good was this door anyhow, if we couldn't open it very well? Then there was the handle. Because you had to yank on the handle so much, the handle broke more than once. Have you ever seen a patio door handle break in half? (You can see all sorts of things at my house!) Now, with the handle a mess, people began pulling at the back of the door to open it, so after awhile the casing began separating from the glass panel. It provided a convenient entry point for flies and mosquitoes, and we had great ventilation as breezes came through the opening. We tried to do what we could to better the door. We cleaned and greased the track. We replaced the handle. We tried to secure the casing back to the glass. But, you know, those little band-aids did little to fix our door. It was still decrepit and not working right.

This past spring we were finally able to replace it - completely and brand new. The difficulty and hassle of the process and the cost were forgotten when I could enjoy my new door. It slides like a charm and the gold handle is pretty snazzy-looking. My old patched door is nothing in comparison to the new one. I love new things. Maybe that's why reading the end of Revelation this past time affected me so much. What really struck me was that at the end of time God will make everything new. Revelation 21:1, 5 read: "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. He who was seated on the throne said, 'I am making everything new!' Then he said, 'Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.' "

God is not just going to patch things up or put on a new façade. He is going to change things and make everything brand new, inside and out. Revelation describes many things as being made new. First of all, we will be new. Verse two says, "I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband." Later in verses 9 - 11 we read, "One of the seven angels…came and said to me, 'Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the lamb.' And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal." The chapter goes on to describe the City's great beauty. Elsewhere in the Bible the Church of God is described as Christ's Bride. It's possible that these verses are describing the Church, those who believe in God. We believe in Him now, but we continue to live in a fallen, sinful world where we struggle with our own sinful desires. But at the end of time, we will be free from the effects of this world and of our sinful nature. We will truly shine with God's glory - beautiful, brilliant, and clean.

Where we live will also be new. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. Sin will be gone. "But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars - their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." (verse 8) "Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life." (verse 27) No longer will we suffer the effects of sin, nor suffer at the hands of sinful men. Not only will sin be gone, but we will live with God. Verse 3: "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." We will experience God in a new way. Revelation 22:3b-5: "The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever." The emotions we feel will be different. The hurt and hopelessness that come into our lives now will be gone. "There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain…" (21:4b) These are the effects of sin, and they will be gone with the sin. How beautiful that time will be, when God will wipe every tear from our eyes! (21:4a)

The end of the world will be a glorious time for those of us who believe in Christ. We will be able to see God face-to-face and live in His presence forever. We will know the joy of serving Him without temptation or persecution. We will live in a new place. The earth as it is now, in bondage to sin, will be gone. God will not merely patch or band-aid this old world, but He will share one with us that is wholly new, completely beautiful - to the center of its being - and forever free. Maybe this is why Paul felt such a struggle between wanting to serve God and His Church on earth and being with God in heaven. "I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far…" (Philippians 1:23) Everything will be new. "…for the old order of things has passed away." (Rev. 21:4b), and "No longer will there be any curse." (Rev. 22:3a) God has wonderful things in store for those of us who belong to Him. How undeserving we are! How great God is! "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed - in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: 'Death has been swallowed up in victory.' 'Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?' The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (1 Corinthians 15:51-57) Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!