June 24, 2013
Revelation 21:5 — And he that sat upon the throne said , Behold , I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write : for these words are true and faithful.
I want to group the verse that tugged at me this morning with another verse, and a longer passage:
2 Cor 5:17 — Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Romans 8:18-23 — For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.
Sometimes (not more than nine or ten times every day …) I lose sight of the big pictures. I get depressed, or irritated, or frustrated because things are not going the way I think they should. I forget the two big pictures:
- God is renewing creation – repairing the damage done to His perfect creation by sin.
- God is renewing the creature — repairing the damage done to me by sin!
The jobs are not finished yet. But, as it says elsewhere, “The Lord is not slow about His promises, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you …”
Are you familiar with the idea of “helicopter parents”? The term actually originated in the late 60’s, but it’s become increasingly popular in the last several years. It describes parents who constrain their children’s independence by “hovering” over their children and swooping in at any sign of difficulty or unhappiness. Our God is not like that! He is helping us to grow into His ideal for us by allowing us to face the challenges of life. Fixing creation isn’t going to get done until the children – us, the sons of God, get fixed. And that’s a big job. I’m a new creation, but I’m still a work in progress which means I have a lot of growing to do. SO I’m going to have to deal with the things that depress, or irritate, or frustrate me, because there’s no “helicopter super-parent” going to come swooping in to make it all better. But one day … one day …all things WILL be made new.
A lot of smart people think that the day is imminent. I’d say I can’t wait, except that I know I have to. While I wait, I’m going to try to do better at keeping my eyes on the big pictures.