All Things New- God’s Grand Finale

Jeremiah 33:24 “Have you noticed what people are saying?--‘The LORD chose Judah and Israel and then abandoned them!’ They are sneering and saying that Israel is not worthy to be counted as a nation. 25 But this is what the LORD says: I would no more reject my people than I would change my laws that govern night and day, earth and sky. 26 I will never abandon the descendants of Jacob or David, my servant, or change the plan that David’s descendants will rule the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Instead, I will restore them to their land and have mercy on them." Beside the overall subject of this article it may also help you make some sense of what's going on in the world now, with the hatred of Israel and the Jews.

Without a doubt, the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is the focal point of human history. Yet there is a coming Grand Finale of things, that all of human history is pointing to. This isn’t the world that God created. God will judge this one and bring in a New Heaven and a New Earth. God will redo His planet Earth to what it was like when He created it, with Adam and Eve. There will be no more tears and no more sorrow.  At that time we, as Christians, will be in our eternal state, in the presence of God and His Son Jesus. We cannot comprehend that, but we are promised it. No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.

The real you is not the body that you inhabit, it's your soul and spirit and that's the you that will live forever. In eternity, God will unite to Himself, those whose sins are forgiven, through the blood of His Son. This is our glorious hope. For the saved, the final judgement of the unsaved world is nothing to be frightened about. God tells us these future things to comfort us and give us hope.   Titus 2:13 …looking forward for the "blessed hope," and glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ. On the other hand this whole subject should terrify those who reject God's free gift of salvation, by grace through faith in Jesus. We have hope because God is going to make everything new.

Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”  5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” 6 And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega--the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. What a glorious time it will be! In fact there may be more going on than we know, Romans 8:21 says All of creation anticipates the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay.

Before making all things new there will be a future time of the Judgement and Justice of God. It will be “the great time of testing that will come upon the whole earth to TEST those who belong to this world.” As Christians we have been tested and have passed the test. We came out of the darkness and into the light the moment that we received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  We are not appointed to wrath.

During the 7 years of judgement in Revelation 6-18 Satan will be allowed to use his world leader, that we call the Antichrist, to control the world. Let’s examine that coming time of judgment upon the Earth. It is spoken about throughout the Bible. Revelation, the last book of the Bible, just gives us some of the details. The unsaved world and even some major Christian denominations are like little boys whistling in the dark, trying to pretend that things will go on as they always have. There are those who say, "They have been saying that this would happen for two thousand years." This is a one-time event. Some even scoff and mock at God's promises, because He has been so patient for the judgement. Or maybe they don't believe that God, who stands outside of time, is powerful enough to tell us what will happen in the future. The Bible says, “That God knows the end from the beginning.”

2 Peter 3:3 Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. 4 They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.” 5 They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command. The Second Coming of Christ as King of Kings and Lord of Lords cannot happen until the events that proceeded it, i.e. the justice and judgment of God.

Jesus quotes Daniel 12 when He says in Matthew 24:15 “The day is coming when you will see what Daniel the prophet spoke about--the sacrilegious object that causes desecration standing in the Holy Place.” (Reader, pay attention!) 16 “Then those in Judea (Israel) must flee to the hills. 19 How terrible it will be…21 For there will be greater anguish than at any time since the world began. And it will never be so great again.”

Daniel 12:1 At that time Michael, the archangel who stands guard over your nation (Israel) will arise. Then there will be a time of anguish greater than any since nations first came into existence. But at that time every one of your people (Jews) whose name is written in the book will be rescued (to slip away, to escape, or to be delivered).

