ALL THINGS NEW

By Sean Fryer

“‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.’ He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’”—Revelation 21:4–5

I’ve heard it said that for the believer, earth is the closest we’ll ever get to hell and for the non-believer, earth is the closest they’ll ever get to heaven. That’s a crazy thought!  It’s so true, though . . . And today, we’re going to look at what we have to look forward to at the end of this life. All the suffering, trials, heartache, sickness, disease, you name it . . . it all ultimately leads to this for the believer.

Revelation 21–22 describes a new heaven and a new earth we get to live in, inside a new Jerusalem . . . a perfect community of God’s people. Here’s the best part: “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God’” (Revelation 21:3). How incredible is that? God will be with us! He will dwell with us. “They shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads” (Revelation 22:4).  We know God is with us now, but in eternity we will SEE Him face to face.

Here’s another amazing thing: It’s that verse we started with . . . No more crying, no more pain, no more sickness; all of that stuff is gone! We have the comfort of God with us forever.  

Now look at the city we get to live in: The light in the city is like a jasper stone, the walls are jasper, the city itself is pure gold, and the foundations of the wall are of precious jewels. Also, there really are pearly gates and streets of gold! Think about that: What is so precious and worthwhile to us here is just asphalt there. Think how much God values you that He would build a city like this for you to live in forever.

There is an open invitation to this city! Revelation 22:17 says, “Come!” Anyone can accept this invitation. Believe in the Lord Jesus, that He died for you and rose again from the dead. He is the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Him. Today is the day of salvation. Jesus said, “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work” (Revelation 22:12). He is coming. Are you ready? All the heartache in your life can lead to this perfect city and eternity with God, all you have to is give your life to Him.

I’d like to close with this quote from The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis that I believe sums this up well. “And as He spoke, He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on forever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.”