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Longing for the New Creation
The Bible begins with creation, and though we see creation fall into sin and decay, the story does not end with creation abandoned. It ends with creation renewed.
Revelation gives us the vision of a new heaven and a new earth. God dwells with his people. Death is destroyed. Mourning, crying, and pain are no more. The One seated on the throne says, “I am making everything new.”
This is the hope of the gospel. God is not discarding his world. He is renewing it. The story does not end with souls escaping earth, but with heaven and earth brought together under the reign of God.
Romans 8 tells us that creation groans as in the pains of childbirth. We groan too, waiting for the redemption of our bodies. Christian hope does not deny suffering. It tells the truth about it. The world is broken. Our bodies are weak. Creation is wounded. Death is real.
But groaning is not the same as despair.
Creation groans in hope because Jesus has risen. His resurrection is the first sign of God’s new creation. In the risen Christ, we see the future God has promised—embodied life, restored fellowship, creation healed, and God present with his people forever.
This hope changes how we live now. We do not care for creation, bodies, justice, beauty, or human suffering because we believe we can perfect the world by our own strength. We care because God’s future has already begun in Jesus. Our labor in the Lord is not in vain.
The world was created good. Human beings were made in God’s image. All things were created for Jesus. And while we live in a broken world today, one day all things will be made new.
Until then, we live as people of hope.
Prayer
Lord, thank you for the promise of new creation. Help me groan with honesty, hope with confidence, and live now as a sign of the world you are making new. Amen.
Today’s Practice
Where do you feel the groaning of creation, your body, or the world? Bring that place honestly to God, and ask him to help you live with resurrection hope.
Scripture
About this Plan
Why did God create the world? Genesis tells us that God made the heavens and the earth, called creation good, and made human beings in his image. But the New Testament takes us even deeper—all things were created through Jesus and for Jesus. This 5-day plan invites us to reflect on the Creator God, the goodness of the physical world, the dignity and calling of humanity, the centrality of Jesus, and the hope of new creation. You were not created for yourself. The world was not created for itself. All things were created for Jesus.
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We would like to thank Lausanne Movement for providing this plan. For more information, please visit: https://lausanne.org
