As John prepares to wind down the writings in the book of Revelation, it is fitting that we recognize this verse on New Year’s Eve. For us mortals, all of the earth is turning another page of time. It is something which we look toward anticipating the next year. In some cases, we will be able to walk away from what has been in favor of what will be. In the prophecies of this book God is doing the same thing. He is telling us to let the past be in the past including our personal pain and failures. Those who experience the Tribulation in the future will not have the conviction of the Holy Spirit to lead them to salvation. However, they still have a chance of salvation during this horrible time by recalling the testimonies of others for their spiritual needs.
This does not mean these converts in the Tribulation will be able to arbitrarily declare themselves Christian. Even by surrendering to God, they will be a small minority that suffers from the persecution of the evil transpiring in the world. Do not take what I’m saying as a second chance! It will be a horrible time in which new believers will not even be able to go to the grocery store to buy food. Their lives will be a perpetual tornado with harassment and hatred twirling about them every day.
Now as part of this New Year’s celebration we promise ourselves resolutions such as going on a diet or getting another job or something more meaningful and personal. Going into the new year, Jesus said in his bold statement that he would never leave us nor depart from us. God is taking every effort for us to have the assurance that soon there will be a whole newness in our surroundings. This is not just a prophecy. It is a promise that God’s personal intervention in the history of mankind will become part of his interjection into our own daily lives throughout eternity.
God showed John a magnificence for those who have accepted Christ. The final judgment on Satan, his cohorts, and those who would not acknowledge the divinity of Christ has been accomplished in this writing. This chapter offers us major assurance of what heaven on earth will be like for us. Living on the new earth that God has renovated from the old means that he did not annihilate the clump of mud we call earth. He will not explode it and send its particles soaring through space. For him to make a new heaven and a new earth I can only describe it as major remodeling. Anything offensive, anything hurtful, anything evil will not exist on this new earth. In verse four God gives us the assurance that, “he shall wipe away all tears from our eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
As we have a new heaven and a new earth, God also requires a new heaven and a new earth to establish his residence among us by bringing the new Jerusalem out of heaven onto this planet so that he will dwell among us. We shall be his people. There will be no interference of any kind between us and him as our God. He contrasts this wonderfulness he has planned for us on earth by saying in verse eight, “the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and warmongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone which is called the second death.” God is making a drastic decision in favor of those who made their own decision toward him and against those who made their own decisions contrary to his loving call. Later in this chapter John revealed distinct details about the description of that new heaven on earth. In that future time there would be no need for a Temple because God is the temple among us. Likewise, the renovation of the heavens means there is no sun or moon because God’s glory will be the light for us.
We can praise God that some nations on earth that will be saved with their kings shall enjoy the glory and honor of God. Have no concern for what your personal heaven will be like! All believers will dwell in that new Jerusalem for all eternity. These are people from all time periods in all history because they have embraced simultaneously the hope of Abraham that we will have that heavenly city on earth to enjoy with Christ. Tonight, we observe a new year in mankind’s history. Sometime in the not-too-distant future, we will observe a new year, a new home, a new glory, new hope, and a new joy that is indescribable.
Christian Writer 