The entire 24th chapter of Isaiah describes the world’s judgement for the sin of its people. Isaiah 24:1 Look! The LORD is about to destroy the earth and make it a vast wasteland. He devastates the surface of the earth and scatters the people. 3 The earth will be completely emptied and looted. The LORD has spoken! 5 The earth suffers for the sins of its people, for they have twisted God’s instructions, violated his laws, and broken his everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore, a curse consumes the earth. Its people must pay the price for their sin. They are destroyed by fire, and only a few are left alive. 18 …Destruction falls like rain from the heavens; the foundations of the earth shake. 19 The earth has broken up. It has utterly collapsed; it is violently shaken. 20 The earth staggers like a drunk. It trembles like a tent in a storm. It falls and will not rise again, for the guilt of its rebellion is very heavy. 21 In that day the LORD will punish the gods in the heavens (That's the fallen Angels) and the proud rulers of the nations on earth. 23 Then the glory of the moon will wane, and the brightness of the sun will fade, for the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will rule on Mount Zion. He will rule in great glory in Jerusalem.

The apostle Peter is clear that that this must happen before God can usher in his promised glorious heavenly Kingdom. He tells us to "look forward" to the end of things, when God will make things new. 2 Peter 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. 11 Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, 12 looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. 13 But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. Like all of the authors of the New Testament Peter believed that this would happen in his life time, 1 Peter 4:7 The end of the world is coming soon.

OK, we get the point. God has stood back long enough letting this world deteriorate and revel in their sin. There will come a time of judgement that's called The Day of the Lord. The God and Christ rejecting world, will be judged and it will not be pretty! About that, I think we can all agree. Now let’s get to some other aspects of this. Jesus did a major teaching about this time of future judgment in Matthew chapter 24. After describing a whole bunch of it, He says in 24:35 “Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.” Jesus is promising us that all His words are true and will be fulfilled. This Day of the Lord is obviously a time to judge sinners and this God rejecting world, but it’s more than that.

This is very important but easily overlooked. Jesus made a requirement for His return. Remember, He told us that all His words will all come true. Jesus pins His return, the Second Coming, on a statement that He made in Luke 13:34-35 and Matthew 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem… How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. 39 For I tell you this, you will never see me again until you say, ‘Blessings on the one who comes in the name of the LORD!’” The promised requirement for the Second Coming of Christ is that the Jewish people will recognize that Jesus is their Messiah and repent and turn to Him. It is also stated that way  in Hosea 5:14 I will be like a lion to Israel, like a strong young lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces! I will carry them off, and no one will be left to rescue them. 15 Then I will return to my place until they admit their guilt and turn to me. For as soon as trouble comes, they will earnestly search for me.”

Throughout the Bible, God was calling His chosen people Israel, the Jews, to stop sinning, repent and come to Him. Like the verses above say, Jesus pins His return upon the Jewish people turning to Him, and recognizing that He is “the One who they pierced." They will do that during the Tribulation, and then Jesus can return as King of Kings. Zechariah 12:8 On that day the LORD will defend the people of Jerusalem… the angel of the LORD who goes before them! 9 For on that day I will begin to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. 10 “Then I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on the family of David and on the people of Jerusalem. They will look on me “whom they have pierced” (that's Jesus) and mourn for him as for an only son. They will grieve bitterly for Him as for a firstborn son who has died.

By 300 A.D the early Church had started allegorizing the Bible. I don’t believe that interrupting God’s Bible other than what is clearly registered is now or then pleasing to our Lord. Anyone using that as their foundation has big problems. Some might even say that we can disregard the role for the Jews and distort the coming judgment because they see it as symbolic. But these things will actually come to pass, in God‘s timing.

Israel is the major theme in the Old Testament. It cannot be allegorized away by saying that the Church is the new Israel and has replaced Israel. Satan hates the Jews and will poison the minds of the world against them, see the first paragraph. Jesus’s words will come true; the Jews will repent during the Great Tribulation and be received back to God, to fulfill God’s Word. It says that in the New Testament also, and it couldn’t be any clearer than it is in Romans 11.

