“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.” Rev.21:5
Here we have the positive word of God that He intends to “make all things new.” It is obvious that if “all things” are to be “made new,” those “all things” have become OLD. What are the “all things” that He is speaking of here? “All things” would be everything created wouldn’t you say? Of course when we read about “all things” being made new, one of the first things that might come to mind is our body. Our bodies are presently in the state of being mortal, the state of becoming old and eventually dying. But are we just interested in our bodies being renewed to the state of being made young, in order to see the process of aging start all over again? No, but we desire that there be something take place in our bodies where our state of being mortal ceases to be. We do not want to find the proverbial fountain of youth so we can just become young again, but that the state of growing OLD ceases to be our state of being.
There is another thought we should consider concerning our state of growing old. There is nothing wrong with being old in the sense of having been around for a long period of time, but rather, it is when growing old tends to take us closer and closer to the point of dying. Isn’t that basically what being mortal means? But if we could grow old becoming older and older never to be brought to the cessation of life in these physical bodies, then we could pretty well say that we would not be mortal anymore. Is such a thing possible? And even yet, is there such a state of being where things (especially our bodies) become ageless, or that is, to enter into a state of being where time itself and growing old cease to be?
Scientist’s tell us that our present physical body is designed in such a way as to regenerate itself to the point that it should not die, but there is something in its makeup which they do not fully understand which causes our bodies to die anyway. They are exploring the human genome and are finding that there are certain genes that function like trigger mechanisms which cause our bodies to begin to age and unable to regenerate itself. It has been said that as the cells of our bodies grow old they are replaced by new cells, those new cells are copied from the old cells and are in an inferior condition than the ones they are replacing, so as each cell is replaced it is being replaced with a weaker cell, until somewhere in this process the cells become so weak until they cease to function and death ensues.
But it is not that we desire to be made new again in our present state of mortality, but that our state of being mortal might be replaced as we are brought into the state of being IMMORTAL. I am persuaded that our being “made new” in our physical bodies means just that. Now this brings up another thought that needs to be addressed. There are those who believe that somewhere down the line our physical state of being will cease to be. In other words, they believe that the physical state of being is destined to end and be no more. And I believe that the present visible realm is only temporal (in its present state of being), but is it true that the visible realm itself is intended to cease from existence? Many believe that to be physical (living in the visible) realm is somehow inferior to what God intends for us to be.
Does the state of being IMMORTAL really do away with our physical (visible) state of being? Does it mean the end of the visible realm? Or, does IMMORTALITY bring our physical visible state of being out of the realm of MORTALITY and death? I believe the later to be true. Furthermore, I believe that the good news is that this is what our Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated and brought to light.
“Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God; Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.” 2nd Tim. 1:7-11.
Our Lord Jesus Christ “abolished (destroyed) death (the mortal state)” in Himself and “brought life and immortality to light (out into the open) through the gospel.” The “gospel” is God’s message of GOOD NEWS. And the part of the “gospel” which pertains to “life and immortality” pertains to our physical bodies!
Within each one of us in the realm of our spirit is the realm of eternity. Our spirit has never become mortal and in the need of being made immortal, for our spirit is not mortal. I realize how this may be a hard one to swallow for those who have always been taught otherwise. But as we examine the scriptures we shall find that our spirit came from none other than God Himself, and consequently our spirit is as eternal as He is eternal. (Heb. 12:9) There are many Christian believers who are unfamiliar concerning the realms of their being that they are not just a physical body, but they are also a soul and spirit as well.
The very FIRST thing God does when He draws us to Jesus Christ to receive His salvation is that He awakens us into the true realm of our being which is spirit, bringing regeneration in our spirit. That awakening begins a process extending from the realm of our regenerated spirit throughout our whole being until our soul and body are completely brought into the WHOLENESS of our inner man.
Concerning the realm of our physical body, may we realize that its present state of being mortal is to cease as God makes it NEW by bringing it into the state of being IMMORTAL. Made new, but not in the sense of being returned to a youthful state of mortality but being raised up out of the state of mortality into the state of being immortal (undying).
One would assume that the thoughts we have presented thus far are basic knowledge and commonly understood by most Christians, but we have met those who have some very diverse and opposing thoughts on these issues. However, most of their ideas and beliefs stem from things which have been handed down from mythology and pagan teachings from past centuries. Such weird and eccentric beliefs are not surprising coming out of those mythological and pagan religions, but they are surprising when they are encountered within the belief system of Christian believers.
There are those who are persuaded that death and mortality came into the world by a mistake that God made long ago in the beginning of time. Some are saying that God’s creation got out of hand, and became uncontrollable; namely, the man and woman, Adam and Eve. Such line of thinking leads those people to believe that God is now angry and upset with His creation which has become so uncontrollable, until now He has determined to obliterate His creation completely out of existence. All such hopelessness and futility is the product of the lies and emptiness offered by the teachings and beliefs of those paganistic religions. It is only when people are brought into the light of the knowledge of the truth (The Truth Jesus Christ) that all such false notions can be dealt with and replaced with that which is full of His life and true substance.
It goes without saying that the world is filled with gross darkness for those who are living in its night of darkness, however, there is also a glorious NEW day dawning brightly in the world for those who are living in the Day. The glorious truth proclaimed in the 21st chapter of the Book of revelation of “all things” being made new, also comes the positive word of God that in this “CITY” of God, there shall BE NO MORE NIGHT THERE! (Rev.21:25; 22:5). Does that mean that there will be no more night outside the gates of God’s City? No, for outside the gates of God’s City the darkness remains, it is only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life that shall be allowed to enter into the City of God where there is no more night!
Yes, there is a place in God where there is no more night, and among other wonderful things there will also be no more death!
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” (Rev. 214).
And where do we find all these things being experienced and manifested? Yes, within the City of God, the City of God is the House of God, and the House of God is the corporate many-membered body of Christ. The Lamb is the Light of this City and His Light, Life, Nature shines forth from within each member within the City of God.
Yes, a change (a transformation, transfiguring) is taking place within every THING of the OLD creation and that change is bringing all things into total conformity to the NEW CREATION of God in Christ Jesus until God Himself is ALL in all (things). Ephesians 1:10, 22-23. Everything that our Lord Jesus Christ revealed to us of Himself is exactly what we all are to become. For as surely as we are incomplete without Him, even so, He is incomplete without us! This in a nutshell reveals the union and inseparableness there is with us (who are a part of His “all things”) and our Father. In God’s creation in Christ Jesus “all things” are included and there is absolutely NO THING that is not included within the wholeness of His creation in Christ Jesus! What joy and peace and rest it will bring to every heart who hears His Voice speaking such wondrous unconditional love.
We are on a journey within God’s will and plan of the ages which will not and cannot fail to consummate in total victory and glory to God. He is the Architect and Designer of “all things” and the futility and emptiness which “all things” has been made subject to is NOT the end of the journey, for we are beholding the Light at the end of that tunnel and His light is growing brighter and clearer day by day. The change, transformation, transfiguration that we are involved in is bringing us into God’s NEW CREATION. In other words, that change is bringing us forth to the END of the OLD and into the beginning of the NEW. Out of all that is changeable and temporal into that which is changeless and eternal. What an awesome and wonderful destiny our Father has planned and purposed for all of us. Thank God that the OLD is passing away and “all things” are becoming NEW!
Dale Luttrell
