August 09 2022

Today, Tuesday August 09

“Behold, I Make All Things New”

Revelation 21:1-7

“Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful." And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.”

Revelation 20 ends with a detailed description of the Great White Throne Judgment of all the unsaved, the dead, of all the ages of humanity, as they meet their final doom in the lake of fire for all eternity. When we go from Revelation 20 to 21, we step out of time into eternity. Everything is made new!

It is very difficult for our finite minds to explain or understand eternity or that which is eternal. We live in a three-dimensional world with time and space that can be defined, that is definite. We have a past, a present and a future. We can measure everything with specific distance or length. I personally think that the first thing that God created in Genesis 1 was time.

God is described as the “eternal, everlasting God.” People sometimes ask, “Where did God come from?” The answer is simply, “God didn’t come from anywhere, He always was!” God was before time! God has always existed!

Eternity is one of the most beautiful attributes of the God that we worship. Without a God who possesses an eternal nature, we would be condemned to true fear and forlorn despair. The Bible says, “The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms” (Deuteronomy 33:27).

The idea of eternity runs through the Bible. Everywhere you turn, you find it. In fact, all our treasured biblical doctrines and truths would collapse without the reality of an everlasting God. Romans 1:20 speaks of “His eternal power and Godhead.” Romans 9:5 calls Him “the eternally blessed God.” Ephesians 3:11 speaks of His eternal purpose, and 1 Timothy 1:17 calls Him “the King eternal, immortal, invisible.” Genesis 21:33 says He is the “Everlasting God.” Psalm 100:5 says, “The Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations”.

Though the concept of eternity is beyond imagining, we can attempt a definition. The eternity of God refers to His existence backward throughout time and beyond, further than we can imagine, and forward into the future, as far as we can imagine and beyond. God never had a beginning and will never have an ending. There never was a time when He was not, and there will never be a time when He ceases to be.

God is infinite as it relates to space, everywhere present at the same time. He is infinite as it relates to time, existing in every time zone equally, and in the past, present, and future simultaneously. That also means His qualities and attributes are infinite—His love will never end; His mercy will never cease; His truth will never expire; His holiness is as eternal as He Himself is. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God’” (Isaiah 44:6).

Like everything else about God, this attribute—His eternity—is unfathomable, and yet He obviously wants us to think about it, to consider it, to ponder it, and to rejoice in it. He filled His Word with information about it. How wonderful to be able to pray to and worship a God who exceeds our understanding, to say: “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable” (Psalm 145:3). What a great word for God!

In Revelation 21:3, we are told that “God Himself comes to dwell with men”. That’s how the time ends, and eternity begins for us! And God said, “Behold, I make everything new!” (v. 5) Then He said, “It is done!” (v. 6)

God bless!