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This past Christmas, my family blessed me with a big stack of books I had put on my wishlist. (Yes, we do wishlists in my fam, and it’s great!) One I was especially excited about was All Things New by John Eldredge. If you’ve been reading Fragrance Arise for a while you know that I quote him every chance I get (like in Why The Beauty of Jesus is My Life Message) and recently reread and blogged about his book Epic. Few authors have impacted me more. Normally I wouldn’t blog about the same author two What I’m Reading posts in a row, but this one is fresh on my heart and I’m so excited to talk about it.
John Eldredge is probably– no, is definitely– my favorite contemporary nonfiction author. His perspective on the Story of God and the sacred romance of our relationship with Him has captivated my heart’s imagination and given beautifully potent imagery to the way I think about God. (Fun fact– John Eldredge’s book The Sacred Romance was a key inspiration for Ted Dekker’s portrayal of the “Great Romance” in the Circle series of novels. So I even owe my Dekker obsession to John Eldredge!)
All Things New is John’s newest book, and it draws its name from a verse toward the very end of the Bible:
“And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.'”
(Revelation 21:5)
It’s a portrait of the “happily ever after” at the end of the story of this age, after Jesus returns, when God restores everything that has been stolen and broken, and fully gives us every good and perfect gift to enjoy forever.
I have to admit– I was nervous to start this book. As excited as I was, I actually procrastinated several months after receiving it. The idea of the “restoration of all things” (as Acts 3:21 says it) in the Millennial Kingdom and beyond is not new to me, and ever since I started studying the end times about seven years ago, the hope of that final glorious restoration has been an anchor to my soul and a theological truth very near and dear to my heart.
However, I know that there are many different end time beliefs in the body of Christ, and I LOVE John Eldredge so much that I just really didn’t want to be disappointed. It took the encouragement of a friend whose judgment I have grown to trust for me to take the plunge… and holy crap, I’m so glad I did. (He actually barely touches specific beliefs about the return of Jesus. The tribulation isn’t mentioned once. I think people from across the eschatological spectrum would be blessed by this book and wouldn’t find much to argue with.)
What I love most about this book is that as much as it is richly biblical, it’s far more deeply emotional. None of the theology was new to me, but John’s way of drawing out the emotional implications moved me to tears more than once.
The book begins with John sharing very candidly about some heartbreaking losses he and his family experienced– a grandchild, a best friend. Amid the agony of that season, the need for a vibrant hope in a future restoration became desperately clear. We need more than the vague idea that “they’re in a better place” and someday we’ll be together again in some vague cloud of ethereal bliss. We need a “wild hope” (a phrase which both C. S. Lewis and John Eldredge are fond of) in a very REAL, tangible, concrete Restoration.
“The secret to your unhappiness and the answer to the agony of the earth are one and the same–we are longing for the kingdom of God. We are longing for the restoration of all things. That is the only hope strong enough, brilliant enough, glorious enough to overcome the heartache of this world.”
(John Eldredge, All Things New, p 17)
Isn’t this what we have been dreaming of? Most of us don’t have words for it, but whenever we experience those rare moments of pure joy, something in us longs for it to last forever. Even more, when we experience the terrible, ripping pain of loss, we cry out for “everything sad… to come untrue”, as Tolkein’s Samwise Gamgee put it. Deep in our gut, we know what we were made for. We feel the brokenness of the world and know that we were made for more. And we’re going to get it.
We must dare to imagine a very real, future, restored Kingdom on Earth.
What can we look forward to in the Restoration?
Our bodies will be resurrected and infused with glory. All pain and physical limitations will be gone. This hope especially has become central in the mythology of this generation– the heroes of Marvel and DC. The vampires of Twilight. We know deep to our core that our very bodies were made for more.
Earth will be made new, which is not to say that it will be destroyed and Earth 2.0 will take its place, but it will actually be made new— renewed, restored, made young and bright and innocent again. Earth, our Earth, not an ethereal swirly realm of heavenly fluff.
WE WILL LIVE IN RESURRECTED BODIES ON A RESTORED EARTH FOREVER.
This is a huge point which John develops carefully and biblically in chapter 2:
“This passage [Revelation 21] isn’t just about heaven, the Sweet By-and-By. John is shown the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven… the city of God comes to the earth. The dwelling of God, which has heretofore been heaven, comes to humans, who dwell on the earth. Notice also that God promises to make current things new–as opposed to making all ne wthings. If God were wiping away reality as we know it and ushering in a new reality, the phrase would have been ‘I am making all new things!’… Annihilation is not nearly as impressive as redemption.”
(John Eldredge, All Things New, p 25, 31)
The animal kingdom will be restored to rightful balance. The lion will lie down with the lamb and so much more! We will all be Steve Irwin, with even more perfect and fearless harmony between species.
We will be reunited with loved ones. My last memories of my grandma are of tiredness, illness, and forgetfulness. I can’t wait to see her in the renewed world– younger than I ever knew her, with perfect stamina and memory, no more mental blocks from childhood trauma, her beautiful operatic voice never breaking or tiring. She will want to show me her favorite places in Oregon, where she grew up, I’m sure– her favorite rivers where the deer will gather and eat out of our hands, her favorite bike trails and mountaintop views.
We will meet the heroes of renown (and also the unsung heroes) from generations of the family of God. My friend Hannah and I have made a plan to sit down with C. S. Lewis for coffee in the New Jerusalem just as soon as we get a chance. We will have all eternity for good old Jack, the father of Narnia, to become our best friend.
All relationships in Christ will be restored. The old friend who let hardness overtake them and won’t speak to me anymore… if reconciliation is not to be in this age, we WILL have it to the full in the next age. We will love each other perfectly forever. I actually think of this often… it frees my heart to smile and forgive, knowing that they will embrace me again one day, like it or not!
Jesus will fully vindicate us of every injustice. He will give us real, specific rewards that publicly make known how He felt about us in the hardest times, when we chose humility through pressure and pain. He will loudly tell our story the way He saw it, without distortion. No matter what people say about me now, a day of vindication is coming.
Hope: The Anchor of our Souls
If hope in the Restoration becomes a very real expectation in our hearts, it will change everything. Every loss seems more temporary and bearable. Every moment of joy isn’t fleeting, but just a down payment of future bliss. Every lost opportunity is nothing compared to the infinite opportunities in an eternal, renewed Kingdom.
One of the simplest stories from All Things New perhaps impacted me the most. John’s daughter-in-law Emilie had been looking forward to a backpacking trip with some old and dear friends. When the trip was canceled, she smiled and said confidently, “Never mind. I’ll see them at the Restoration.”
What a perspective of confident expectation! How silly are our “bucket lists” when we have all eternity to adventure, explore, and experience.
Maybe someday I will write another post developing some of these ideas directly from Scripture, but today I’m just sharing my imaginings and musings. For now, read All Things New (get it on Amazon), and if you like, check out my post on resurrected bodies called Easter: The Promise of Future Resurrection.
May we always set our hope on that Day.
“…that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago.”
(Acts 3:20-21)
