I rang in 2015 at a New Year’s Eve party with some of my former neighbors. The following day I attended a get-together with friends I knew from ministry. The contrast between these parties was striking. Why? Generous and caring friends attended both gatherings—but the New Year’s Eve party lacked something: the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ who makes all things new.
Have you ever sensed the difference in believers and those who don’t follow Jesus?
At the New Year’s Eve celebration, one of my former neighbors told me she had been pulled over for driving under the influence. Another neighbor felt desperate because she left her boyfriend. He struggled with another love—alcohol—and she had grown weary of his drinking binges and their consequences. Substance abuse, the very thing these two young women despise, also ensnares them as a way to escape their pain. Both women experience the cruel power of addiction. What if life could be different?
Scripture describes a new day that will exceed our deepest hopes for change.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.
I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!”
—Revelation 21:1-5a
God brings newness to our lives when we come to repentance and faith through His Son Jesus. We experience this newness only in part now, but after death, we will experience complete newness when we see Jesus Christ face-to-face.
One day, we’ll take part in the fairy tale ending we all long for: God will make all things new in the new Heavens and the new Earth, a place free from suffering.
Restoration happened for me when I came to Christ in high school. The day after I became a believer, it seemed as if I saw my classmates through a different lens. I longed for those who did not have a relationship with God through Christ to know this new revelation that I had grasped. I felt an immediate burden for those separated from this knowledge, and that brought me to an exciting adventure of trusting God for others’ salvation.
You and I have the privilege to tell women about the new life they can enter now and forever, in a place where brokenness gets fixed. They need to know that transformation IS possible when they come to God through Jesus Christ.
Stonecroft exists to help women have a restored relationship with the God of the Universe because Jesus lived, died, and rose for them. He makes all things new!