Romans 11:1 I ask, then, has God rejected his own people, the nation of Israel? Of course not!… 2 No, God has not rejected his own people, whom he chose from the very beginning. 23 And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree. 25 I want you to understand this mystery, dear brothers and sisters, so that you will not feel proud about yourselves. Some of the people of Israel have hard hearts, but this will last only until the full number of Gentiles comes to Christ. 26 And so all Israel will be saved. As the Scriptures say, “The one who rescues will come from Jerusalem, and he will turn Israel away from ungodliness. 27 And this is my covenant with them, that I will take away their sins.” 28 Many of the people of Israel are now enemies of the Good News, and this benefits you Gentiles. Yet they are still the people he loves because he chose their ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 29 For God’s gifts and his call can never be withdrawn.

Jeremiah 30:7 calls the Tribulation the time of “Jacob‘s trouble." A time of refining for the Jews in witch 2/3 of the Jews will be killed, Zech. 13:8-9, and 1/3 God says, "I will bring that group through the fire and make them pure. I will refine them like silver and purify them like gold. They will call on My name and I will answer them." That is why the 7 year Tribulation is called of the time of "Jacob’s trouble" it's about the Jews, NOT the Church. Jer. 30:7 Alas! For that day is great, So that none is like it; And it is the time of Jacob’s trouble, But he shall be saved out of it. That's how Paul can say, "that all Israel will be saved," in Rom. 11:26. He’s talking about the remnant that is comes to faith in Jesus. It’s those that the Antichrist attempts to slaughter, in the last 3 1/2 years that Jesus titled the Great Tribulation, Matt 24:21. This time is for the purifying and refining of a “remnant” of the Jewish people, bringing them to Christ as their Messiah. There is always a remnant, even with the true Church in the Dark Ages.

Revelation 12:6 And the woman (Israel, the Jews) fled into the wilderness, where God had prepared a place to care for her for 1,260 days (that’s 3 1/2 years). 9 This great dragon--the ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, the one deceiving the whole world--was thrown down to the earth with all his angels. 13 When the dragon realized that he had been thrown down to the earth, he pursued the woman (Israel), who had given birth to the male child (Jesus). These are clearly the remnant of Jews that have repented, Zech. 12:10, and become believers in Christ. There will be many other non-Jews who get saved at that time. They are called the "Tribulation Saints.”  The dragon, Satan, will persecute them also.  Rev. 13:7 It was granted to him (Antichrist) to make war with the saints and overcome them. Yet Jesus said that the gates of Hell would never overcome His Church, Matt. 16:18. Many will come to faith in the last 7 years. More on these “Saints” in Rev. 6:9-11, 7:9-17, and Daniel 7:25.

We as Christians are not appointed to wrath! We will never be judged for our sins, they were paid for on the Cross, by our precious Lord and Savior. We have passed the test. In the book of Revelation after chapter 3 the Church is not mentioned again. In Rev. 2 and 3 the “overcomers” of the Church are given promises, they will be seated with Jesus, dressed in white with crowns and are to be Kings and Priests. In the next chapter the Elders of Rev. 4 and 5 are seated on thrones, dressed in white, with crowns and declared to be Kings and Priests. They are the only group that can sing the song of the “redeemed," by the blood of the Lamb in Rev. 5:9-14. The Elders are the Church and are in the Throne Room, with the Lamb. The Church, the Bride of Christ, is not mentioned in the Judgement of the world which starts in chapter six. Don’t miss this point; it is "the Lamb who was slain" that opens the seals of judgment starting in Rev. 6:1. He's my Savior not my Judge. This time is called “the wrath of the Lamb” in Rev. 6:16. Remember it’s the time that Jesus said would be, "the worst time in human history,” Matt. 24:21 and Daniel 12:1-2.

Thank God that we as believers are the "Children of God." Jesus said, Rev. 3:10 "I also will keep you (the Church) from" the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth." Note: If you keep someone FROM a train wreck you don't keep them through it. The Church will be called to Heaven as the Bride for its Groom Jesus. This will happen before the time of testing for the Jewish people and that terrible time that is to test the people that Revelation refers to as "the earth dwellers."

It can’t be overlooked that Jesus taught that the Church is His Bride. The Church, means all true believers, not an organization. The symbology of the Jewish wedding is taught by Jesus and can be seen in John 14. 14:1 Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. Also in Matthew 24 when Jesus says, “no one knows the day or the hour (of his return), not the Son, but the Father only.”

