Introduction:

The longer I have been a Christian, the more I have realized that the greatest need we all have — AS BELIEVERS — is the strengthening of our faith.

Every battle we face in the Christian life is a faith battle.

Every virtue we are meant to pursue in the Christian life is a faith pursuit.

We seek the face of God by faith.

We say no to sin by faith.

Our entire WALK — our entire way of life — is captured by the words “for we walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7).”

We received that faith when the Lord saved us.

We have saving faith, if we know Christ, and now we live by faith.

ESV Galatians 2:19 For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

We need to have our faith increasingly informed.

We need to have our faith increasingly clarified and purified.

We need to have our faith tested and proven.

And through all of that, we need for our faith to INCREASE AND BE STRENGTHENED.

ESV Luke 17:3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, 'I repent,' you must forgive him." 5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!"

ESV Mark 9:21 And Jesus asked his father, "How long has this been happening to him?" And he said, "From childhood. 22 And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." 23 And Jesus said to him, "'If you can'! All things are possible for one who believes." 24 Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, "I believe; help my unbelief!"

ESV James 1:2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

ESV 1 John 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world-- our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

What this means is that the ongoing challenge for us in the Christian life is to be sure that we TRULY BELIEVE what we SAY WE BELIEVE.

And TO KNOW that if we truly believe what we say we believe, then there will be works that give expression to that faith.

ALL OF THIS IS SHOWN TO BE VERY IMPORTANT WHEN WE COME TO REVELATION 21.

What is set before us is the time when God MAKES ALL THINGS NEW.

IT IS OUR VERY FUTURE THAT IS SET BEFORE US.

WE ARE GETTING A GLIMPSE — RIGHT NOW — OF WHAT THE REST OF OUR LIVES WILL BE LIKE IN THE ETERNAL STATE.

NOTE: If I could invite you into a room and put on a screen exactly what your life and circumstances would be like 10 years from now, how would you feel about that? Well, what our God is doing is giving us the truth about what our lives will be like forever if we know Jesus.

But do we believe it?

Are we looking forward to it?

Are we living for it?

This morning, we see four things that God will make new (“Behold, I am making all things new”) (vs.5) in the eternal state.

I. THE NEW CREATION (vs.1)

We have already seen that God is going to “uncreate” the present universe. That’s what the words “heaven and earth” refer to — those words encompass all of creation.

In the millennial Kingdom the world is different, full of great prosperity and blessing, but clearly not the eternal state. After those kingdom conditions have served their purpose, God is going to take it out of existence and an entirely new universe, one that has never been tainted by sin, will be brought into being.

Verse 1 makes clear that the first heaven and the first earth passed away. God is going to produce a brand-new environment for glorified mankind.