Read: Isaiah 65:13-25
Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth. (v. 17)
There are people who really enjoy restoring old cars—taking a vehicle with a rusting motor and body along with an interior that you wouldn’t want to ride in, and making it all new. It is wonderful to see an old car restored. When it comes down the road, it is hard to imagine that it was once a rust bucket that wouldn’t start.
In Isaiah 65:17 we find the first mention in Scripture of “new heavens and a new earth.” God tells us through Isaiah that in the “new heavens and a new earth, and the former things,” the heartaches and challenges of life on this present earth, “shall not be remembered or come into mind” (v. 17). When you experience something that you would prefer to forget or when difficult memories come, remember that if you belong to Christ, one day you will have never-ending joy in God’s re-creation, his renewal, of the heavens and the earth.
As you think about a new earth, what about the present earth will you not miss? What in the new heavens and new earth do you most look forward to? The good news for us today is that the glories of the new heavens and new earth will outshine even the most beautifully restored car. After all, the new heavens and earth, our promised land, will be God’s design and handiwork made for all his people to enjoy!
As you pray, put those things you would prefer to forget into God’s loving and forgiving hands.
Rich Bawinkel is a retired pastor who has served churches in the Reformed Church in America and the Kingdom Network. He is married to Anne and serves as a musician in their local church, as the administrator of the Kingdom Network, and on the Words of Hope Board of Directors.
