God Makes All Things New

Introduction

We like new things. A new car. A new house. A new gadget. A new job. Even old things can be new. New in that case means different. Many of us buy used cars, but we call them new because they are new to us. Different. We buy a house or move into an apartment. Usually others have previously lived there. It isn’t new, but it is new to us—different. Of course, there are things that are new as in never used before. My grandparents would have a hard time understanding today’s world. To say to them the word “phone” would have brought to mind a fairly large box or rectangle that was positioned on some kind of stand or on a wall. For them, the idea of a phone that fits in a pocket and can be used almost anywhere would not make sense. Wouldn’t it make sense; however, to use the same word—phone—so that they could relate to what its function is rather than what its appearance was like?

We do this for many things. I understand what a car is. I understand its purpose. But now cars are able to do much more than move from point A to point B. We are getting closer to self-driving cars. Many modern cars with sensors are able to brake before we do; warn you about drivers in your blind spot; park themselves in tight spaces without your assistance. You know what else cars can do? With the advent of bluetooth, cars can allow you to talk on your phone while you drive. As long as you have your phone with you, you may place calls and talk while you drive. Mind blowing!!

If I had said to my grandparents, “I’ll call you from my car,” they would have wondered how that was possible. They all lived long enough to see these things come to be, but they never owned a cell phone nor drove a car with bluetooth capability. The phone was inside your house and a car was for driving and bluetooth was for people who had dental problems. Our modern world would fascinate them and potentially intimidate them even make them want to hang on to what they know and are comfortable with.

We close our series on Isaiah today. God has an exciting picture he wants us to see. It is new. It is fascinating. It is intimidating. It may result in us finding it easier to hold on to what we know than to allow ourselves to see what will be. But our reluctance doesn’t change what God is going to do.

God Seeks

As a child, I can remember my mother calling my name to come inside and eat. Most of the time I came when she called. But there were times when I was more interested in my play and didn’t listen. I heard her voice and I knew what she wanted. I just wanted to play a bit longer. It didn’t seem like disobedience to me. It was a choice about preference. I could eat later. Play was now.

Isaiah 65:1 tells us that God has revealed himself so that people may see him. To those who didn’t ask, he revealed himself. To those who were not seeking, he allowed himself to be known. And to Jerusalem, they refused to listen for his voice, as he continually called out “Here am I, here am I.” Verse 2, God says he held out his hands to stubborn people. They viewed life as in the moment. They pursued their own imaginations. They didn’t consider it disobedience. They were living life that made sense to them. They offered sacrifices. They prayed. They looked religious on the outside but their hearts were not turned to God. They heard God calling to them, but they lived in a way that made sense to them while doing all the things that made them look religious.

Verses 3-16, God describes his response. To those who didn’t listen to his voice, he will judge them. It will not be pleasant. To those who did listen to his voice, he will reward. That seems simple enough. So what will that look like? Look at verses 13 and following—they will eat, they will drink, they will rejoice, they will sing, they will get new names, they will forget and no longer remember the past.

God says “I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.” What is God talking about? New earth? Different place? Verse 18, he talks about a different Jerusalem. It will be a place where there is no crying. It will be a placing where there is no dying. It will be a place where there is permanency. It will be a place where people work and good comes from their work. And God will be their God. He will respond before they ask. And the world will be one of peace and harmony and tranquility. There will be no war. And Satan will no longer hurt or challenge or tempt.

How can this be? Can such a place exist on this earth? Did the people who returned to Jerusalem find such a place? Was it a place where there was peace and harmony and tranquility? Did Jerusalem no longer have to wage war against its enemies from 400 B.C. to the present day? Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 A.D. Is God exaggerating to the point of failure? Is God giving his people a vision of what is to come only to pull the rug out from under them later? Is God a cruel jokester?

New Jerusalem

How can God describe things to a people who do not have the capacity to understand? If you don’t have the capacity to understand the vision, then you speak of the vision in language that people can understand. We use the language, “it’s like” to help people understand that which exceeds their understanding. This new place is like Jerusalem. To Jewish people Jerusalem is the place where God is. It is the holy mountain. It is the place where God meets his people. This is what God has done throughout Isaiah. Talk about a baby who will be Immanuel. And the people waited not knowing that Immanuel would come hundreds of years later. Isaiah talked about the wonderful counselor who would reign on David’s throne for ever and ever. And people waited for the one who would come hundreds of years later. Isaiah wrote about a suffering servant who came hundreds of years later but the people waited. And only a few listened to God’s voice. Most got tired of waiting. Many lived life that made sense to them and missed God’s call. They went through the motions of religious connection but only lived life thinking about self and making sure they succeeded and making sure that they weren’t mistreated and trying to get the best. And all the while God kept calling “here am I, here am I. Listen to my voice. Pay attention. I’m going to do something you have never seen nor can you imagine.” That’s the struggle of faith.

Turn to Revelation 21. Even in exile, John sees a vision of what is coming. Hundreds of years have passed since Isaiah. But the same words are being used now for the followers of God. If you think waiting hundreds of years has been tough, we have been waiting thousands now. Listen to God’s voice. John describes what he saw in words that allows us to understand because we can’t get our minds around it.

No sea. The sea was the place of treachery and the unknown. It was a dangerous place. The new heaven and new earth will have no danger.

Those who listen to God’s voice will be the bride of Christ.

God will be with us. Not above us. Not surrounding us. With us. Immanuel—God with us.

No crying, no death, no pain. That’s the old. The new has nothing like that and as Isaiah reminds us those things will not even come to mind. Disease and frailty will not be remembered.

This vision came from God to people who were under attack. This vision was to remind them of what God was going to do. Every generation has begged God to do it now. To make it happen now. To bring an end to danger, death, pain, and crying. To come now and live with us and to make us new and to clothe us in newness. And God says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” But we still experience death, pain, and crying. How can this be? Whose voice are you listening to? The new has come. We wait for the rest of it. And that is the struggle. Invitation.

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