He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then He said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." (Rev. 21:5)
It's called Pittsburghese! It's a language all its own. Only in Pittsburgh do educated people (people who know better) leave out the verb to be. The car needs fixed. The lawn needs mowed. The house needs cleaned.
Broken ... needs fixed! That's true Pittsburghese! It's a true diagnosis for the South Hills of Pittsburgh and beyond. We are all broken! We all need fixed!
Our usual response to brokenness is to want to rewind (like in a movie to bring all those shattered pieces back into an unbroken whole) - to fix brokenness in all its forms right here, right now. It's the cure, the remedy, the solution, the restoration to reverse the brokenness - that's the goal!
In The Passion of the Christ* Jesus speaks from His cross to His mother Mary, Woman, I make all things new! His body - broken, bleeding and sinking into death by suffocation - the King of Kings and Savior of the World speaks triumphant words, I make all things new! The words are out of place in the Biblical frame (they don't show up until Revelation 21:5) but they fit in the theological frame.
It is ONLY because of Jesus' death that we have the promise of restoration - being made new!
Long, long ago a man and woman in a garden made a terrible choice to disobey God's one rule: Don't eat from that one tree in the center of the garden. (Gen. 3:6) They were a bite away from terrible brokenness and they bit. Because of that bad choice they made and all the ones we continue to make, we all are broken. Some of us cover up, fix up, dress up, clean up and think we can hide our brokenness. The fact is: we are all broken beyond repair except for Jesus' startling promise: I make all things new!
He speaks from this side of His cross and the promise is true: I make all things new!
*movie produced by Mel Gibson
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