As we roll into this New Year, the word ‘new’ has been rolling around in my mind, and this passage from Revelation…

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. (Revelation 21:1)

We are just coming out of Advent and Christmas, where we have worshipped the Christ child in the manger and celebrated God’s entering our world in human form. What a glorious truth.

But let us never forget that, just as much as this season is about God’s coming to earth in Jesus, it’s also about a time when Jesus WILL come again. And when he does, he will make all things new!

When we lit the candles of the Advent Wreath through the month of December, lighting the candles that represent hope, peace, joy and love, we were celebrating Jesus’ birth. But at the same time we were also declaring our confidence that he will come again to set everything right.

Scripture talks a lot about this future reality. In addition to John’s Revelation above, many of the Old Testament prophets predicted it, as did the Apostle Paul (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17; 1 Corinthians 15:51-52), the writer of Hebrews (Hebrews 9:27-28), and Jesus himself (Matthew 24:30).  

I love how Isaiah imagines the new heaven and new earth…  

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. (Isaiah 11:6, NIV)

While we can’t fully picture what it will be like, what we can know is that God is going to take what is and transform it. We can know that, right now, behind the scenes, the God who keeps his promises is preparing to bring his kingdom in all its fullness, which he’s been doing from the very beginning.

And man, that’s good news, isn’t it? We all live with a sense of brokenness and not-rightness with the way things are – in our world and in ourselves. And we long for the day when it will be transformed. It’s an exciting truth worth contemplating, especially as we enter a New Year.

As we begin this New Year, I invite you to join me in spending some time reflecting on this glorious future – our inheritance in Christ – and give thanks. Here are just a few things to look forward to…

• New creation will reflect the glory God originally intended. In this great reversal, he will make new what was destroyed in the Garden.
• Relationships will be made whole – with God and with each other.
• Our souls, minds, bodies, and even the Earth, will be made perfect.
• “He will wipe away every tear” from our eyes (Revelation 21:4)

All of creation, including us, ‘stands on tiptoes,’ longing to be restored – for everything to be made right.

And so, I would like to suggest that these first days of the New Year are perhaps an opportunity to  spend some time meditating on the certainty of his return. It’s not easy as we are all caught up in busy lives – in the here and now.

But looking to the future – the one God has promised - might transform our current perspective and reality by reminding us of the secure and certain future we have in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

“O Come, O Come Immanuel” is a great Advent Hymn that both celebrates Christ coming in Bethlehem, but also the certain hope that he will come again. You might look it up and read all of it. Here’s part of it, and I offer it as a prayer as we look forward to Christ’s return.

O come, O Bright and Morning Star,
and bring us comfort from afar!
Dispel the shadows of the night
and turn our darkness into light.

Rejoice! Rejoice! Immanuel
shall come to you, O Israel.