Great Truths for
Challenging Times
 part 4
 All Things New
(Video – All Things New / "Passion of the Christ")

 This is a great truth for challenging times. By His life, death, resurrection and eternal life, Jesus is making all things new for those who give their lives to Him.

The Apostle John was allowed to look into heaven and saw a vision of what God is ultimately doing for His people in Christ. He records this in the book of Revelation, chapter 21:
  1 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 all things 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." – Revelation 21:1-7
 This is a critical truth for you and I to think about and hang onto and believe whenever we’re going through the struggles and disappointments and challenges of life.
Now some people might say that Scriptural passages that speak about a glorious future for God’s people are just pie-in-the-sky promises that serve to get our minds off our problems and keep us from actually doing something to solve them.
Socialist Karl Marx once said that religion is the opiate of the masses.
But I think this is exactly the opposite of reality. Because if you absolutely know that your destiny is awesome and blessed and certain, then you are free to live the most abundant and radical life of love and service to others in the here and now.
If someone falls out of an airplane that you’re flying in, in most cases you’re going to mourn their loss but you’re not going to jump out after them. Unless you’re wearing a parachute. Then maybe you’ll go into rescue mode and dive out of the plane and free fall like a bullet until you can catch the helpless, hold onto them and pull your cord.
It’s the assurance of your own safety in the end that empowers radical, bold living in the here and now.
And that’s the life you want to live. You don’t want to be fearful and anxious and worried and disheartened by the circumstances of life.
You want to rise above. You want to be an overcomer. And that’s what God made you to be.
So let’s focus for a few minutes on what Christ is making new for you in all He is doing:
 What Does Christ Make New?
1. Christ will make and is making you spiritually and morally new.
You know what the greatest frustration of this age is? It’s not the economy or the scourge of cancer or the lack of strong political leadership.

Our greatest frustration is with sin. Sin will frustrate all the longings that God has put within you to experience the life that He created you for.

And this is most true for those who have given themselves over to God through faith in Christ as Lord and Savior.

Here’s what the Apostle Paul writes about our struggle with sin:
"I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing." – Romans 7:18-19
He goes on to say that the presence and reality of sin wages war against our minds and our bodies, even when we want to follow Jesus.

So we are at war! And war is messy and hard and hurtful.

You want to love, and instead you say unkind or insensitive things. You want to worship, but you feel cold. You want to walk in peace, but you feel anxiety and uncertainty. You want to be pure in thought, but impurity bombards your mind and your senses.

Now God gives us spiritual weapons, but what are those? The sword of the spirit – the shield of faith – the helmet of salvation – the breastplate of righteousness – all parts of the armor of God!

You have to put on the armor and use these weapons because you’re in a fight for your soul and you’re in a fight for your family and you’re battling for all those people you influence everyday.

But remember as you fight – Jesus has already won the victory over sin.

Later on in the book of Revelation, there is another description of those who belong to God, again called the bride of Christ, and there it is said that the bride is radiant with the glory of God. The bride is pure and without stain.

It is said that in the city where God and His people dwell . . .

"Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life."
– Revelation 21:27

This is part of what Christ is making new in you right now. He is cleaning you up morally and making you spiritually pure. The day is coming when you will be so good and right and pure that you will be like a translucent jewel that can be looked through with no hint of flaw or imperfection. There won’t be anything hidden or shameful about you. You will share in the righteousness of Christ.

And then, of course, . . .

2. Christ will make you physically and bodily new.
God’s promise is that as you have given your life to Christ, in eternity there will be no suffering, or mourning, or pain or death.

You will live and breathe and eat and love, but you will not be injured or will never experience the breakdown of your body.

Here’s what the Holy Spirit inspired the Apostle Paul to write to us as followers of Christ:

"We are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior. 21 He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like His own, using the same power with which He will bring everything under His control." – Philippians 3:20-21
There are plenty of people who didn’t seem to get a fair shake when the bodies were passed out. Some have dramatic deformities, some have lost limbs, some are paralyzed or can’t hear or see. Some have extensive skin blemishes or bodies that break down prematurely.

But God has no intention of leaving anyone in that condition as they trust in Christ. He has purposes for His glory in letting someone be born blind or letting them endure unbelievable suffering, but He has no intention of leaving anyone with pain and disability who follows Jesus.

Jesus will make all things new and whole and glorious, including our physical bodies.

But the work that Christ is doing is even more expansive. The Scriptures tell us that . . .

3. Christ will make creation new and glorious.
Our passage in Revelations speaks of a new heaven and a new earth. What will that be like?

The New Testament book of Romans says this:
"Creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the liberty of the glory of the children of God." – Romans 8:21
There will be no natural disasters – no earthquakes or floods or tornadoes.

We know it will be a place where the lamb will be able to lay down with the lion. No living thing will be in danger from another.
The city called New Jerusalem is described as suspended between heaven and earth, and its dimensions are given as more than 1300 miles long and 1300 miles wide and 1300 miles high. To give you some perspective, that would mean the Holy City will be about 2/3 the size of the moon. I guess Jesus wasn’t kidding when He said, "In My Father’s house are many rooms."

We all long for a world where everything is in balance and exists in peace and harmony. And that day is coming.

Christ is making us new spiritually and morally, and He will make us new physically, and through Him all of creation will be made new so that our environment is perfectly fitted for our perfected bodies and spirits, and all of this to the glory of God.

One more thing now that Christ is working to make new:

4. Christ will make your relationship with God new and glorious.
This last week, our whole family attended a funeral on Monday. The funeral home was packed, a sign of respect and honor for the deceased and her family. Abbie was sitting between Janet and I, and she was probably the shortest person there. So when the first speaker got up and started to deliver the eulogy, Abbie started squirming and trying to sit up really straight, and then she leaned over to me and said, "Daddy, I can’t see."

Now of course, she could hear everything being said, but if you can’t see the person speaking, you’re not getting the full experience. So I leaned to my left and pulled her that way so she could get a view of the front around the people sitting in front of her. Once Abbie could see, she was satisfied. And one day she will have grown enough to see without any help.

Now hear me – there is no place you can go and be apart from the spiritual presence of God. Jesus has not left you alone, but He has sent the Holy Spirit into your heart to encourage and guide you and lead you in the truth.

But, still the fellowship and relationship you have with God is not the same quality as it will be one day.

The Apostle Paul says, "while we are home in the body, we are away from the Lord. Here we walk by faith and not by sight." – II Corinthians 5:6-7

Right now you can sense the presence of God, and you can hear His words and you can observe the results of His work, but your relationship with God is still developing and it won’t reach its full significance until you look into His face.

But Jesus in His work to make all things new has guaranteed you a complete and fulfilling relationship with the Father.

Here is what we are promised in the next to last chapter of Revelation and all of Scripture:

"Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. God Himself will be with them and be their God. They will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads." – Revelation 21:3; 22:4
Folks, the day is coming when all things will be made new.

When you feel weak and worn out, you can know that Your body will be healed.

When you are sick to death over your inner failings, you have the assurance that Your character will be washed pure.

When you despair over the world’s injustice and tragedy, you can hold on to the promise that all creation will be made right and whole.

And when you feel that God is far away or distant, you can be encouraged by the truth that you will see Him face to face, and He will say to you, "You are one of my children."

This is the work that Christ accomplished for you on the cross.

This is the work that Christ is bringing to fruition in your life each day.

This is the work that Christ will fulfill when you stand before God.

In a world that is often heartbreaking as it is slides toward destruction, here is a Great Truth for these Challenging Times:

Christ is making all things new.