March 2025

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

“He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true” (Revelation 21:5).

As the calendar turns from February to March, we can finally begin to look forward to the onset of springtime.  The days are getting longer and sunnier, the flowers and other plants are beginning to bloom, the animals that hibernate for the winter are waking up, birds are returning from their journey south.  Springtime is a time of refreshing after a long, cold winter; it is a time of new life on our old planet.  As such, as I contemplated the oncoming spring season and how it signifies new life, I couldn't help but think of the two passages listed above; passages that remind us of the newness that comes through Jesus Christ.

How many of you have truly contemplated the fact that, as Christians, as followers of Jesus Christ, you are a new creation?  How many of you know what that truly means?  It means that, once we have accepted the free gift of salvation from God through faith in Jesus, we are no longer the same as we were before that.  Before we accept Christ as our Savior, we are citizens of the world; we are sinful, broken creatures who are destined to live our lives in darkness and to ultimately experience eternity outside the presence of Christ in the eternal torment of hell.

However, the moment we place our faith in Jesus and accept God’s free gift of salvation, that old creature who was destined for darkness and death is gone; and, in its place, is a new creature, a new creation that is a citizen of heaven who has been redeemed by Christ and imbued with the power of the Holy Spirit.  We become creatures who get to live our lives in the light and hope of knowing that we belong to the God of the universe; He is our Father and we are His children.  And as His children, we ultimately know that we will never experience even a second outside the presence of Christ and, one day, we will get to live with Him forever in the place He has prepared for us: His Father’s Kingdom.

So, when we read that the one “who was seated on the throne” (a/k/a God) says, “I am making everything new!” in Revelation 21, we can understand that to have more than just a simple meaning.  Sure, based upon the context of this statement, we can see that He is talking about the new heavens and the new earth that will be ushered in when Satan is finally defeated at the end of days.  We’re told in the verses preceding this verse that, in that new creation, God will dwell with His people…He will wipe every tear from our eyes, there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, that the old order of things will pass away.  This is how God is going to make all things new after this world comes to an end.  

However, if we consider the words that Paul writes in the verse from 2 Corinthians 5 above, we can see that the meaning of God saying, “I am making everything new!,” goes much deeper than simply referring to the new heavens and the new earth.  God is making things new in the here and now; He is creating new creatures each and everyday as people accept Him into their lives by placing their faith in His Son.  God was not content to leave His creation in the broken and sinful state in which we were left after Adam and Eve’s original sin; so, from the very beginning, He began enacting His plan of redemption and making us into new creations in His image.  Therefore, God’s creation of the new heavens and the new earth will simply be the culmination of the process of making things new that He began way back in His covenant with Abraham.

What all of this means for us, then, is that God saw our need; He saw the desperate state that we were in due to the wedge that our sinfulness had driven between us and Him and, in His infinite mercy and compassion, was not content to leave us in that condition.  God wanted to make a way for us to leave our old sinful self behind and become new creations as believers.  So, knowing this, what did God do?  He sent His Son, Jesus, to earth in order that He might become fully man yet without sin so He would be the perfect sacrifice for our sinfulness.  God is a just God and He cannot go against His own character; therefore, His justice required that the sinfulness of mankind be punished; and Jesus bore that punishment on the cross and then won the ultimate victory over Satan in His resurrection.  That’s why I think it is so appropriate that we celebrate Easter in the springtime; or, more accurately, why I think it is so appropriate that God ordained for Jesus to die and rise again during the Passover in the spring.  I think that is so appropriate because springtime is when new life blooms, and it is through Christ’s death and resurrection that we become new creations.

So, this spring, as you enjoy God’s creation coming back to life after the long, cold winter, also don’t forget to take time to remember, and thank God for, the new life we have in Jesus Christ.

May the blessings of the Father and the peace of the Son be with you,

Pastor Keith