A New Home

August 7, 2022 Background Scripture: Revelation 21:1 - 9 Lesson Passage: Revelation 21 - 9 Relocation has always led me to a better situation. My life since the age of eighteen has been punctuated with many major relocations. With each relocation came a severe bout with anxiety. Prior to a relocation, I was comf01table with my existing situation because it was familiar to me. Despite all the issues, problems, workarounds, warts, and disappointments, I knew how to maneuver and deal with my existing situation. The prospect of relocating to a better situation brought anxiety. Will the new situation be as good as I believe it will? What about unforeseen issues that I am unfamiliar with? Will it be too much for me and lead me to retreat for the first time in my life? It is fair to say that I had mixed emotions about each situation that necessitated a relocation. As we turn our attention to today's Lesson Passage, John writes about a new heaven and a new earth. Both were new because the previous heaven and the previous earth had been destroyed. Everyone in the old heaven and the old earth was displaced after the Great White Throne judgment. Some were ushered into eternal life and the rest were cast into the lake of fire. All this was a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. God decreed that He would do away with the old and make all things new. Death entered the world through Adam's sin and passed to all mankind. The old earth was ravaged by the presence of sin and death, Sin and death bring constant heartache and sorrows. Even when it seems that things are about to get better, the good times are always disrupted by either sin, death, or both. Humans are quite adaptable to our environment. People live in some of the most extreme climates in this world. We even invented machines to cany us out of this world into even more extreme environments. Our desire for something better provokes us to attempt everything imaginable. In the end, we still find ourselves confronted with the presence of sin and death. We respond to it emotionally through our tears. We promise ourselves that the time will come when we won't have to cry anymore. We work hard to improve our situation. And it is that effort that often leads us to relocate; Sometimes it's for a better job, a better community, a better house, or just the prospects of a better tomorrow. Whatever the reason, or motivation, we relocate, and we adapt to the new situation. For those who are truly blessed of God, somewhere along the way we hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and respond by accepting Jesus as our personal Savior. With salvation comes God's promise of a future that is free of the presence of sin and death. Often, we wish that would happen in our current situation. We pray to God for that to happen where we are. We want everything God has promised. To the best of our limited ability, we attempt to even change ourselves to hurry along the process. Life in this world doesn't change much. Whether one is saved or not, sin and death are still present in this world, and they both cause tears to flow. God's promise has not changed and neither has His method of bringing it about. In our lesson, John was given a peek at the fulfillment of God's promise. What John saw was a new heaven and a new earth after the old had passed away. And John saw the absence of tears because sin and death had been judged and destroyed in the lake of fire. All of us have at least one more relocation. For those who do not accept Jesus as their personal Savior, the lake of fire is their final destination. For those of us who have accepted Jesus as our personal Savior, there is a new heaven and a new earth that awaits us. We have a new home on the other side of this life. We will either get there through death or we will be changed and caught up in the clouds to meet Jesus, and he will carry us there. I still get a little anxious about relocations, but having a new home built by God gives me great anticipation about that last one! Robert C. Hudson July 21, 2022