Redemption

Scripture:

And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new." Also he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
Revelation 21:5

Observation:
I remember when I was a child watching this lady whose ministry was to sit and spread the gospel while shaping a vessel on a potters wheel. During here presentation she would create this beautiful vessel and then would slowly disfigure it. She would tear it down and than make a new vessel using the same clay that the first vessel was being made with. She did not throw away the clay and start afresh; she redeemed the old and made it new. I believe this is the type of image that is being presented here in this passage by John. God is showing him that He is redeeming creation and making it new. It has this return to Eden motif in the language used. That things will be made like before the fall, God will wipe away all the ill effects ushered in by the fall. The first Adam ushered in the effects of sin, and the second Adam takes them away, making all things new.

Application:
The idea of God’s divine redemption really makes me think of the ways in which we have deviated from that redemptive process. The way we make judgments condemning people as unredeemable. For example the idea of capital punishment, one of the arguments for it is that it does not allow for a person to commit evil again. It is final and complete. But what have we become when those who once were vile and despicable become redeemed and become new people are still put to death. That is beside the obviously hypocritical statement made that killing is right when the right person does it; we destroy a redeemed life. For example look at the life of tookie Williams, a man who was on death row for murder, the leader of one the largest gangs in America, the Crips. While in prison he disavowed any connections to his previous life and dedicated the remainder of his life to helping kids avoid the pitfalls that ensnared him. God redeemed this man and yet society could not accept it, this man became a new creation someone devoted to good, and society destroyed him. Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Governator of California, refused to give Tookie a stay of exacution and terminated him. None of us deserve grace but God gives it to us freely, who are we to say a man is past grace, is past redemption.

Prayer:
Lord, cause me to see things your way, to always extend grace and trust in redemption. Amen…