1 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. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And 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. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Re. 21:1-4)That is what the new heavens and the new earth will be like. Did you notice the covenantal refrain? As we talked about when we discussed God’s covenant work in general, this is the point to which He has been leading and continues to lead all His people. He has increased His fellowship with His people through His covenants and the Church enjoys the most intimate fellowship with Him ever experienced because of Jesus’ first advent and work of redemption. However, there is more to come. When Jesus appears in His second advent and ushers in the new heavens and the new earth “God himself will be with them as their God.” We will walk and talk with God in our new, glorified bodies forever. That’s the end towards which our loving and just God has been relentless pushing since before there was time. That’s what we were created for. That’s what Jesus guaranteed for us in His first advent and will bring to fruition in His second.
Did you also notice the promise of complete and utter joy? God “will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” In yesterday’s mediation we asked “Will the miseries of this age really end?” and answered “yes!” because Jesus has assured it with His life, death, resurrection, and ascension. In today’s passage we see what life will be like when “the former things have passed away.” When everything in this world is gone (cf. 2 Pt. 3:10-12) and Jesus brings in the new heavens and the new earth there will be no pain, no crying, no tears, and no mourning—nothing that can ever eclipse the pure and utter joy of the “dwelling place of God [being] with man.” Nothing. That’s what Jesus won for His Church in His first advent and what we know will one day come. As Peter tells us, “According to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
On this day of Advent remember that Christmas only marks the beginning of the end. Jesus completed His work of redemption during His first advent and we enjoy the first fruits of that redemption now—“justification, adoption, and sanctification, and... assurance of God’s love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end.” (WSC #32, #36) But, there is more to come. When Jesus returns in His second advent all believers will receive their new, glorified bodies (cf. 1 Co. 15:50-55) that will be “perfectly and immutably free to do good alone,” (cf. WCF 9.5) and they will enter into the new heavens and new earth that John described for us in today’s passage. Remember that all this has been guaranteed in Christ’s first advent and work of redemption and that no one can take it away from those who truly repent and believe. Ask God to give you opportunities to share this good news—the gospel—with someone today and ask Him to give you the strength not to duck when He does. Praise Him for all the benefits He has given you in Christ, and ask Him to speed the day so you can enter into the glorious world-to-come where the “dwelling place of God is with man.” Live expectantly looking for Jesus’ second advent. Perhaps today could be the day.
By His Grace,
Taylor
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