REVELATION 21:5-8
by Mako Kato
God says he is making “all things new.” We are being made new right now. The Sunday before last Sunday, Pastor Craig talked about the idea that we have been saved, are being saved and will be saved… justification, sanctification and glorification.
Yesterday we talked about the new Jerusalem the newness we can be looking forward to. But when we think about God “making all things new” we don’t have to be just thinking of these future events because we are being made new right now. We are in the process of being made new.
This isn’t something that we deserve. It came to us “without payment” (v. 6) on our part.
So now what?
“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” – 1 Peter 2:4-5 ESV
We are holy and we are offering sacrifices to God. That reminds me of Romans where it talks about offering yourselves as living sacrifices to God. This is how we are being made new. We are in the process of becoming more like Christ.
There should be tangible evidence of holiness in our lives. That brings us to Revelation 21:8 which gives a list of characteristics of people who will be separated from God for eternity. While this list encompasses actions we’ve probably all taken, we are supposed to be living differently now through the power of Christ. That’s not to say it’s easy, as even a guy like Paul talked about his desires warring within Him.
But we no longer live under sin. “How can we who died to sin still live in it?” Paul asks in Romans 6:2 (ESV). We have the great privilege of being called children of the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
