Sermon: All Things New All Things New Revelation 21:1-11 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. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Look! God s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. 5 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. 6 He said to me: It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. 8 But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death. 9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb. 10 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. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. I. Introduction The book of Revelation can be a somewhat confusing piece of the Bible to read for modern Christians, because it uses apocalyptic imagery to describe the contrasting relationship of the first-century Church to Greco-Roman civilization, and to express the deeper spiritual realities faced by those who are called to live faithfully in a pagan society. Though there are elements of prophetic speech throughout the letter, we should remember that prophecy in the Bible is not intended to be read primarily as predictions of specific events to come in our future, but rather as exhortations calling God s covenant people back to faithful worship and witness. Like all Biblical prophecy, the author has been given insight into future events that will shape the community of faith, many of which came to
pass shortly after the letter was written, but the main message for the church is this: faithfulness will be rewarded, while apostasy will lead to destruction. One of the reasons for John s letter to the seven churches seems to be that there was a perceived discrepancy among believers between the understanding that the kingdom of God had broken into the world, that God was sovereign, and that Christ would return soon, and the reality they faced every day that evil still existed in the world and was largely controlling their culture, leading to the persecution of Christians. The churches were struggling with living in the space between the inauguration of God s kingdom and its full arrival. Revelation was a message of hope to these churches; encouraging them to persevere and confirming that God s promised future will still be realized. Though even greater persecutions were on the horizon, those who remain steadfast in their faith would eventually see the wicked punished and the righteous brought to eternal victory in Christ. If we consider our own place in history, I think we will find that John s letter still applies to us in many of the same ways today. We are still living in a culture that is dominated by the presence of evil, and appear to be thriving. Christians around the world are still increasingly being persecuted for their faith, in many cases leading to their deaths. And we still struggle often with living faithfully in the space between Jesus resurrection and his promised return. Have you ever wondered why we have had to wait so long for Jesus to come back? The early church expected him to return almost immediately, and scripture indicates that he could come at any moment. Have you ever found yourself asking, like David in the Psalms, why the wicked prosper, when God s people suffer so greatly? Have you ever wondered whether or not Christianity was really worth it? If you have considered any of these things, then Revelation
can speak words of hope to you, too. It can offer you the same comfort and peace that it did to the early church, mixed with a healthy dose of encouragement to persevere and warnings to not fall away from faith. It is also a wake-up call to all those who have already developed spiritual amnesia, forgetting who they are called to be in Christ, and who have begun to compromise their faith by becoming like the world around them. Revelation calls those who have wandered to repent and become faithful witnesses to the risen Christ as Lord, or face judgment with all the unfaithful. At the end of the letter, John gives us a glimpse of the final aim of our salvation. In the new creation the faithful will experience the salvation blessing of intimate communion with God, but the unfaithful will be excluded from this blessing (21:1-8). In the new creation, the faithful church will drink from the never-ending water of life, which flows from the throne of God (22:1). There will be no more curses upon humanity or the earth (22:3), and God s throne will be in the city, with his people. They will see the face of God and not be afraid, because they will belong fully to him, and they will reign with him, as servants of the King, for all eternity (22:4-5). This is a beautiful reminder of God s faithfulness to his Church. But just before the end, Revelation also answers an important question about this promised future and those who will enjoy it. The question is this: What does the faithful church look like? In our reading this morning from chapter 21, John describes his vision of the faithful church as a beautiful city of gold, prepared like a bride for her husband on her wedding day. II. The Bride of the Lamb A bride on her wedding day is cherished and loved. She is
