It Is Done!

“He said to me: ‘It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life.‘” – Revelation 21:6 NIV

We are getting close to the end. One more chapter to go and we will have finished reading and journaling through the entire New Testament this year. And as we come to the end of the book of Revelation, we are reminded that we are one day closer to the end of all things as we know them. A day is going to come when God is able to say, “It is done!” He will complete the plan He has had in place from eternity past. And chapter 21 gives us a glimpse of what that day will look like. In it John sees a new heaven and a new earth. The old world will have passed away. God will evidently destroy the first creation in order to cleanse it from all the effects of sin. Then He will replace it with a new heaven and a new earth. Over in 2 Peter 3:12-13 we read, “…the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to the promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”

There will be a newness to everything. “And He who sits on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new'” (Revelation 21:5 NASB). There will be a new heaven and a new earth, and a new Jerusalem. This new Jerusalem is the church of God in its new and perfect state. This heavenly city, which will descend from heaven and be suspended over the earth during the Millennium, will be the place where all the saints live both during the 1,000 year reign of Christ and for eternity. God and His Son Jesus Christ will dwell there with the people of God. “Look, the home of God is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will remove all of their sorrows, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. For the old world and its evils are gone forever” (Revelation 21:3-4 NLT).

No more sorrow, no more death, no more crying and pain. All things will be new. The old will have passed away, including all evil. In his commentary on Revelation, Matthew Henry says it this way: “All the effects of former trouble shall be done away. They have been often before in tears, by reason of sin, of affliction, of the calamities of the church; but now all tears shall be wiped away; no signs, no remembrance of former sorrows shall remain, any further than to make their present felicity the greater. God himself, as their tender Father, with his own kind hand, shall wipe away the tears of his children; and they would not have been without those tears when God shall come and wipe them away. All the causes of future sorrow shall be for ever removed: There shall be neither death nor pain; and therefore no sorrow nor crying; these are things incident to that state in which they were before, but now all former things have passed away.”

Surrounded by the pain and sorrow that so often makes up this world, it is hard to imagine what this will all be like, but I am looking forward to it! We must remind ourselves that a day is coming when all this will be done away with. We will live in the presence of God and in the light of His glory. There will be no more sin and sorrow. Instead we will have perfect fellowship with God and with His Son. What a day that will be!

Father, thanks for reminding me that Your plan is being worked out in perfection even as I write this sentence. You are in complete control and one day You are going to bring all this to a close. You will say, “It is done!” And we will enjoy eternal life in Your presence. Help me to keep this thought in my mind in the midst of all the suffering and sorrow that surrounds me in this life. It will all someday pass away. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org