All Things New

Revelation 20:11, 13-14

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.

Revelation 21:5 states, "behold I am making all things new." However, this promise does not address what happens when your Heaven and earth rolls away. The great white throne mentioned in the first part of this verse, for many believers and preachers alike, is a source of constant anxiety and terror. The part about judgement day, the dead small and great being judged based on their works, and whether their names were found written in the Lamb's book of life, frightens many. For those who are in Christ, it should not. Jesus says in John 11:25, "I am the resurrection and the life, they that believe in me, though he were dead yet shall he live." He makes it clear that believers have passed from death into life because the love of God yet abides in us as in 1 John 3:14. A proper rendering of the text is necessary to understand the former from the latter. Isaiah 43:18-19 associates dwelling "on the past" with not being able to perceive the "new thing" the Lord is doing. It speaks of a complete change in circumstances; so much so that you will not even be able to recognize them. God is leading you by a way you do not know to places you have yet to go. The old Heavens and the earth had to flee before God so he could make the new. When God shows up, the situation must flee before him. Those old people and problems must flee. In their leaving, you may be left with the uncomfortable fullness of his presence. God wants us to seek him so he can make his presence known as in Isaiah 65:1. Even in the chaos, the mass devastation, and destruction of many lives, God's promise of his presence remains. Jeremiah 29:13 associates seeking God with finding him. Note that he is not lost. He has never moved. He has always been where he always will be — sitting on his throne. God had to shift some things so that we could fully see him.

The text indicates that the Heavens and the earth fled away before his face and there was found no place for them. The old has no place in the kingdom of God. There is a parable in Mark 2:22 about the old and new wineskins that illustrates this principle. The reasoning is sound; the old is done away with lest it corrupt the new. Sometimes the old is comfortable just as the beggar outside the city gate got comfortable asking those around him for change to help with his disability as in Acts 3:2. However, the old had to pass away before he could be confronted with the new. Old habits, lifestyles, patterns of behavior, and negative thinking do not work in the new places to which God is taking you. As Isaiah 43:19 says, "I am doing a new thing, do you not perceive it?" As I drive down the road some nights I am left with the uncomfortable feeling that the road in front of me is about to end suddenly, dropping off into nothing. As I continue driving, I see the road ahead continue. This is not the case here in Revelation. God will not allow the apparent desolation to continue; he has created a new Heaven and a new earth. In the desolation, there is creation. God is doing a new thing such as creating "streams in the desert;" these are places of hope and peace where you can find water and shelter. More than that, will he not turn again and bring a blessing according to Joel 2:14. Before this happens, the old order must be accounted for.

The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death.

The dead both small and great stood before him; death and Hell were then "thrown into the lake of fire." We clearly see this judgment is not for those who know Christ. If it is not already obvious from the expanding of the text where these dead belong, Revelation 20:6 ought to clarify matters. "Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years." The prior text belongs to the expanding order of the kingdom of the dead which is the territory of hell. The sea, death, and hell gave up those in them to be judged according to whose name was written in the Lamb's book; the rest were given over to the lake of fire. The rolling away of the Heaven and earth prior is a culmination of the acts of the angel that rolled back the stone sealing Jesus's tomb seen in Matthew 28:2. First, the stone rolled away that kept the glory of God inside. Then he was ushered back into Heaven at the ascension. Here we finally see him in the judgements poured out on the earth. Then, the Heaven and earth fled away before him. The rolling away of something in the Scripture is always for the ushering in of something greater. Note that the resurrection of Christ guarantees we are always conquerors for Christ loves us according to Romans 8:37.