All Things New

Behold, I make all things new. Rev. 21:5

I love the New Year because it represents new beginnings and fresh starts. We can "start over" as it were. Make new resolutions, form new plans, and nurture new hopes. We do so with the expectation that this will be the beginning to a better end, no matter how badly things were in the past.

And, dear Christian, there is no reason why we should not. There is no reason why we should not only want to start anew, but also start anew with new hopes and new prospects. Why? Because we not only serve the God who stands at the beginning and created all things (Gen. 1:1), but we also know that this very same God is redeeming his fallen creation. The God who creates is the Word who redeems (Jn. 1:1, 14, 18). Not only so: but he will decisively and completely renew it, and, as our text says, "make all things new."

In the text, it says that the one who utters these words is "he that sat upon the throne." Yes! The God who declares his intention to make all things new will certainly do so, for he sits upon the throne judging right and doing whatever pleases him. We make our plans gladly under the sovereign rule of the one who ultimately decides our future, rather than the chance occurrences of blind fate or circumstance (cf. Jam. 4:13-17). Yet this is not the fatalistic mentality of some, but the hopeful outlook of the one who makes his plans trusting that God will work all things for our good through Jesus Christ.

Do something new this year. Grow in grace. Read your Bible more. Pray more. Find new ways to love God and love others. We do so because we serve the one who is making all things new.