"Teaching the things concerning the kingdom of God..."

God is up to something new! It is natural for people to want to restore things or have them restored. That is why people are interested in refurbishing old homes, shrines, automobiles, antiques — they enjoy restoration. Such people are going to have the thrill of their lives in the days just ahead, when they witness the greatest restoration of all time spoken of by virtually every Bible writer, and promised specifically by the apostle Peter in the book of Acts as follows: "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; and He shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: whom the heaven must retain until the times of restitution (restoration) OF ALL THINGS, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began" (Acts 3:19-21).

In order to understand somewhat the significance of this wonderful declaration and the necessity of it, let us remind ourselves of the tremendous import of the words, "Behold, I make all things new." God shall make all things in the heavens and on the earth new. They shall be new not merely in the sense that we can speak of something being brand new, that is, unused. But they shall be new in character, entirely different from the old things. There shall be a different earth and different heavens. There shall be different creatures and different men and different activities and different relationships and different purposes and goals than there were in the old heavens and earth. The life of God’s people and all mankind in the new heavens and the new earth shall be altogether different and in that sense new. So different and unspeakably glorious shall all things be that we cannot even conceive of them now in this world of sin, strife, evil, sickness, sorrow, pain, and death. There are no adequate human terms to describe the glorious future God has planned for this world of mankind! There is no proper earthly language which can depict the real character, the unspeakable beauty, glory, and majesty of that world to come!

"New" implies first or all a change in man’s state of being. Most Christians have the idea that "salvation" is about escaping hell and going to heaven when we die. Oh, no! That’s not it at all. God is not concerned about having a people He can take some place — to some far-off heaven somewhere. He is concerned with making something out of us! That is what redemption and restoration are all about! It’s not a question of where we are going, it is a matter of what we are becoming. Two men may go to Miami Beach and sit on a bench by the bay. One is a beggar, the other a business tycoon. They are both in the same place, but they are not both the same thing! There will be a lot of spiritual beggars in heaven! God is working not to take us, but to make us! "To as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God" (Jn. 1:12). "Thou has made us unto our God kings and priests" (Rev. 5:10). "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son" (Rev. 21:7). "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new" (II Cor. 5:17).

It should be clear to every enlightened mind that God is in the process of making an entirely new creation, or making all things new — not this time a mere natural creation, nor yet a purely spiritual one, but a spiritual-physical one. The present natural creation is really only a first step in the divine process of making the creation God had in mind from the beginning. The time has certainly come for some true revelation and spiritual understanding concerning God’s creative program. God’s creation is still a work in progress! Beyond any shadow of doubt that is the truth revealed in the words of the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders when in their joyful praises to God they proclaim, "…for Thou has created all things, and for Thy pleasure they ARE and WERE created" (Rev. 4:11). "First that which is natural, and afterward that which is spiritual," is the divinely revealed order. Does that mean the natural is completely done away with, supplanted by the spiritual? Not at all! It means that the natural is swallowed up by the spiritual. The natural is a necessary step in the process of making the kind of creation God purposed from the beginning. If the first or old creation would have been what God was after He would not be making a more glorious new creation. Jesus Christ is the proto-type of that new creation — the PHYSICAL SPIRITUALIZED, RAISED UP INTO THE DIVINE AND HEAVENLY! The physical body of Jesus was raised from the dead, brought out of the tomb, spiritualized, and made a spiritual body — not a spirit, mind you, but a spiritual body. Jesus is still referred to as a man all through the New Testament, both before and after His ascension into the heavens. Even now "…there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." Yet, how different and more glorious He is from His days in the flesh!

The firstborn of this new creation order is a GOD-MAN upon the throne of universal power! Think of it! When you see Jesus as a divine-human, a God-man, one of the natural creation metamorphosed, spiritualized, raised up into the celestial and incorruptible, then you see exactly what God is after in every man and the whole creation. "This mortal must put on immortality." Oh, the wonder of it! We see the natural creation all around us, but this natural creation is not the finished product any more than the ore dug out of the earth is the fine piece of jewelry the artisan has in mind when he begins his work. The whole creation is still in the process of being made into the kind of creation God started out to make. God is still Creator! "Behold, I make all things new!"

