Everything New

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new.” Revelation 21:5

Consider the following lyrics: “Long ago – but not so very long ago – the world was different. Oh yes, it was.” Those words are the opening lines to the song “Our Town,” sung by James Taylor from the Disney Pixar movie Cars. It was a song about a small town.

“Long ago – but not so very long ago – the world was different. Oh yes, it was.” Part of the song’s power is that it hits home for all of us who have lived long enough to see things decline with time. Perhaps we’ve seen the home we grew up in fall into disrepair. Perhaps we’ve seen people and jobs leave the once bustling city of Racine. Perhaps we’ve witnessed the toxic waste that is passed off as entertainment on TV. Perhaps we’ve lived long enough to see the decline in our own health.

I’ve seen this decline in my own health. Here are a few examples. I was talking with a friend about playing sports again after my knee surgery. My “sweet” seven-year-old daughter, Lydia overheard our conversation and commented, “Dad, you’re THIRTY-NINE!” I reminded her, “Lydia, I’m thirty-nine. I’m not dead.” My other daughters -- who everyone thinks are so cute and sweet -- are calling their dad “decrepit.” Last week my oldest daughter turned thirteen. I mentioned on Facebook that she is the first of fifteen straight years of having teenage girls in my house. A church member wrote on Facebook that now the white hair will be coming.

Decline is all around us. I am in decline. And if you are honest, decline is in you, too.

To see things decline, to see things wear out and break and fall apart and fade away – that’s a vivid reminders that we live in a sinful, fallen world. Sinful because you and I are sinners.

One of our church members who was ninety-two and in the hospital asked me, “Pastor, why is my health getting so bad.” I told him, “Because you’re old. Because you’re a sinner. Our bodies are naturally going to fall apart.” I wasn’t trying to be funny. Just realistic.

But sinful decline does not have the last word. Jesus does. He says, “I am making everything new.” That’s why Jesus came into this sinful, broken world. That’s why He lived the perfect life we cannot live. That’s why He took our sins to the cross. That’s why He rose from the dead. And because He did, He renews us with His gospel every day. He refreshes our spirit every day. And He points us ahead to the time when the effects of sin will be gone forever.

We won’t have to worry about our hometown falling apart for we will be living in the new Jerusalem of heaven. (Revelation 21:2) We won’t have to be concerned with drinking polluted water for we will be drinking from the springs of eternal life in heaven. (Revelation 21:6) We won’t be upset anymore by dead pets, broken bones, deceased family or a poor economy. For we will be living in a time when there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. (Revelation 21:4)

I visited our church’s shut-in members last week before I became a shut-in. As I lay on my sofa recuperating from ACL surgery, I am reminded that I’m getting older. I’m a sinner. Not funny. Just realistic. We live in a world of decline.

But I’m also reminded that you and I can take heart. Jesus makes everything new. Amen to that!