Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.
- Revelation 21:1
 
God’s new-making mission takes place on a cosmic scale. It’s bigger than any of us. We’re so small, but so dearly loved.
 
And this is good news.
 
We’re not the center of the universe. Our story isn’t the whole story. God isn’t limited by our imaginations, our abilities, or our faithfulness.
 
God’s work in us is the tip of the iceberg. To use biblical and agricultural language, God’s new-making work in us represents the firstfruits of God’s new creation. What he’s doing in us is evidence to the whole cosmos that God can and will make all things new.
 
God isn’t going to leave things the way they are. He isn’t about to just make a few minor bug fixes and then move along to a new project. He loves and cares about all that he’s made. Every atom of the cosmos will be made new by the one who Created them.
 
Don’t be misled. NT Wright says it well when he says that “God’s making all things new; he’s not making all new things.” Just as each of us will retain our identities when God raises us to new life in the resurrection, the new heavens and the new earth will retain the essential character of the cosmos we currently inhabit. But it will all be made new.
 
Isn’t this a wonderful mystery? How can the old be made new without losing itself? We don’t have to fully understand it to celebrate its truth. In this painful and broken world, we long for all things to be made new.
 
Take a moment to look out your window instead of into your mirror. What would you like to see God make new? What would it look like for God to show his creative love for the world you see out your window?