Behold the truth contained in this profound statement of our Lord to His footstep followers as He sojourned in the borders of Judea. "Verily I say unto you, that ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Mat.19:28). The word "regeneration" is from the Greek paliggenesia. It occurs only one other time in the New Testament, and there it refers to the transformation wrought in the lives of redeemed saints. "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost…" (Titus 3:5). Paliggenesia is a compound word meaning "a genesis again." Jesus came to reveal within Himself a new genesis — a new beginning, a rebirth as it were, a new creation! There is going to be a new genesis for every man — the reason I say "there’s going to be" is because it has already begun in us, God’s called and chosen elect! "Ye which have followed me, in the regeneration…" To arrive in that new genesis it is necessary to follow Him. We must follow Him into the new genesis because HE IS THE BEGINNING, THE FIRSTBORN FROM THE DEAD!

In one of the most magnificent passages of all scripture, which contains one of the most meaningful promises in all the Word of God, the apostle Paul describes this paliggenesia: "For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creation was made subject to vanity (futility), not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope. Because the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption (placement as mature sons), to wit, the redemption of our body" (Rom. 8:19-23).

Odd it is that we limit God’s transformation, His new genesis, to planet earth, when the ultimate objective of God, as portrayed in the Bible, heralded by prophets, taught by mighty men of old, and championed by the apostles of our Lord, is the complete redemption and recreation of the entire creation encompassed by the words, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." The purpose of God reaches out to infinitude and to eternity. The formation and glorification of the body of Christ is but the first step on the way to "heading up all things in Christ," the ultimate raising up of the entire universe into its union with God in the Spirit where God becomes all and in all. Grace has ordained that twice-born men should be the first to experience the powers of the age and the ages to come, but how much more there is beyond that for the glory of God and the admiration of His people!

"Behold, new I am making all things." This newness of life is of ever increasing importance and should be cherished now above all else. Only God can make new! People may vainly imagine that by means of better education, a better environment, better legislation, and more equitable distribution of wealth they are going to usher in a new era, a golden age, a Utopia of man’s ardent desire. Their dream remains a dream! Here in our country, every time we get a new President and a new Congress, with new initiatives, new members of the Cabinet, new heads of important government agencies, with new decisions and policies, we feel that we are poised for a better, more prosperous, and more glorious future. But can these new administrations really solve the gigantic problems facing the nation? Can they balance the budget, eliminate the horrifying national deficits and debt, win the war on drugs, stop the unrelenting flow of illegal aliens, do something about our mammoth crime problems, eliminate poverty, help the homeless, give minorities complete equality, restore a character of morality in the lives of our citizens, broker a lasting peace in the Middle East, and at the same time keep America strong, able to deter aggression and defeat terrorism? Each new administration will try! And, because they are only human after all, and because each new President soon finds himself briefed about facts at home and abroad of which he had no knowledge until he became chief executive; and thus finds himself propelled, unwillingly, along avenues of which he does not prefer; forced to make decisions he hates — he will fail!

Neither economic nor disarmament conferences, neither better schools, more moral legislation, nor share-the-wealth programs are going to bring about a really golden age, a new heaven and a new earth, a new order, all things new. The simple fact is that the gigantic problems facing our nation and the whole world today are UNSOLVABLE! Personal experience has taught us the incontrovertible truth that it is ever God who through His Spirit makes all things new! In my lifetime I have personally witnessed criminals, drug addicts, sexual deviants, thieves, prostitutes, alcoholics, murderers, mentally ill, and many other such individuals saved, delivered, changed, regenerated, and gloriously transformed by the power of Christ! Oh, yes! God alone can restore and renew man and the universe. He does it now, though in a very restricted sense. He is going to do it on a massive scale at the manifestation of the sons of God! We can hardly imagine that the effects of sin and the curse can ever be removed. Yet they are going to be taken away so that all things shall actually be made "new." And to strengthen us in our faith that He who promised us will really do it, we read, "Behold!" The voice tells John that he must take it to heart. He must be sure to write it down for the understanding and comfort of others, for "these words are true and faithful" (Rev. 21:5). So certain is the fulfillment of this promise that the voice speaks as if the promise were already fulfilled: "…it is done, it has happened!" Only a "new genesis" can turn things around and redeem the world!

