All Things New

And Another Thing . . . All Things New

“Look, I am making all things new.”

Revelation 21:5                               

The Greek word used here for “new” is kainos (kahee-nos) and in addition to meaning new, it also means fresh. Fresh is similar to new, but there are some differences that are unique and important.

The ideas of “new” and “old” are tied to time. Time makes new things old. A new car is valuable because it does not have any miles on it. The paint is shiny, there are no dings in the doors, the tires are full of tread and the motor hums.  The more a car is exposed to miles and roads it begins to change, to fade, to diminish. Suddenly, the “new” begins to morph into something else. The time and use begin to take a toll on the vehicle.  If it is kept long enough, things will begin to break and in the (notice this key word) end it will be scrapped.

The words “new” and “old” are related to “beginning” and “end.”  New things are found at beginnings, and old things are, for the most part, found at the ends.  The words “fresh” and “rotten” frequently correlate to new and old, but not always.  Sometimes, things can stay fresh in spite of being exposed to time.  For a bit, the effects of aging can be postponed. Freshness can be infused and the process of decay delayed.  But in this world, death always wins.

So here’s the thing. Old and dying are not part of God’s perfect plan.  God is only in the business of new, in the business of life. Death came with the enemy and the Fall. In the Garden of Eden everything was eternally fresh.  When Jesus speaks at the end of Revelation and tells us to “watch” as he makes “everything FRESH” again.  God wants to restore His natural order.  He sent Jesus to insert an extravagant, invigorating, revitalizing, reviving, restoring, fortifying, enlivening, story into the tale of humans that altered the storyline away from destruction and toward redemption. 

Jesus was a breath of fresh air blown into a world suffocating from a long fall in the wrong direction.  Isaiah tells us that “the people walking in darkness have seen a great light.”  John tells us “and that light was the life of all mankind.”  Paul tells us that “the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life.”  God is the source of life.  Sin is anything that separates us from God.  When we are far from God we begin to decay and die.  When we “draw near” to God we find life and become fresh.

So in this New Year let’s resolve to “be still and know that He is God.”  Let’s find ways to set aside time to draw near to God so that life can become fresh and new.  “His mercies are NEW every morning.” “His love never fails.”  Everything touched by God comes alive.  It started in the Garden and will never end.

God is making everything new.  Even me.  Even you.

Happy New Year . . . and that’s all I have to say about that . . . for now.