What’s new? Where can I get it? When can I get it?
We live in a world that is constantly chasing newness—and the business world capitalises on hearts that have an inbuilt desire for newness. New hairstyle, new shoes, new takkies, new phone, new car, new clothes, new friends. New you.
We’re drawn to new things, even though we know novelty quickly wears off.
Sadly, new things get old. They lose their freshness. Your favourite takkies will look and feel old when a newer range is advertised. That new car will suddenly feel old when the new model is introduced. Your year-old phone becomes redundant when the latest model drops. New things have a powerful lure. We’re drawn to them, even though we all know that novelty quickly wears off. New things become old things.
We need to be gripped by newness that will never grow old. We need to yearn for an eternal newness—the kind we read about in Revelation 21:1-8.
“I Am Making All Things New”
The book of Revelation shows us a future newness that is yet to come. Believers are promised a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1); a new Jerusalem. God also promises to make “all things new” (Revelation 21:5). In just five verses, we read the word “new” for times (Revelation 21:1-5). Through this repetition, God is pointing his people to something fresh, better and long-lasting that is coming. This is a promise worth waiting for.
This is a promise worth waiting for.
The promise of newness in Revelation 21:1-5 is countercultural. It isn’t instantaneous. We can’t purchase it (Isaiah 55:1). Furthermore, it will actually last—and satisfy—forever. This wonderful truth, the Christians glorious hope, should shape how we live in the present. It should gird us against the lure of countless new things. By it, we can guard against the consumerism that dwells in our hearts and also characterises modern cultures. Fixing our eyes and hearts on the fulfilling newness of glory will help us resist chasing the freshest item online or in the shop window. For it can help us learn to be content.
New, Permanent and Perfect
Tires wear out. Your camera will stop working. That designer bag will start to appear shabby. Cracks eventually erode the once freshly renovated or built house. Paint fades. New software needs to be installed almost daily. Even your favourite pair of socks will one day grow holes.
Our current experience frustrates us because God has set eternity in our hearts.
This reality should cause us to yearn for one that will never fade. That is precisely what God promises. “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). Those former things will give way to a reality that is not only permanent but perfect. And it’s what all of us truly desire. Our current experience frustrates us because God has set eternity in our hearts.
If we’re honest, we routinely try to satisfy that eternal longing with fleeting new things. We might buy new clothes to numb the pain of a break-up; or we imagine that some new tech will dull our senses after the death of a loved one. Sometimes it isn’t new things but experiences that we believe will make us whole, and fulfil our longings. Maybe we buy a new car in search of status. We buy all sorts of things and turn them into our image, and ultimately, they become our identity. Of course, others believe a new romance or sexual encounter will provide approval.
Friends, the new and the better is out there. But you’ll never find it in things; only by being in the presence of the newness giver. God.
We Will Be With God
The pinnacle of God’s promise is himself. It is the uninterrupted presence of God. “I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God'” (Revelation 21:3).
A time is coming when we’ll no longer be distracted.
A time is coming when those who put their faith in Christ today—and tomorrow, and the next day—will no longer be distracted; when their desires will be fully satisfied. Forever. Then we will dwell with God. He will be our God and we will be his people. In the meantime, may we hope for what we do not see and “wait for it with patience” (Romans 8:25).
“Behold, I am making all things new.” The one who speaks these words is “trustworthy and true” (Revelation 21:5). Turn to him.