worthy of the groom s dedication, because he finds no faults in her. She is beautiful in his eyes, and he honors her for her purity and the love she returns to him. The church is the bride of Christ. Though our sins are many, he has forgiven us and knitted us together into one body. When we approach the throne of grace in worship, we come before him as an unblemished bride, not because we are sinless, but because his blood has covered over all our sins. The church is worthy, because Jesus is worthy. The bride is beautiful, because Jesus died to make her so. Because Christ has made the bride pure and blameless, she is able to reflect God s glory to the world (v. 11). God s glory is manifest in the church as holiness and love. The church cannot continue in the ways of the world and be found acceptable and pleasing to God; rather, we are called to live holy lives, where we actually avoid sin and pursue what is good and pleasing to God. And we are called to love the world as God loves, which means engaging in works of mercy and the ministry of reconciliation. God makes all of this possible through the Holy Spirit, and Revelation 21 says the new Jerusalem the faithful church will radiate with this glory like a very precious jewel. We shouldn t ignore this last part of verse 11. John isn t merely making a comparison between God s glory and gemstones; he is confirming that the bride of Christ is as valuable to God as a precious stone. He will not cast her aside or give her away; rather he will cherish her and keep her close. The church is of unsurpassed value to God, and each of us has been purchased at a great cost. He will be faithful to preserve the church that he has made acceptable and pleasing to himself. III. God Makes all Things New So, John describes the church as a bride holy, pure, and
blameless reflecting God s glory and precious to him. But when I look at my own life, I know that I have often failed to meet those standards. And the Bible tells us that we are all sinners, deserving of God s wrath. So, how are we, as the church, supposed to live up to these demands? Well, I m here to tell you this morning that we can t. Neither you, nor I can ever achieve the standards of perfection demanded by God on our own. But all of this is made possible by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, because God is in the business of renewing his creation. Verse 5 says this: He who was seated on the throne said, I am making everything new! One way of making something new is to start from nothing. The Bible tells us in Genesis 1 that God created all things ex nihilo, out of nothing. There was nothing before creation but God, and all things came into being through his will. A second way to make something new is to wipe out what already exists and start over. In this case, the new thing being created is always compared to that which came before. The Bible tells us that we have a new covenant with God in Christ. It is not a reinstatement of the old covenant, which has been fulfilled by Jesus, but the new will always be understood in the light of the old. A third way of making something new is to start with what exists, and re-make it into something that is new and improved. This is the essence of renewal. It does not obliterate what already exists, but takes what is present and reforms it into something better. According to the dictionary, to renew something means to resume, to reaffirm, to revive, to renovate, to extend, and to replenish that thing. Revelation 21:5 says that God, who created all things, is now renewing all of the things he created. He is not wiping out his good creation and starting from scratch, like he did with the flood, nor is he starting again from nothing, choosing to abandon what he has previously made; rather, he is renewing that which he made by his own
blood. Through Christ, creation will ultimately resume the state of perfection that was enjoyed before the taint of evil and sin entered in. By renewing all things, God has reaffirmed that his creation was good to begin with; it was not a mistake. He has already begun to revive the relationship that humanity enjoyed with God before the fall. He has promised to renovate our mortal bodies at the resurrection of the dead, giving us new bodies that will not decay, and to extend our lives, so that we might enjoy him eternally. And, through Christ, God has replenished our souls. IV. What Does God Make New? Verse 5 goes on to say that God s word is trustworthy and true. We know that he is, even today, actively renewing his creation, and that he will not stop until his work is complete. This morning, I would like for us to briefly examine four ways that God s renewing work is active in the lives of those who profess Jesus as Lord, even while we wait for Christ to return in final victory. 1. First, through faith in Christ, God renews our relationships with God (2 Cor. 5:17). In Genesis, we learn that Adam and Eve enjoyed an intimate relationship with God in the beginning. He walked with them in the garden in the cool of the evening and had fellowship with them. He entrusted them with care over all creation, and even made them in his own image. When Adam sinned by disobeying God and eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, that intimate relationship was fractured. The image of God in humanity was damaged, and through Adam all people have now inherited a sin nature, a tendency to choose sin over God.
