A word that says: look
Behold, I Make All Things New
After all the tears of history, a voice from the throne makes a promise vast enough to answer them. Behold, I make all things new. Not merely a few things mended, not the old patched up, but everything made new, in a world where God dwells with His people and death itself is gone forever.
“And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.”Revelation 21:5
Where it is said
Where it is said. These words are spoken by God from His throne near the end of Revelation, recorded in Revelation 21:5. John has been shown "a new heaven and a new earth," and "the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven" (Revelation 21:1-2). A great voice announces that God will dwell with His people: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God" (Revelation 21:3). Then comes the tender promise, "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" (Revelation 21:4). It is in this setting that the One on the throne speaks: "And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful" (Revelation 21:5). This is the climax toward which the whole Bible moves, the renewal of all creation and the unbroken presence of God with His people.
What it asks us to see
What it asks us to see. This Behold asks us to see the final goal of God's whole plan, a creation made new and a world where God dwells fully with His people. It is a promise not of escape from the world but of the world's renewal, all things made new. It asks us to believe that the sorrows of this present life are not the end of the story. Every tear will be wiped away by God's own hand, and death, sorrow, crying, and pain will be gone, for the former things will have passed away. This Behold answers the deepest ache of the human heart, the longing that things should be set right at last. It tells us that God does not abandon His broken world but restores it, and He does so personally, dwelling with His people as their God. The words are guaranteed, for the One on the throne adds that they are true and faithful. To behold this promise is to gain hope that outlasts any grief, and to let the certainty of the coming renewal give courage and patience now, knowing that the God who makes all things new will surely finish what He has begun.
How it points to Christ
How it points to Christ. The renewal of all things is accomplished through Jesus Christ, the Lamb who is at the center of the new Jerusalem. It is His victory over sin and death that makes the wiping away of every tear possible, for by His death and resurrection He has conquered the last enemy. In the very next verses He speaks as "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end," offering the water of life freely (Revelation 21:6). The promise that God will dwell with His people fulfills the meaning of Christ's name, Immanuel, God with us, brought to its fullest end. Jesus is Himself the temple of the new city, for "the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it" (Revelation 21:22). The renewal He brings began at His resurrection, the first fruits of a new creation, and it will be completed when He returns. To behold I make all things new is to behold the finished work of Christ carried to its glorious conclusion, when all who trust Him will dwell with God forever in a world where nothing is broken and no tear is ever shed again.
Questions people ask
Does making all things new mean God destroys the world?
The vision speaks of renewal rather than mere destruction. God makes all things new, wiping away tears and ending death and pain, and He comes to dwell with His people in a new heaven and new earth. It is the restoration and renewal of creation, not its abandonment.
When will this promise be fulfilled?
Scripture presents this as the final goal of God's plan, fulfilled when Christ returns and God dwells fully with His people. The renewal began with Christ's resurrection, the first fruits of new creation, and will be completed at the end. The One on the throne calls these words true and faithful.