All Things New

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.”



I will most likely write a few meditations from this passage. It really is a stunner.

Today though, I will focus on the cosmic aspect.

I have genuinely heard some Christians justifying behaving in an ecologically irresponsible way by saying that it does not matter because this earth will pass away.

Firstly, that is a shockingly cavalier  attitude to take with the prized creation that God has entrusted us with. Creation, like all good gifts, should be cherished and nurtured. We have the responisibility of a steward towards this earth and it's inhabitants.

Secondly, for me, I feel it is based on a wrong interpretation of this text.

Paul asserts that God was, in Christ, reconciling the world to himself.

And elsewhere he states that all creation is groaning, as with birthpains, for it's redemption.

Listen;

¹⁸ I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

Why would God be reconciling something to himself, in order to do away with it?

He made the world and said 'it was good'.

Incidentally, he also said that about mankind.
And, although man is fallen, and creation as a result too, he will not do away with either, but rather renew them and liberate them.

The key for me is verse 5. Behold, I make all things new, as the KJV has it.

I have to hold my hands up and say that this is a mystery. How can something at once pass away, and yet be renewed? But then, this is God we are talking about. We haven't even begun to understand or know him. But look at the complexity of the original creation....look at all the natural laws in place, look at the diversity and interconnection of all things....can you not see a mind and a power that can do anything?

I can.

And, although I don't like to speculate as to what heaven on earth will be like....it can be a great thing to imagine.

I heard a radio program once where a comedian talks about her loss of faith as a Jehovah's Witness. In part the unravelling of her belief system was centred around this idea of animals such as Tigers, as she says, 'becoming vegetarians'.

And yes. Logically, it is unbelievable.

But I don't think she really had a view of God (or really a real faith in him) big enough to encompass this mystery.

But for some of us, it is not such a stretch.

All my life I have wanted to pet a tiger.
In the new earth, I will be able to.

I do believe.


In the new earth, I will be able to scale mountains.

I love mountains.

As a child I went on holiday to the Lake District every year and climbed the 'Mountains' with my Father.

When I got divorced about 8 years ago, (and this almost requires it's own blog to explain) almost as a celebration of liberation (think of it more of a making the best of a bad situation, not of my choosing) I returned to the Lake District, for the first time in twenty or so years, with my brother for a long weekend of Fell walking.

After a few months of planning and a long car journey, day one came. We decided to walk up Cat Bells, one of the smaller peaks. But I hadn't counted on two things.

First, although it is a small mountain, it has an extremely steep ascent.

Second was my health. At that point I had recently quit smoking after twenty or so years on and off (Mostly 'on') and I have a knee injury that gives me a mild bit of grief in day to day gentle exercise. Mild but perfectly tolerable.

But it did not like that Mountain. Not one bit. It screamed at me to stop the whole way up. And it screamed at me all through the next three days of climbing.

I hadn't counted on that.


I still enjoyed the amazing beauty of those mountains, and the achievement of the ascent, and drank in thirstily all the views from their peaks. 

But it was enough to make me think twice about doing it again.

In the new earth I wont have to think twice.

There will be no more pain.

Imagine a restored world to explore and enjoy, more beautiful than it's former state, with it's population living on it in harmony with it, with themselves and with their creator?

No, you can't?

Me either really.....

But you know what?

He is able to do more (So much more) than all we can ask or imagine.

That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him."~ 1 Cor 2:9

But it doesn't hurt to use your imagination.

God gave you an imagination,

So use it to get inspired,
by and for his glory,

This day,
And all days,

Amen.