When God talks about “making all things new,” (Rev. 21:5) he is not necessarily talking about new in time (neos), although that may be true as well, but new in quality (kainos). That’s why he says, “I am making all things new,” rather than, “I am making all new things.” It is a subtle, but significant difference. And one that we would do well to pay attention to.
For if we take “the old is gone and the new (kainos) has come” (2 Cor. 5:17) in the quantitative (neos) sense, we will have the wrong idea about what is really happening. We will be looking outside ourselves, rather than looking within. We will be expecting something to come out of the blue, rather than something to grow deep in the soil of our soul.
But if we take this newness in the qualitative (kainos) sense, we are much more likely to be able to see what God is really up to, and embrace it. God is making us qualitatively different; not from the outside in, but from the inside out. That's how the life of the Spirit works. And I, for one, am so grateful. There is something really beautiful about a God who cares about the quality of my life. A God who is constantly forming new things in me that are more beautiful than I could ever imagine or dream about.
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