All Things New Rev. 21:5 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
Rev 21:5 says, “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”
As a result of what Christ did for us, not only do we have a New Testament, but also we have ALL THINGS NEW. He has made or will make “ALL THINGS NEW.”
Just imagine, “ALL THINGS NEW.” WOW!! That means that you don’t have to be bound by the sins of your past. You don’t have to walk around with regrets about the mistakes you’ve made. You don’t have to be worried that the bad things in your life will control you for the rest of your life. You don’t have to worry about being constrained by a narrow set of “Do’s and Don’ts.” WHY? Because EVERYTHING is NEW!! EVERYTHING!! If Christians could just get a hold of that!!
You see, the dilemma in Christianity is not “how do I get saved?” That’s easy, “Trust Jesus.” The dilemma is “Now that I am saved, what do I do?” In the Old Testament, everything was spelled out, “Do this, don’t do that.” But now that you are saved in the New Testament, you ask, “How do I live my life?” “How am I supposed to act?” “Since ALL THINGS are NEW, I don’t want to mess it up this time!!” Or perhaps you are just too used to your old habits and old ways and you are not willing to change. Not me!! I was ready for a change. I decided, “If it’s something new, I’m willing to give it a go!!” How about you??
Are you willing to take hold of the new things that God has for you “in Christ?” Are you willing to put aside your fears about doing it just right, your worries about what others might think of you, and your concerns about letting go of the reins so that Christ can do something new with you? If you are you are in for a huge blessing!! Here are the new things:
You are a new creature – 2 Cor 5:17, Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Before you were saved, you were a child of Adam. You had a dead spirit and you were a slave to lust, appetites and sin. You were hell-bound. When you got saved you became a child of God by birth. You ended up with a live spirit. Your body was buried with Christ. The slave died. Therefore you are no longer the property of the slave master, the devil. You are free from bondage to lusts, appetites and sin. You are heaven-bound. You are free from the condemnation, guilt and punishment for sin. You are now free to serve the Lord in righteousness. It would be dumb for a free slave to go back to the old master and let him beat you in sin again!!! You are free!
You have a new man – Eph 4:24, And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness.
When you got saved, God gave you a new man to put on. We are incapable of producing our own righteousness, “all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” Think what it is like to go to a clothing store. Everything you are wearing looks ugly, even you. All around you are new clothes, new shoes, new ties, etc. When you put all these things on, everything on you looks great, even you. The store owner knows that you look funny in new clothes and ratty shoes so he is hoping that you will buy EVERYTHING NEW. New belt, new tie, new shoes, new socks… Jesus wants us to see our old man as ugly and the new man as a “total” new man.
Paul’s new man was dressed in suffering, “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” So, you may not get an easy ride in the new man, but it will be far better than the slavery and ugliness of the old man. Even if you suffer, you will still get a glorified body in eternity. Amen!
You have a new commandment – John 13:34, A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Love is the motive for everything you do. Everything before was motivated by self-love. In these days of perilous times, men are lovers of their own selves. They are lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.
So, you will be your happiest as a Christian when everything you do is motivated by your love for the Lord Jesus Christ and your love for others.
You have a new song – Rev 5:9, And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Our new song now is “Thou art worthy.” Compare the country western lyrics of “Somebody Slapped Me”, “Honky-tonk Healing”, “Look What Followed Me Home”, and “Nothing but the Taillights,” with the lyrics of “Constantly Abiding” and “Saved by Grace.” Thank God we have a new song.
You have a new home – Rev 21:2, And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Our new home is prepared as a bride for her husband. I remember the preparations for our wedding. We went to Hunt, Texas, to purchase a dress. It was a great experience. Then to see my wife dressed in her new wedding gown was beautiful. Likewise, we are making preparations for heaven. When we send our money on ahead, we are adorning our new homes. Remember what Christ said, “Where your treasure is there will your heart be also.”
You’ll get a new universe – 2 Pet 3:13, Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.
There is no need for us to worry about Afghanistan or the nuclear buildup in Iran. Before that it was Iraq, Vietnam, Fidel Castro, Korea and on and on. People are worried. The tree huggers are worried about using up our natural resources. The cities are worried about having sufficient water reserves. The country is worried about our currency and our health insurance.
There is no need for you to worry. There are other wars coming (three alone in the book of Revelation). Hail, fire and locusts are coming to destroy the trees. The water will turn to blood, you can’t stop that. This heaven and earth will be so ashamed at the white throne judgment that they will fly away! So, if God is not worried about the coming wars and the condition of the trees and the water, why should you?
God will make everything new and then everything will be all right. Until then, there are still going to be mosquitoes, flies, spiders, fires, plagues, famines, wars, and so forth. When God makes “all things new” everything will be just fine. No need to worry.
Conclusion: So, if all these things are new and available to you, why not get going for them like a kid going for all his new toys at Christmas!! When I was a kid, I woke up at the crack of dawn, woke up my brothers and sisters, woke up Mom and Dad, agonized over Dad’s preparations with the old movie camera, pretended not to be overly excited as we meandered (in a mad dash) toward the living room, and then flew through the presents like Taz, poking my head out of a pile of toys, boxes, wrapping paper and ribbons to ask in a daze, “Is that all?”
Some of you haven’t even gotten out of bed yet!! There’s a whole load of stuff that Jesus has for you just waiting for you to dig in!!
And if you aren’t saved, you are missing all of this and heaven, too. Yours is the saddest case of all. You are still trying to get to heaven by the Old Testament of “Do this, don’t do that.” That’s been out of style for nearly 2000 years. You need to get up-to-date. You need to get with the program. You need to get saved.