All Things New

Sojourners,

Here is what happens in the Revelation:

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. 2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “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. 4He 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.”

5He 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.”

In Greek, the statement by Jesus in verse 5 begins with the word: “Behold!” Thus, what he wants us to do is look around and see what is going on, see what he is doing, pay attention to the work he is continuing to do. We are not to turn a blind eye or a deaf ear or a hard heart to this work of creation that is ongoing in the hands of Jesus. However, neither are we to stand around looking with mouths agape: “Why do you men of Galilee stand around staring at the sky?” the angels asked the disciples. We don’t stand around marveling as if we play no significant role. We get involved. We do what we can. We become a part of the answer to the prayer we pray: Thy kingdom come, thy will be done…

Next, notice he present tense of the verbs: “I am making.” Well, this verse has been read in the present tense ever since Jesus uttered it and John wrote it down. In other words, every time this verse is read, no matter what generation, no matter was century, no matter what culture, the reader is reminded that Jesus is stillmaking all things new. I don’t know how I ever missed this. I have always believed that the modern conception of ‘heaven’ was somewhat dilapidated, and I could never get past those verses that speak of the new heavens and the new earth. (Such as in verses 1-4) Now I think I understand. New heavens and new earth are not things we wait for as if all that matters is then. No, these things begin now, inaugurated by Jesus himself.

Jesus is making all things new. He is in the process of remaking the heavens and the earth. The old order of things is already on the way out, and the new order of things–the new heavens and the new earth–are already on their way in. The old order of things has already passed away. The old order of things is already dead. It is a strict past tense (aorist) verb. If I have learned anything about the Greek New Testament I have learned that verb tenses matter. Something has already passed (lit., the first things) and something else is already taking place (‘all things’ are being made new). This is beautiful! This is revolutionary! This is mind-boggling!

This means that what we do now is not in vain. It also means that there is more to being a disciple, following Jesus, than just wearing an ID badge and singing hymns. It means that the scope of our ministry is greater than the sum total of our small congregations. (I’ll explore this more in a later post.) It means that the least thing we do for the kingdom is of significance. And this certainly gives new meaning and new depth to the sentence, “Seek first his Kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be added unto you.”

This is what this new blog is about: New discovery. New insight. Fresh understandings of what Scripture means. Wild-eyed imagination at the work that Jesus is already doing. And, because of these things, an energized participation in ‘thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’ Wonderful.

jerry