Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev. 21:5).

New Year’s symbolizes a chance to start anew. It’s a time when many people make resolutions to start a new diet or workout schedule, to spend more time with family and friends, to read through the entire Bible, etc. This New Year’s, I resolve to start a two-year Bible-reading plan and spend plenty of quality time with my husband. That’s right. Husband.

This New Year’s will mark a brand new beginning for me. On January 9 I will marry the love of my life. Words can’t describe my excitement for this new chapter in my life. I am thankful to the Lord because, as the psalmist said, “He has heard my voice and my supplications . . . [and] has inclined His ear to me” (Ps. 116:1–2).

Before my fiancé Rich walked into my life, I began to grow weary waiting on the Lord. I remember driving in my car, listening to “Even So Come” by Kristian Stanfill on the radio, identifying with every word, the gist of which was that we should be waiting for Christ’s return as a bride waits for her bridegroom.

I knew what longing for a bridegroom felt like. Then it hit me: That’s how I should also long for the return of Christ for His bride, the church. And that’s how I should long for the day when He will make “all things new.” I understood the anticipation for our Lord’s coming that the songwriter was trying to convey. Christians should long to be united with Christ when He returns to rapture His church, and we should long for the day when He will create anew this sin-cursed world:

Now I [the apostle John] saw a new heaven and new earth. . . . [and] the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying, . . . for the former things have passed away. Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new” (Rev. 21:1–2, 4–5).

I look forward to my wedding day. But I know a far greater day than that will come—when New Jerusalem comes down from heaven, and all believers in Messiah Jesus, both Jew and Gentile, will dwell together forever in the new heaven and new earth. I yearn for that day when Jesus will “make all things new.” He will put an end to evil, wipe away our tears, and establish justice and peace once and for all.

So this holiday, as we celebrate a new year and a new beginning, let’s look forward to that future day, which will overshadow all New Year’s celebrations—when our Bridegroom makes everything new.

 

About the Author

Jennifer Miles