New

“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth;”  Revelation 21:1

New – If heaven is such a wonderful place, why does God need a “new” one?   We would all agree that a “new” earth would be nice.  We would like to see the problems of this earth disappear, the balance of life restored, the destruction that Man has created removed.  But why a “new” heaven?  Heaven is supposed to be this fabulous place where everything is perfect.  If that’s true, why not keep it around and just make a new earth?

The answer is deeply theological.  The answer reveals just how destructive sin really is.  The answer shows us what great peril we were in before Jesus died for us.

Kainos is the Greek word for “new”.  It means completely made new, not remodeled or remanufactured.  It is “start all over” new.  God has already prepared a completely new heaven because the presence of sin has permanently corrupted the old creation.  Sin didn’t just infect Mankind.  Sin infected both heaven and earth.  God will deal with this through the destruction of the old heaven and the old earth.  God will start again but this time His children will be those who have already given themselves in full devotion to His rule.  Sin will be out of the picture for good.

It’s easy to imagine that our sins have only earthly consequences.  Oh, they are terrible!  The damage and destruction, the pain and suffering and the moral consequences are frightening.  Thank God that Jesus volunteered to accept the blame we deserved for the mess we created.  But sin had consequences far beyond this earthly realm.  In fact, sin didn’t even begin here.  Take another look at Romans 5:12.  Paul implies that sin “entered” into this world.  It was already present someplace else and found its way into this world through the doorway of Adam.  A new earth will not be enough to deal with the “source” problem.  God will take care of the entire issue.  A new heaven is coming too.

Have you ever considered the fact that your sins help to bring about the destruction of heaven and earth?  No wonder sin is such a serious thing in God’s eyes.  All that He created and blessed as “good” was desecrated and destroyed by sin.  Can you imagine how much God hates sin?  Perhaps this picture will help us see the weight of our disobedience and choose the pathway to the “new heaven” instead.