Hi. Welcome to Redeem the Commute. I’m Ryan, your host of the daily challenges. Today is Tuesday, the day we study the Bible together. This week, as part of our series on the identity of Jesus, we’re going to study how Jesus makes all things, including us, new.

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. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment.” (Revelation 21:1-6 ESV)

What a beautiful vision. A new heaven and a new earth, one reality instead of two separate ones. The problems in our world are very old – they come from our very origins.

When God created the world, he intended to dwell here with us – he created it as a perfect environment like a garden – the Garden of Eden with all our needs provided, no pain, no sickness, no death.

That’s what we were made for – to be with God. Unfortunately the first humans weren’t happy with this, and gave in to temptation, wanting to be their own gods, and not to simply live with God.

They pushed God away, and he kicked them out of the garden. Our human race was different now – separated from our good creator in a way that introduced all kinds of evil into our world and lives.

But we see in this reading that shouldn’t be the case forever. God wants to bring these spheres back together – God and humanity – heaven and earth – together again.

He wants to make all things new – like they were new in the Garden of Eden. He’ll have to do that by removing sin and death from this world, a process he began with the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Question: Describe in your own words the new heaven and the new earth.