By Marc Wagner
Revelation 21:1 …“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.”
Revelation 21 introduces us to the climax of the whole story of the Bible, a picture of the end of this age with new heavens and a new earth, a new Jerusalem, and God finally being reconnected with humanity to “dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be their God.” (Rev 21:3) These verses tell of the wiping away of every tear, no more death, no mourning, crying, or pain, with God saying from the throne, “Behold, I am making all things new.” (Rev 21:5) What an idea! Think about what is being offered!
Why does this vision of the end matter for our lives today? When we think about what God is bringing about in his time, how should this change us now? There is no better answer than what the apostle Peter says in 2 Peter 3:9-13:
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
Amen!
Peter is saying that we are waiting for “the day of the Lord” or “the day of God (v.10,12) at which time, he will bring about new heavens and a new earth “in which righteousness dwells.” Imagine a world where everyone speaks and acts righteously in everything! Peter asks the question that I want you to consider as well, “what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness? Beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace” (v.11,14). Remember, these are not suggestions, but an answer to the question as to how we should think and act in the time we have left…starting today!
