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 21:5
Most of us have become masters at blaming. It began in Eden when sin entered the picture, ushering in pain, suffering, and death (Genesis 3:6-7, 5:5) for before all that it was all perfect and good (Gen 1:31). Adam blamed God for giving him the woman who caused him to sin. The woman blamed the serpent who lied to her, and we have been blaming everyone and everything for our sorrows ever since. God, unfortunately, is still the number one target of our ire as the cause of it all, but God had nothing to do with it.
The curse of
sin and evil on Creation was the outcome of Adam and Eve believing Satan’s lie
and acting in favor of his deception (Genesis 3:4). The free choice of Earth’s
original parents to rebel against God’s loving provision and this resulting disaster
called human life is now the why of it. It will be played out until
Christ, the eternal how of it getting fixed, fully redeems it back to
its perfect creative design.
Adam and Eve
had no excuse for their rebellion for they had been duly warned of the
consequences of disobedience. People will say, “OK, so maybe God didn’t make it
happen, but if he knows everything, then he allowed it, so that makes
him a monster.” On the surface of pure emotion that seems plausible but glosses
over the character of God’s true love.
We humans
enjoy using the phrase “God is love” without really understanding its core
truth. To first be a God of love, He must first be a God of freedom, granting
us the self-determination to willingly return our love to Him.
God doesn’t
do bots. He did not do so with us or even the holy angels. Would you want a
robotic mate to kiss you only when you put a thumb to your remote? That would
make You the controller of the “love,” and the maker of a
preprogrammed response. Your ‘mate’ would have no choice of their own except to
obey your command. You alone would be the giver and receiver of that kind of
perceived love, but that is no love at all. To exist, love must be free to either be willingly
accepted and returned in kind or refused.
God is not
the cause of Earth’s misery, but He is in the process of repairing it. He will bring
a complete and pristine restoration to the heavens and the earth. Jesus told
John a day is coming when He will wipe away every tear from our eyes and there
will be no more death, mourning, crying or pain and God will live among us (Rev
21:1-4).
A time is
coming when the Bride of Christ, the Church of true believers and acceptors of
His redemptive work, will be forcefully (instantaneously with power and
authority) received to Himself, and in that instant the dead in Christ will be
resurrected first and those of us still living will be transformed into bodies
made to last for eternity (1st Thessalonians 4:14-18). He ends with
the admonition to encourage one another with these words.
Today’s
picture is truly worth a thousand words. All we are, have become, or lost, will
be instantaneously changed and renewed (1st Corinthians 15:51-52).
Whatever we desire to be and have will be done with such exquisite precision
that it will be far beyond anything we could even ask for or imagine (1st
Corinthians 2:9). We will be fully healed in soul, body, and mind. No missing limbs,
no cluttered minds, no scars, and no more emotional baggage.
Jesus puts
His word on it when He tells John that He, Jesus, is making everything new and
to ‘flag it,’ holding Him accountable to the written word.
Jesus says
with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26). That even includes rearranging
the atoms of the cremated back into their bodies, or rapturing a child from a
wheelchair. Remember He spoke the universe into existence (Genesis 1:3) so why
would we balk at Him rearranging molecules back into DNA, bone, and tissue? He
says, “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is there anything too hard for Me?”
(Jeremiah 32:27).
We made this
mess called humanity, but God sent His only Begotten Son to fix it (John 3:17-18).
Let the only thing you lay at His feet be your humble thanks with grateful
worship, looking forward to His glorious appearing when He will free you from
the Curse.
Ken
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