Rector’s Reflections
Tuesday 16th July 2024
See, I am making all things new
Today I am starting a new series of reflections, on the subject of God’s ongoing work of creation and re-recreation. God is continually at work to bring about new beginnings: new beginnings in the our own lives, in the lives of our communities and in the life of our world. God’s continuous work of creation and re-creation means that we can always have grounds for hope for the future. However bad things have been in the past, there will be a better future ahead. We can look forward in hope. There is always hope for us, not only in our individual lives but also for our communities and our world.
In the days ahead, I will explore this theme in more detail. But today, let me give the background to this theme. It is rooted in some verses from the final book of the New Testament: the Book of Revelation, sometimes known as the Apocalypse. There continues to be much debate over the correct interpretation of this book of the Bible, and sections of it are far from easy to understand. However, many scholars hold the view that the book was produced late in the 1st Century AD in order to comfort Christians who were undergoing persecution. It provides a vision of hope: in the world as we know it, there is pain and suffering, but in the future, there will be a new order of things. This new order of things is expressed in visionary language, most powerfully in chapter 21, which refers to a “new heaven” and a “new earth”, and “the new Jerusalem”, described as “the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven form God”.
The first seven verses of passage from chapter 21 deserve to be quoted in full :
“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, And I heard a loud voice form the throne saying, “See the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new”. And he said, “write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. Those who conquer will inherit these things, and I will be their God and they will be my children”.
In this vision, God, imagined as “the one who was seated on the throne” , proclaims, “See, I am making all things new”. The imagery of a throne is intended to indicate that God acts and speaks with authority. He is the true ruler of the world and the Lord of History. Human rulers might claim our allegiance, but their authority and power is limited. God is in charge.
What might this mean in practice? What might it mean for God to be “making all things new”? We will explore this further in the days ahead.