The best stories, the ones we delight in, end well. At the end of the story, evil is vanquished and courage rewarded. The future looks bright. But on this earth, there is a pervading sadness to even the most satisfying ending. Sin mars true happiness, leaving lingering dissatisfaction.

But that is not the way the Bible ends. Since Genesis, we have watched God work out His plan to restore what was lost in the Garden of Eden. Now, in the book of Revelation, we see the result: a new heaven and a new earth! These words are meant to echo the original Creation account before the world was marred by sin. That creation was good, but not perfect. Sin was a possibility.

But this new heaven and earth will be different. They are fit for a holy city, Jerusalem, and for God to dwell among His people (v. 3). What is more, the consequences of sin, death and the mourning, crying, and pain will be gone (v. 4). They characterize the way the world used to work. God declares that the old order of things is no more when He says, “I am making everything new!” (v. 5).

Chapter 21 of Revelation describes that future reality. How would the readers in the first century have known they could trust it to come to pass? How can we, today, know and look forward to it? God declares that it is trustworthy and true (v. 5). The hope of everyone with faith in Christ for salvation rests on these words. They are true. God has committed Himself to restoring the world we live in. The work of Christ secured that future for us. This is our hope. This is our victory. The story ends the best possible way it could.

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