Making Everything New
READ
In today’s passage, John is stuck on a rocky prison island called Patmos around 95 AD. The Roman Empire is cracking down hard on Christians - people are being thrown in jail, losing their lives, and watching their families suffer. Into this brutal reality, God gives John perhaps the most beautiful promise in all of Scripture.
Let’s take a moment to read Revelation 21:4-5:
‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
REFLECT
When John writes that God "will wipe every tear," he uses a Greek word that means to completely erase - like wiping a whiteboard so clean you can't even tell anything was ever written there. This isn't just God handing you a tissue. It's God personally removing every trace of what made you cry in the first place.
Notice how personal this gets: "from their eyes." God isn't offering mass-produced comfort from heaven's customer service department. He knows exactly which tears you've cried when no one was watching, which losses have left marks on your heart that you've never told anyone about.
Then comes the promise that feels almost too good to be true: "There will be no more death." The Greek here is adamant - "never again, not ever." Death isn't getting a timeout; it's getting permanently kicked out of the picture. And with death gone, all its ugly companions go too: grief, crying, pain - the whole miserable parade that follows loss around.
Here's what really gets me: when God says "the old order of things has passed away," He's talking about this entire broken system we've gotten used to. You know - the way things just seem to go wrong, how good people suffer while evil seems to thrive, how everything beautiful eventually fades or breaks. That whole mess? Gone. Done. Finished.
And the best part? The One making this promise isn't some well-meaning friend trying to cheer you up. This is "He who was seated on the throne" - the God who actually runs the universe and has the power to back up what He's saying.
But here's the kicker: "I am making everything new." Not "I will make" but "I am making" - present tense. God is already working on this restoration project right now, even when it doesn't feel like it. And when He says "everything," He means everything. Not just the big stuff, not just the spiritual stuff, but literally everything.
The word for "new" here is interesting too. It doesn't mean God's scrapping everything and starting over. It means He's taking what exists and transforming it into something better than it ever was. Your relationships won't be replaced - they'll be healed and made perfect. Your body won't be swapped out - it'll be upgraded beyond anything you can imagine. Even creation itself gets the ultimate makeover.
This isn't just pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking. John is seeing the completion of promises God has been making for thousands of years. Every prophet who ever said "God will make things right" - this is what they were pointing toward.
I know this can feel hard to believe when you're in the middle of real pain. When you're grieving, when you're sick, when everything feels like it's falling apart, promises about the future can feel pretty distant. But here's why this matters right now: knowing that every tear has an expiration date can help you get through today. Knowing that God is actively working toward complete healing can give you strength to keep going.
And here's something beautiful - we get to be part of this restoration project. Every time we comfort someone who's hurting, every time we fight against injustice, every time we bring a little healing into someone's day, we're participating in what God is already doing.
The brokenness you see around you? It's real, but it's not permanent. The pain you're carrying? It's valid, but it's not the end of your story. God sees it all, and He's not content to leave things as they are.
RESPOND
Take a moment to process what God might be leading you to do in light of what you read.
Which aspect of this promise - no more death, mourning, crying, or pain - hits closest to home for you right now, and why?
How might believing that God is already working to "make everything new" change the way you look at the broken things in your life today?
What's one small way you could participate in God's restoration work this week - maybe by bringing comfort, healing, or hope to someone around you?
REST
Take a moment to rest in God’s presence and consider one thing you can take away from your time reading, then close your devotional experience by praying:
God, thank You for promising that this isn't how the story ends. When I'm overwhelmed by pain - mine or the world's - help me remember that You see every tear and You're already working to wipe them all away. While I wait for that day, show me how to be part of bringing Your healing into the world around me. Let this hope sustain me when everything feels broken.