“And He that sat upon the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said unto me, ‘Write: for these words are true and faithful.'” Revelation 21:5
What is the making of something new, from God’s perspective? First of all, it is that which is conceived in the heart and mind of God. That which God does, or will do, is always new, in that its beginning and ending is in the One who designed, determined, and brought it to pass. There is not only the thought that has its origin in God, and not in sinful man, but the power and authority to bring it to pass. When Paul wrote concerning the man in Christ being a new creature, or creation, he was not speaking in this case of something that had never occurred by the grace of God. However, with regard to the individual believer, everything concerning that person’s existence, from a spiritual standpoint became absolutely new. How? The old man of sin, that old creation in Adam, was dealt with in its entirety in the eyes of God. God took him, crucified him, and buried him. But then, that which only God could have conceived of, was brought to pass. God would take the soul, and in some ways like at the creation of man, breathe into him Life, the Life of Christ by the Spirit. All the principles, laws, thoughts, of the old man were dealt with, the chains to the past bondage to sin, self, the world and the devil, were severed, so that this new creation in Christ, could live by Divine power and strength, by the Spirit, walking as Jesus walked and glorified the Father. The Christian would drink from a new spring, know the former and latter rains of refreshment from the presence of the Lord, and know the indwelling Christ by the power that He gives to live a victorious life on this earth. The salvation which Christ has afforded is perfect in every provision for every need. The challenge to the believer is to grasp the reality of the “new,” choosing daily to not look back, nor within, at that which pertained to the old life in Adam, but looking forward, upward to the Lord Jesus who has become the very life of the believer.
From a practical standpoint, where does the believer begin and proceed to know this daily newness, “on this earth as it is in heaven?” It begins with the One who is Truth, and the objective truth of His words. Christ, though weary and worn at times as He walked this earth, and though He was faced with incalculable odds defying His existence on this earth, was daily kept new in His spirit. Where did the newness come from? It was the result of His communion or fellowship with the Father. The Father was all to Him. In the Father’s unchanging, enveloping love, Christ would choose to dwell. On this sinful earth He would not yield to any foe or obstacle which would stand in the way of fresh, newness of fellowship with the Father, even rising a great while before day, to be alone with Him. It was perhaps that moment on the cross, when the Lord Jesus cried, “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me,” that Christ’s greatest moment of suffering came, for the experience of the loss of that newness of the Father’s love. For a brief moment, when Christ was judged for the sins of all men, when the wrath of God was poured out upon Him, the Lord Jesus was deprived of the newness of the Father’s face, the freshness of His embrace, the tenderness of His caring. However, that moment of greatest trial would very quickly be transformed into the day of greatest refreshing fulness, and blessing, as Christ would ascend unto His Father, regaining that fulness of Joy in the love of the Father, and perfect fellowship with Him.
The Christian’s newness in not only in God’s declaration that His mercies are new every morning, but in the fact of Christ’s presence.
Dear Father, Give us grace to live in the newness of Thy life this day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.