Many simply cannot imagine a world without crime, drugs, poverty, hunger, pain, wars, earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornados, drought, political upheavals, rebellions, coups, strife, hatred, bigotry, deceit, immorality, murders, sorrow and death. Can you imagine a world where nations live at peace? Where not one dollar is budgeted for defense? Where no family has to worry about sons and daughters being sacrificed on a battlefield? Where words like tank, battleship, bomb, grenade, warhead, and holocaust are only in the vocabulary of historians? Can you further imagine a world where hurricanes never blow ashore? Where tornados never devastate towns and farms and businesses? Where all volcanoes are extinct? Where earthquakes never occur? And can you believe a world where drought never affects a crop? Where hunger is unheard of? Where floods never destroy homes? Where spouse abuse and child abuse never happen? Where disease never destroys a life? Such a utopian world of which we speak is not going to be brought about by the efforts of men. It will not come from peace conferences, science, technology, education, social programs, or any other initiative of men and governments. For 6,000 years mankind has proved incapable of living at peace or perpetuating either righteousness or prosperity. No form of human government has brought universal peace and happiness. And scientists have certainly proved they are incapable of controlling the powerful forces of nature — though they can unleash the dangerous, destructive, and deadly secrets of the atom!

What a glorious and beautiful picture the prophets have painted of this great day of the release of creation from the nature of the curse and the bondage of corruption! No genius or artist, or wisdom of poet can ever convey the glory and beauty of this bright day! No matter where you live, you will awaken every morning to be greeted by a smiling sun that will shine through an atmosphere as pure as the very breath of heaven. The army of germs and viruses will be neutralized by the very breath of God. The curse and the sorrow that the curse brings will be removed. Farmers will plow the soil with the knowledge that no tares will grow, and every troublesome weed will turn to a beautiful flower at the word of the sons of God. With all curse lifted, the glories of Eden will be restored. Glorious indeed will be the sight as you stand on the summit of the mountains and gaze across the fertile plains, vibrant with beauty, fertility and color. Mankind shall no more eat bread by the sweat of his face. Nor shall men any longer return to the dust of the earth, for all men shall freely eat of the tree of life which is the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus. All enmity and strife shall be done away. All sorrows, troubles, sickness, pain, sin and death shall cease to exist. The eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped, literally and spiritually.

The Spirit of the Lord will draw all mankind to Himself, giving them eyes to see and ears to hear. The stranger you meet in the city will be no stranger, for all men will know one another by the spirit and all will know the Lord, from the least to the greatest. Waters shall break forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert, both literally and spiritually — for the literal is but the sign and parable of the spiritual. No nettle will sting the legs of the playing child, who in that glad day can play anywhere without danger from ferocious beast or reptile. No mountain lion will ever again stalk the beautiful deer, for "the lion shall eat straw like the ox." No hunter will ever sight the muzzle of his gun. The wild goose on his swift unerring flight will not have to fly at a dizzy height because of its fear of man. No woman will be afraid on the street, no one will fear anyone or anything anywhere, for "they shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain (kingdom)," saith the Lord. No hungry man will walk the icy streets, no sobbing mother or father, wife or husband, son or daughter, will gaze into the casket at the ashen face of their beloved. No aged saint will hover over her small stove to measure out her meager food — just enough to keep body and soul together until her body wears out and her heart gives up. The heavens will no longer be as brass, and God will no longer be hidden as though He were a trillion miles away. The presence of the Lord will be closer to us than the air we breathe, yea, closer even than the blood coursing through our veins. Before anyone shall call Him, the Lord will answer them; and while they are yet speaking, He will respond to their plea. The earth, without and within, shall be full of the glory of the Lord! My beloved, if all of this, and much more beside, does not become a reality on this planet then the promise fails — "Behold, I make ALL THINGS N-E-W!" "Write: for these words are true and faithful."

