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.

History changed direction about two thousand years ago. Now you might think things are going on pretty much as they always have done. Like the old preacher you might say “The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.” Or perhaps you’re like the people that the Apostle Peter was talking about when he said “knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”
If that’s how you’re thinking, pardon me but it’s not just the fathers who’ve fallen asleep, but you have too!
“He that sat upon the throne” is Jesus. He told us that He makes all things new. Now, I’m ready to admit that it still looks like the world’s in a pretty rough shape. Still plenty of war, famine and plague. Not much sign of moral revival. So what’s going on? I think the secret lies in another text — 2 Corinthians 5:17:
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
“If any man be in Christ” — if a man is of the body of Christ, body and soul in service to Christ, loving Christ and caring for nothing else he is “a new creation”. The old things have passed away; behold, all have become new. But all this serves for nothing without a vital pre-condition. The remaking depends on the breaking of the bonds of sin and payment for sins committed. Only one thing could accomplish that … Jesus’s death on the cross.
Before the death, however, there had to be a birth. That birth that happened in Bethlehem, in the humblest of circumstances, when “He that sat upon the throne” “humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
That was it … That was the moment history changed direction. From Eden to Bethlehem it was all downhill. Sin slunk in, in the form of the serpent and planted it’s seed one fateful day. No matter what God did the seed could not be weeded out. Then came that day when the Redeemer could restrain Himself no longer. God became man. The man crushed the serpent under His heel. Ever since then the course of history has been upwards. “He that sat upon the throne” has been making all things new, one life at a time. Now there will come another day, a day when He makes all creation new.
Now we call it Christmas … “The mass of Christ” … But it celebrates the turning point, the moment hope stepped back into history.