But this is the good news of the gospel: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And because of his sacrifice, we are invited into a renewed relationship with God. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul says, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be a sin offering for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. When we repent and invite Christ to become Lord over our lives, through faith, God doesn t remember our sins or hold them against us. We become reconciled to God, and he invites us back into a renewed relationship with him as his adopted sons and daughters. 2. Second, when we place our trust in Jesus, God renews his image in us (John 3:1-21). As we just heard, one of the results of Adam s sin was damage to the image of God given to him at creation. Humanity was created to be like God, reflecting his moral character and love. Because of sin, our love has been twisted and turned inward. We love ourselves over others and God, and our selfish motives lead us into further sin. If it was not for God s prevenient grace working in our lives, we would be unable to respond to him at all, but because of his grace, which is given freely to all, we can respond to God in faith and receive his forgiveness and his gift of the Holy Spirit. In John, chapter 3 Jesus said, Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. Very
truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. When we place our faith in Christ, he promises that the Spirit will come to dwell in us. We become new creatures, spiritually reborn. And by the Spirit s power and guidance we are able to reclaim the moral image of God in our lives. He transforms us, making us holy as God is holy, and capable of loving as God loves. 3. Third, God renews the minds of those who trust in him (Romans 12:1-2). In Romans 12:1-2 Paul says, Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God s will is his good, pleasing and perfect will. A quick glance at the titles of recent news articles will tell you that we live in a culture that is obsessed with trying to blow our minds with the latest political intrigue, scientific breakthrough, celebrity gossip, or crazy video. Our minds have been fully hijacked by the constant streams of information that we receive daily, to the point where many of us have lost the ability to think critically about anything for long. This is especially true when it comes to serious reflection about our faith. Fewer Christians today view their faith as intellectually engaging, and the result is superficiality. We often hear of people walking away from the church, because they don t find answers to life s tough questions here. They can t reconcile the God of holy-love with the presence of evil in the world, and the church has not given them the tools for gaining godly wisdom and a kingdom perspective.
When we give ourselves fully to God, through faith in Jesus, we invite him to remake and renew our way of thinking. We become seekers of wisdom and truth, and we ask God to give us his point of view about things. We stop thinking as the world thinks, and we begin to interpret the world through God s eyes. Through this, we gain peace, perspective, and the ability to discern God s will for our lives. 4. Fourth, and finally, through the Holy Spirit s presence with us, God daily renews our actions (Eph. 4:22-24; 5:1-2). In Ephesians 4 and 5, Paul pleads with the church to live in such a way that we do not grieve the Holy Spirit, but that demonstrates we have been called out of darkness into the light of Christ. He says, You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness... Follow God s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. When we allow God to take control of our lives, through faith, he renews our actions so that they reflect his glory to the world. Through the Spirit, he works to actually make us holy. He helps us to avoid sin and do what is right. He helps us to witness faithfully to the good new of Jesus as the risen Lord, and he helps us to love people sacrificially as he loves them. V. Application God s gift of renewing grace is available to all those who place their trust in Christ alone for their salvation. Through Jesus, we have been invited into a renewed relationship with
God, new life in the Spirit, a transformed way of thinking about things from God s perspective, and renewed actions that reflect God s sanctifying work in us. As we enter into the New Year, we are reminded that all things have a beginning. How many of you have ever made a New Year s Resolution? OK, now how many of you have ever kept a resolution that you have made? I have only ever kept one New Year s Resolution for more than a few months, and experience suggests I m not alone in that. The problem with these kinds of commitments is that they rely solely on our willpower for success, and we each have a limited supply. When the going gets tough, it wears us down until our resolve becomes tattered, and we slip back into old habits. What if the resolutions we make didn t require us to maintain a steady will? Wouldn t it be great if we could commit ourselves to doing something new, but then leave the burden of accomplishing that feat to someone else? I m sure you see where I am going with this. We have an opportunity to do just that when it comes to our journey of faith. We have an opportunity to make a new resolution that doesn t depend upon us for its successful completion. You see, each day, when we wake up, we have the opportunity to seek God afresh and invite him to continue the good work he has begun in us. We can resolve each day to become God s holy people, who guard ourselves from sin and who love others as God loves. And we can do this knowing that God will do the hard work for us. We don t have to go it alone, in fact we can t. We will never be successful, as long as we try to do these things on our own. Instead, will you join with me this year in asking God to continue the good work of renewing our lives and our church? Will you rely on him to make you a new creation, to do away
with the old self and put on the new? Will you invite the Holy Spirit to take up residence in your life and transform you into the image of Jesus? If are ready to invite God to make all things new with you this coming year, then I invite you to join with me now as we pray the prayer of invitation and complete surrender that Jesus taught to his disciples. Let us pray. VI. Closing Prayer Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.