New HEAVEN And A New EARTH

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.(Rev 21:1). The dream of the new heaven and a new earth was deep in Jewish thought. God said to Isaiah "For behold, I create new heavens and new earth; and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind." (Is 65:17). Isaiah speaks of the new heaven and the new earth which God will make; in which life will be one continual act of worship (Is 66:22-23). This is the promise of the new creation which will endure to eternity. The first heaven will pass away, and the new heaven will appear and this new new creation will last for ever, Sorrow is to be forgotten; sin is to be vanquished; darkness is to be ended and everlasting eternity should take the place of temporary time. This continuing belief is a witness to three things- to the unquenchable immortal longings in man's soul, to man's inherit sense of sin and to man's faith in God. The long awaited era of salvation: In Hosea 2:16 this is described as the marriage of God with his people. Hosea 2:20 says: "I will betroth you to me in faithfulness; and you shall know the Lord". In Joel 3:17 to 20, God's dwelling with His people is seen. This is the state when all evil has been wiped away: "He will swallow up death for ever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth; for the Lord has spoken" {Is 25:8). In Revelations 21:2, we find the dream of the Jews which never died-the dream of the restoration of Jerusalem, the Holy City. According to the philosophical thought of Plato, all things on earth are imperfect copies of heavenly realities. If that be so, their is a heavenly Jerusalem of which the earthly Jerusalem is an imperfect copy. Paul thinks of this when he speaks of the Jerusalem that is above in Galatians 4:26 and the author of Hebrews 12:22. It is said that God made the heavenly Jerusalem before he made Paradise and that Adam saw it before he sinned, that it was shown in a vision to Abraham and that Moses saw it on Mount Sinai and that it is now present with God. There is yet another concept of the New Jerusalem which is Jewish and is there in the synagogue form of their prayer. John's visions of the New Jerusalem uses and amplifies many of the dreams of prophets. Isaiah had his dream: "O afflicted one, storm tossed, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in antimony, and lay your foundations with sapphires. I will make your pinnacles of agate, your gates of carbuncles, and all your wall of precious stones" (Is 54: 11-12). This stream continues also in Isaiah 60: 10-20 also. Haggai had his dream: "The latter splendor of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts; and in this place I will give prosperity, says the Lord of hosts" )Haggai 2:9). In Tobit 13: 16-18 also we find the same expectation being reiterated. New Jerusalem was a constant dream; and John lovingly collected the different visions-the precious stones,the streets and buildings of gold, the ever open gates, the coming of the nations and the bringing of their gifts- into his own. Here is faith. Even when Jerusalem was obliterated, the Jews never lost confidence that God would restore it. They express their hopes in terms of material things; but these are merely symbols of the certainty that there is eternal bliss for the faithful people of God. God's promise to make Israel his people and to be their God echoes throughout the Old Testament."I will make my abode among you...and I will walk among you, and will be your God,and you shall be my people" (Leviticus 26:11,12). In Jeremiah's account of the new covenant the promise of God is: " I will be their God, and they shall be my people" (Jer 31:33). The promise to Exekiel is: "My dwelling place shall be with them; and I will be their God,and they shall be my people" (Ez 37:27). The highest promise of all is intimate fellowship with God,in which we can say: "I am my beloveds, and my beloved is mine" (Song of Songs 6:3). This fellowship with God is repeated in Revelations 21:3 and 4. The culmination of this is seen in Revelations chapter 21:5 "Behold I make all things new". In Revelations Chapter 22 verses 1-5 speaks about the river of life. The river of life is the depiction of the Holy Spirit.It is in the fulness of the Holy Spirit that the Church attains the totality of Christ's glory. This present period of history is known as the age of the Holy Spirit and is the time of the spring rain(Zech 10:1) or the time of the greatest activity of the Spirit that the Church has known. The promise of God is: "I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old man shall dream dreams, and your young man shall see visions. Even on the male and female slaves, in those days I will pour out my spirit" (Joel 2:28-29)God's promised Messiah was Spirit-filled in Luke 4:18. Fifty days after the resurrection of Christ, the promise made regarding the sending of the Holy Spirit was fulfilled. The Holy Spirit came on the disciples waiting in the Upper Room and there were several evidences like wind from heaven, flames of fire and speaking in tongues. This phenomenon is being continued even today and is referred to as Baptism in the Holy spirit. Being anointed with the Spirit, being filled with the spirit and being Baptized in the spirit. This is the empowerment of the Holy Spirit for the renewal of the Church. Renewal is the renewal of the Baptism we received as a child. By the sacrament of Baptism, all sins were washed away, we became children of God and heirs to the kingdom of God,and we entered into the fellowship of the members of the body of Christ, the Church and were empowered by the reception of the Holy Spirit to live like children of God.This sacrament of Baptism is a sacrament of Faith. As a child when we received the sacrament, it was our parents and god-parents who proclaimed our faith in our behalf. When we grew up and participated in a retreat, seminar or a convention and came to a new realization of the love of God, our sinfulness and received the sacrament of reconciliation and prayed for a new infilling of the Holy Spirit by proclaiming our faith and accepting Jesus as Master and Lord, then we received a new infilling of the Holy Spirit and this is called the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. This is the basics of Renewal. The promise of God regarding 'New heaven and new earth' in the Old Testament times and the promise of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ prior to his ascension into heaven regarding the sending of the Holy Spirit are both being realized to day in our midst through the Renewal. Praise the Lord! Today it is for us, who have experienced this promise come true in our lives, both in the Renewal and the Church to proclaim with Peter and John 'For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard' (Acts 4:20). Our experience of salvation should prompt us to proclaim like the Apostles,the mighty gift of God in our lives. Jesus tells the man need from a legion of demons 'go home to your family and tell them how much God has done for you,and how he had mercy on you' (Mk 5:19) Those of us who have experienced this gift of the Holy Spirit should have a zeal for the Gospel that is a desire that Jesus Christ be known, loved and served by all men and women. Zeal for the Gospel is an unquenchable fire in the heart which cannot be extinguished and it seeks to set fire to others. This zeal cannot be stopped because of human respect, existing structures,or fear of misguided prudence. "Woe to me if I do not preach the "Gospel" (1Cor 9:16). Good News has to be brought to the people with the plan of God in their historical, social and cultural context. Gospel has to become alive through the transformation of situations of sin. The messenger has to become the message: believe what you preach and live what you believe so that you may become a true witness to the message and with Paul we may be able to say "Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ" (1Cor 11:1) Let us pray our Lord For this grace in our lives especially during this New Year so that we may become true messengers of the New Heaven and New Earth! Wish you all a very HAPPY AND GIFTED NEW YEAR!