One Year Bible
New Testament passage for Sunday, December 30, 2012: Revelation 21:1-27
4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” 5 And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Revelation 21:4-5 (NASB)
There is a scene in Mel Gibson’s great movie The Passion of the Christ in which Mary runs to her badly beaten and tortured Son who has just fallen for the third time as He carries the Cross toward Golgatha. There is a flashback to an earlier day when this Son was a small boy running in the dusty streets of Nazareth and had fallen in similar fashion. The contrast is powerful – the youthful innocence of a child and the battered face of the One who saves us.
Mary reaches to touch the face of her Son as if to help Him and ease His hurt. He speaks back to her the words of Revelation 21:5, “Behold, I make all things new.” He speaks this across the ages to each one of us. In a world robbed of its innocence, He came to bring new beginnings.
This is so appropriate at this time of year, as we say goodbye to 2012 and welcome 2013. Resolutions are made that reflect our desire to go to a new place, a higher dimension, the next level. We desire to have a fresh start – a “do over”.
One of the grand truths of the gospel is the continual offer to BEGIN AGAIN. God will dry every tear and banish our failures. In His forgiveness is also Hs restoration.
So, as we end this year and begin a new one, hear what Jesus says to you, “Behold, I make all things new.”