For the past month, we have studied together God's work of renewing his people and all of creation. We have seen how sin introduced struggles and pains into the human experience, and how God in grace gives new life to all who trust in Christ's finished work of salvation.
In the closing chapters of the Bible, God gives us a glimpse of the rest of the story. All things are made new. God's new creation is better because of what we won't experience anymore: death, mourning, crying, pain, deception, shame. Even the threat of the sea, the source of much evil in the Revelation visions (see Revelation 13), is no more.
Eternity is better too because of what we will experience. The new creation is a place full of life and energy: heaven is pictured as a city that is not "up there" but "coming down" here.
Most important, God is there. For all who follow Jesus and trust in him, nothing could possibly be better. We don't simply long for a reunion with loved ones or for an eternal vacation, but for the opportunity to live forever in the presence of our Creator and Redeemer.
God is making all things new. And in Christ we can be included in that process. Follow him, and live in the joy of God's new creation!
God of creation and eternity, let me glimpse your finished work. Fill my heart with excitement as I see your new creation. And in your grace make me, too, new in Christ. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
About the author — Joel Vande Werken
Joel Vande Werken has been a pastor since 2007, serving churches in Sussex, New Jersey, and in Whitinsville, Massachusetts. He and his wife, Brandie, have five young children.
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