Sabbath: All things New
Image © Pacific Press
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:3, Revelation 21:22; 1 John 3:2-3; 1 Peter 1:22; Isaiah 25:8; Revelation 22:3-5.
Memory Text: “Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.’ And He said to me, ‘Write, for these words are true and faithful’” (Revelation 21:5, NKJV).
Scripture gives us this hope: “But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells” (2 Peter 3:13, NASB).
For some, however, the promise of “a new heaven and a new earth” (Revelation 21:1) seems like a fantasy, stories told by those in power who used the hope of an afterlife to help keep the masses in line. The idea being: Though you have it hard at present, one day you will have your reward in heaven, or the like.
And though some people have used the future hope presented in the Bible that way, their abuse doesn’t change the truth of the promises that we have regarding the new heavens and the new earth.
In the last days, scoffers will ridicule our blessed hope (2 Peter 3:3-7). But their scoffing, just as predicted, could be seen as more evidence that what the Bible says is true, for they are scoffing as the Bible predicted they would.
During this week we will reflect on the glorious promise of a new heaven and a new earth, including the heavenly temple, the presence of God, the end of death and tears — and, finally, the ultimate triumph of God’s love.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, December 31.
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If we want to make the idea of a new heaven and a new earth more than a utopian dream, we have to work on the idea of a new creature now. That is, renewal has to work within us for it to be effective for others. That is how the Holy Spirit works.
If my eyes are open to what is going on at a local, national and international level, I observe a lot of significant problems and very little in the way of genuinely realistic solutions to those problems. My information doesn't just come from media also but from people in significant positions of awareness. While there are some attempts at promising some sort of 'hope' for the future - such as "you will own nothing and be happy", there isn't much if any reliable, reality-based substance behind that 'hope'.
But when it comes to the hope of God eventually renewing the heavens and this earth, the reality that one day life and living will be fully and completely returned to its original unblemished design, that is something I can truely count on. Without that hope, life would ultimately be hopeless.
Thank you God for the reality of your ongoing presence here and now, leading, guiding and sustaining us every moment of every step along the way until we come to your world made new.
But this is not just a journey we undertake merely or even primarily to preserve ourselves. Rather, it is the journey we are undertaking while we are constantly beneficently helping anyone we can along the way.
For us who believe and follow Jesus Christ, life in the new world will be everything this old world is unable to sustain. No matter how hard the leaders of the old world try to improve it, they can offer only more of the same – limited, without God’s Spirit, only seemingly stable progress towards a better future for mankind.
As long as proposals how to bring peace to this world come from unredeemed hearts and minds, the people will discover that they always fall short; everything will stay the same – ongoing strife and destruction because they do not know that true life is available only when living by/in Jesus Christ, the righteousness of the Father.
The sad truth is that salvation for mankind, peace and goodwill toward man, has already been offered to this world. Here we are again, celebrating Christ's birth, but so many still reject the Son of God, forgoing the understanding of His truth as revealed by His Holy Spirit. As Jesus Christ's followers, we are looking forward to the promised inheritance of the New Earth where righteousness in all its applications can dwell unhindered and where mankind at last will live in peace – Rev.22:3-5.
(In times like these the routine can be quite a challenge!) I truly hope that you all are able to spend some time with the loved ones, and rejoice in the fact that loving and being loved is so important to humans! This is the time to celebrate LIFE! Because God, Jesus, decided to come as a boy, to live a life of perfection, just to show us His love - that's why He endured all of His earthly journey! LIFE that gives us CHOICE! TODAY we can choose to celebrate life because Jesus was born just to die for His loving creatures!