January 30 - New Heaven and New Earth

January 30 – New Heaven and New Earth

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” (Revelation 21:1-2)

In many ways it is easy to see God as the Creator of all things.  We recognizes that He constantly renews creation by bringing spring after the winter, by sending rain to water the earth, by settle the cycles of the seasons into place, by causing the earth to move so that we have day and night – heat and cool.  This is easy for us to accept.  He creates new life with each new birth … of children, of animals, plants and trees.  We honor Him for this continuing renewal of His creation.

After the flood in Genesis, God promised that He would never again destroy mankind that way and sealed the promise with the sign of the rainbow – and He hasn’t.  Through all of the mess we have made of life on earth, God has never wrought complete destruction on His creation.

However, that time is limited.  The Revelation points to a time when God will rain down destruction like we have never seen.  All of creation will face this destruction because of sin.

The glorious thing about that destruction is that at the end of it, God will create anew.  We will get the chance to experience the freshness and excitement of a new creation. 

Over and over we see that God offers to those who love Him incredible gifts.  The gift of a fresh, new creation – the new heaven, the new earth … a new Jerusalem (which represents the home of the King of all Creation) – these are beyond our imagination, yet they will be set before us as our home for eternity.

God wants us to live with Him and He brings before His bride the gift of a fresh, new home.  Sin won’t exist there, tears and sorrow will be gone, death will have no power.