Today’s Holy Nougat
offers a picture of that beautiful day. How are we preparing for it?
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.” Revelation 21:1-2 NLT
Behold! The New is Come
The penultimate chapter in Revelation offers hope for new beginnings. Both heaven and earth will be recreated by God, confirming that a new creation order is established at that time. This is in keeping with the prophetic words from Isaiah (65); the Psalms (102); and 2 Peter (3), which all speak to God’s establishment of a new heaven and new earth. We recall Jesus’ affirmation that His prophetic Word on the end times is truth in Matthew 24: ’Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My Word shall never pass away.’
Now, as I ruminated (ie chewed/mulled it over), the message of 2 Corinthians 5:17 echoed in my spirit: ‘Therefore anyone in Christ becomes a new creation, the old passes away and the new remains.’ That’s our blessed hope. Reading beyond verses 1 & 2, indicates that the newness is rooted in the fact that our God once again dwells amongst God’s people.
This is possible, because our once mortal bodies assume immortality, thus qualifying us to be in the direct presence of our immortal God. That fulfills Jesus’ promise to prepare a place for us, that we can be where He is (at God’s right hand), Always! See John 14:3.
And all this is included in our celebrations for Christ’s birth. Because we know how this part of the story ends. Each time we celebrate Jesus’ birth, there’s the echo of the chorus, ‘Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again!’ Upon His return as Lord of Lords, we look forward to:
New body, new heavens, new earth for our new season of life with God.
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May all we seek be found in Christ