Every man, woman and child knew these very words as part of their everyday life, because it concerned probably the major event of their lives, the Jewish wedding. John 14:1-3 contains common expressions in their society. In the Jewish wedding ritual the groom would go to the bride’s father’s house and pay a dowry for the engagement, Jesus paid with his blood. Then he would, go to his father’s house and build an addition for him and his future bride. About one year later the father would tell him to go get his bride, usually in the middle of the night. Only the father knew when that would be. Then the groom would go get his bride, she would meet him outside her house. Then they would go to his father‘s house to have the wedding ceremony.

By telling His disciples that He was going to His Father’s house Jesus was comforting them on the night that He was arrested. He basically told them you’re My Bride. I’m going to Heaven, to My Father‘s house, and I will come back and bring you there with Me. After that, there will be an event called “the wedding supper of the Lamb,” when the Church will be completed as the Bride of Christ. Revelation 19:7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and let us give honor to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself.

Many in the Body of Christ don't see that there is a role and a time for the Church. It starts at the birth of the Church at Pentecost. The Church Age ends, as seen in 1 Thes. 4:17, when those who died will rise first then those who are alive and remain are taken away, or "caught up," in the clouds to "meet the Lord in the air" to be the promised Bride of Christ. That's in "the air," outside the Bride's house on Earth. At that event Jesus does not come to the Earth. The Bible speaks of two events. The Second Coming return of Jesus in Rev. 19 is after the wrath of God and the other where He comes to get His Bride who is not appointed to wrath.

There is also a role for Israel, as promised to Abraham, Jacob and David. It's a Kingdom for them, ruled by Jesus, the Messiah. You know the lion will lie down with lamb stuff and that Jesus will rule with a rod of iron. I’ve heard it said that this promise of a wonderful Jewish Kingdom is inferred or directly stated 1,800 times in the Old Testament and 300 in the New. At that time we as Christians will be in our eternal state. Maybe this is where Jesus said, for rewards, some will get many cities to rule, and some fewer. Starting with God saying, “Look,  I’m creating a new heavens and a new earth” we are shown this Kingdom in Isaiah chapter 65 verses17-25. It tells of the humans that populate the Earth, in the future Kingdom. They will have children and will live as long as trees 65:22 there will be death also. These are those, Jews and others, who accept Jesus as their Messiah during the Tribulation, and live through it. They are the ones who make it to the end and then to the "sheep and goat judgement" in Matthew 25:31-34. These Kingdom mortals are shown in Ezekiel 40-48 and Zechariah 14:16-21.

If you don’t see this clear distinction between the Church and Israel, you cannot interpret God’s word correctly. If someone overlooks that, they will be tempted to add to it or subtract from God's Word, by spiritualizing it, to make it fit their view. That’s not a good thing. God tells us that in His Bible's last chapter.

Revelation 22:10 Then he instructed me, “Do not seal up the prophetic words in this book, for the time is near. 18 If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book. 19 And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book. 20 “Yes, I am coming soon.”

That is the end of the entire Bible. The "last words" of someone are often something that they want to stress. Last words are important. Here Jesus Himself is telling us that He is coming soon, and He wants us to pay attention to the book of Revelation. Not to disregard it or make it something that it isn’t by adding to it or subtracting from it. The penalty is significant!

God tells us the future before it happens, to comfort us. As Christians if we miss that point we miss the whole thing. The justice of God must be served on the unbelieving world, and the Jewish people must repent so that God can fulfill His promises. Prophecy is our hope not our doom. Peter and the first century Church was "looking forward" for their "blessed hope." That’s when Jesus would take them to the Father’s house. What a comfort Isaiah 53 was to the first century Church, and it is for us today. The prophecies of the First Coming were completed exactly as God said. That is because God stands outside of time, knowing the end from the beginning. The prophecies of the end of things, including the Return of Christ, at the end of the Tribulation, will be fulfilled exactly. Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!   Alan Clark May 2024