The whole of created life, according to the passage we quoted earlier from Romans 8:19-21, will be delivered from the bondage of corruption. This is the fruitage of the ministry of the manifest sons of God! This presents a very striking truth about God’s grace to even the lower creations, including the animal and all other animate creatures, and to the whole system of things, who are also under the bondage of the curse, violent natures, fear, decay, and death. Against their own wish they were put into this bondage! The thing that appeals to our sympathies at once is that the creation is spoken of as though conscious of this. It, too, is suffering as well as we! And the man, woman, or child who has felt oftentimes to the point of pain, the mute appealing look in the eye of some horse or dog as though asking for sympathy or help, or the melancholy braying of the burro, will feel at once an answering within, to this marvelous promise of God! The whole creation is joining with us in unutterable groans and birth pangs, earnestly looking forward to its release with ours, out into full, free Life. It is this exalted thought of the glory that will come at the manifestation of the sons of God, that makes us so eager for the blessed Day of release!

Our world today needs the new men that Christ makes! New men are the key to everything else that must be renewed. Therefore the making of new men is the first priority of the kingdom of God. Do you, precious reader of these lines, feel alone, insignificant, unlettered, unlearned, and helpless in the face of the needs of mankind and the world? Have you not wondered how in the world you could ever rule nations and change great and important things in the world when you are just an ordinary person of little influence, unknown by anyone? Ah, the preparation for sonship and rulership in the kingdom of God is not rooted in your natural talents or abilities, or in your knowledge of theology, or economics, or government, or public speaking, or a thousand other things that the world esteems. Oh, no! Qualification for the kingdom lies in our becoming new men. Only by the making of new men can the sons of God be equipped to reign and bring the kingdom of God to pass in the earth! Our world desires better schools, a better press, better politicians, better government, a better business world, a better economy, better living conditions, better social institutions, better communities. These desires are laudable, but they cannot be achieved with unchanged men! And therein lies the dilemma.

At every point we are driven to the need for new men — a NEW CREATION. Through two world wars the "elite" of the world dreamed and talked of the coming of a better world when the nations would lay down their arms and begin to build that better world. Seventy-six years have gone by since the last World War and it is not only the same old world, it is a much worse world! We cannot build a new world out of men with old dispositions, old attitudes, old methods, old hearts, and old natures. The new world for which all creation groans and travails can only be fulfilled by new men with renewed minds, new hearts, new understanding, and a new spirit. Do you truly want to do something that will contribute toward the raising up of God’s kingdom in the earth and the transformation of the world? Do you want to know precisely just what you can do right now, today, right there in that undistinguished little place where you are, to actually qualify to reign with Christ in His kingdom? GIVE YOURSELF TO BECOMING A NEW MAN, A NEW WOMAN, A NEW CREATION, CONFORMED INTO THE IMAGE OF THE SON OF GOD! That is the one single greatest and most effective thing you can do today in preparation for the manifestation of the sons of God!

There is coming a time of unspeakable glory, plainly revealed in holy scripture, as the time when the Lord God shall MAKE ALL THINGS NEW. The proof of His ability to accomplish this is His present work of making new men and a new creation of His called and chosen elect. I tell you, my friend, if God can subdue and eradicate the old Adamic nature and life in me, He can do it in anybody! This renewal of all things is as certain as the rising of the sun and the going down thereof. There is coming a blessed day when the River of Life shall overflow so abundantly unto the whole creation that the glory of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea. There is coming a day when there will be no more sin and no more curse and no more death anywhere, for the former things have passed away, washed, quickened, renewed, and transformed in the life-giving powers of the effervescent River of Life. The glorious New Jerusalem, the city foursquare, the perfect and powerful government of God, shall fill the earth with the light of the Lord. The people will walk in the light of it and the nations shall bring their glory and honor into it. These are the things which eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have they entered into the heart of man. These are the things God has revealed to them that love Him! These are the unspeakable things, unlawful for man to utter in the hearing of unsanctified ears, the things that pertain to the Paradise of God which is the realm of the Spirit. These are the things that shall be brought to pass in the age and the ages to come as the River of Life flows out through the ministry of the manifest sons of God. Aren’t you glad!

Death shall be no more…