What does it mean that God is making all things new (Revelation 21:5)?

from the old testament

• When God created the earth, it was “very good” (Genesis 1:31), meaning it was perfect. In it, He created men and women to exhibit dominion over the earth (Genesis 1:26–27). When Adam and Eve sinned, creation became corrupted, and humanity began to die. We also failed to rule rightly over creation, subjecting ourselves to it (cf. Romans 1:25).
• The prophets, however, anticipated a day when everything would be renewed back to how God created it. Isaiah, in particular, described the new heavens and earth as the removal of sorrow and death, with “natural” predators today, such as the lamb and the lion, coexisting peacefully (Isaiah 11:6–9; 65:17–18).
• When God called Israel out of Egypt, it was to demonstrate His renewal as He saved them from slavery (Exodus 20:2), taught them how to live righteously (Deuteronomy 6:1–2), and then promised to one day renew them from the inside by changing their hearts (Ezekiel 36:26–27).

from the new testament

• Revelation 21:1–6 is the culmination of God’s promises to renew creation and humanity. Revelation 21:5 reads, “he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’” That declaration is to happen after God judges the earth (Revelation 20:11–15), and is therefore a future renewal.
• At that time, He will make three key things new. First, creation will be new. John said of that time, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more” (Revelation 21:1). When God created, everything was perfect. Right now, creation groans because of sin (Romans 8:22), but in the future, God will restore creation to its perfect state.
• Second, John recorded, “I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God” (Revelation 21:2–3). God will create a new Jerusalem and bring it from heaven to earth, showing that He is joining those two domains. It is from that new Jerusalem that God will dwell on earth with His people.
• Third, we learn that “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4). At that time, “the former things have passed away,” meaning sinful creation and sinful humanity. God will then comfort His people and start their new, sinless, and eternal life.
• Though Revelation 21 is future, we now feel its effects after Jesus came. Every time God saves someone, He makes him or her a new creature. We read, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17). In this sense, the “new has come” already. God then gives His people the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9), who is renewing them to be like Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). So, though God is creating all things new in the future, He has already begun to renew His people spiritually (cf. Romans 12:2).
• In the future, after Jesus returns but before God judges the world, He will establish His thousand-year kingdom on earth (Revelation 20:1–5). During that time, He will rule the nations with a rod of iron (Revelation 19:15), referring to the fact that He will greatly limit sin through His rule. At that time, He will also do what humanity was created to do: exercise dominion over the earth, allowing the pictures in passages like Isaiah 11:6–9 to come to pass.
• Following this period, God will judge humanity once and for all (Revelation 20:11–15), and it will be after that time that He will declare, “Behold, I am making all things new.”

implications for today

Look around you. Brokenness is everywhere. Suffering, anxiety, division, sickness, disappointment, crime, and more. The world does not feel the way it was meant to be, and deep down we know something is terribly wrong.

That is why God’s promise to make all things new is so encouraging. This broken world does not get the final word. Every pain, disappointment, injustice, and struggle we experience is temporary, because God has promised a future where sin, sorrow, and death will be completely removed. That truth gives us hope when life feels heavy and reminds us that no suffering is wasted in God’s hands.

But this renewal is not only future. God is already making His people new right now. Every step of spiritual growth, every battle against sin, every act of obedience, and every moment of trusting God in hardship is evidence that He is changing us to be more like Christ. Even when progress feels slow, God is still working.

That changes the way we live today. Instead of becoming cynical, hopeless, or consumed by the brokenness around us, we can live with confidence and expectation. We can live for the things of God and hold loosely to the temporary things of this world because we know something far greater is coming.

And the future God promises is not merely the absence of pain but the presence of perfect joy with Him. One day, everything fractured by sin will finally be restored. The fears, temptations, grief, and exhaustion we carry now will be gone forever, and creation itself will flourish the way God intended from the beginning. Until then, we can live with hope, knowing that the God who began making all things new will finish what He started.