“See, I will create new heavens and a new earth.”—Isaiah 65:17a (NIV)

Sighing with resignation, I deleted the paragraph I had just written. The words just didn’t reflect my idea. Writing can be exhilarating—and frustrating. Sometimes the words flow easily. But most of the time it’s a process of writing, rewriting, and then rewriting some more. I remove what doesn’t work, and keep rewriting until the words match my vision.

It’s such a perfect metaphor for one of God’s promises:

“See, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.” (Isaiah 65:17 NIV)

We currently live in a broken world—there are many parts that do not work. And yet, the world still holds some beauty. We may need to focus our eyes to see it, but it does exist. (I wrote a blog post about that here.)

I envision God fulfilling this promise in the same way I rework a piece of writing. He will begin by removing what doesn’t work. Specifically, the book of Revelation notes these seven things will be removed from the new world: the sea, death, mourning, crying, pain, the curse, and night (Revelation 21:1, 21:4, 22:3, and 22:5).

Most of these omissions are self-explanatory. The idea of removing the sea, however, feels a bit perplexing. But in ancient Hebrew thought, the sea was considered to be dangerous and unpredictable (Psalm 46:2-3). With this understanding, it follows that danger and chaos will disappear from the new creation. 

I think this is similar to the last omission: night. People often conduct acts of evil in the darkness of night. We even have an expression of shock when someone commits a crime in “broad daylight”. This tells us that the new world will be free of evil.

After removing what doesn’t work, God will rewrite the creation story until it mirrors His vision. In fact, He’s already beginning to rewrite the stories of each person who chooses to follow Jesus. We are a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), complete with a new heart and a new spirit (Ezekiel 36:26). When Jesus comes back, we will live with Him and all the other believers for eternity (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

What else will be part of His rewrite? Love. In his first letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul lists hope, faith, and love as the most important qualities—but the greatest of the three is love (1 Corinthians 13:13). Living in this world forces us to have faith in God’s promises and to set our hope on eternity. Faith and hope will no longer be needed in the new creation. But love will remain—our love for God and for each other. 

The Bible doesn’t give us a clear description of everything we will experience in the new creation. But we do know it will be a place of love, peace, and fellowship— with God and each other. It’s almost impossible to imagine a place without temptation, sin, or evil. Or a life void of sickness, pain, or suffering. Yet this is His promise. No matter how our stories unfold in this broken world, we know He is rewriting them so they will have a happy ending. 

Dear Lord Jesus, Thank You for rewriting our stories and making us a new creation—with a new heart and spirit. We look forward to spending eternity with You in a place full of love, peace, and fellowship. Help us hold on to this promise while we live in this broken world. We pray in Your name. Amen.