Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. Rev. 21:1(NIV)
Dear heavenly Father, this one verse is crammed full with so much hope. Thank you for securing a future for us that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor has any mind imagined the wonder of our coming life in the new heaven as new earth. As surely as the waters cover the sea, so the knowledge of your glory will cover the earth one Day (Hab. 2:14). As surely as you have begun a good work in us, so it will be brought to completion (Phil. 1:6). We will be perfectly like Jesus in a perfect world forever!
Indeed, the “passing away” of the first heaven and the first earth doesn’t speak of its replacement but of its restoration, for Jesus is making all things new, not all new things. And the “sea-less” future of John’s vision isn’t a beach-less world, but a world in which all brokenness and heartache, sin and evil will be eradicated. Already defeated evil will be fully annihilated evil. There won’t be any more angry sea beasts, only dancing dolphin; no more tempest and terror, only the triumph of the Lamb! To which we cry, “Hallelujah, bring it on, Lord Jesus!”
My whole body grins, when I try to picture the glorified beaches of the new heaven and new earth. I can hardly wait for the day when we get to hear “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying: ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!'” (Rev. 5:13).
It’s hard to imagine a world of perfect peace and inviolate shalom, but that’s what you promise Father, through the finished work of Jesus. May this hope encourage us to engage, not retreat; to show up, not disappear; to be filled with missional hope and neighbor-love, as we seek first your kingdom and long for that Day. So very Amen I pray, with piqued longings, in Jesus’ name.