Question from a reader:
Revelation 21:5 says: "Behold, I am making all things new." I am reading your book Heaven with great joy. If I understand it correctly, you write that God will restore everything. He does not fail in creation, and what He has begun, He will finish. Animals will also be made new if I have interpreted your book correctly. But what about the created fallen angels? Or the condemned people? Are they included in the word "all" if we interpret the Scripture literally?
Answer from Stephanie Anderson, EPM staff:
A parallel passage to Revelation 21:5 is Ephesians 1:9-10, which says: “He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.”
Writing about this verse, Randy says, “‘All things’ is broad and comprehensive (ESV, NASB, LSB, NCV). Of all things in Heaven and on Earth, absolutely nothing will be left out. All will be brought under the rule of Jesus (with the specific, designated exceptions of fallen angels and people who reject salvation in Christ).”
He also writes, “Occasionally, taking ‘all’ too literally in Scripture leads to bad theology. Paul saying ‘all Israel will be saved’ (Romans 11:26) shouldn’t be interpreted as universalism for one ethnic group, meaning no Jewish person will ever be lost. Understanding this qualification of ‘all’ and ‘everything’ in our English Bibles helps us accurately comprehend what passages like Ephesians 1:10 and Acts 3:21 are saying. We can recognize they are speaking of extensive numbers, without requiring them to say more than they mean—and thereby claiming a universalism that mistakenly includes Satan, demons, and rejectors of Christ’s redemptive work.”
We see these specific, designated exceptions in the context of Revelation 21 because right after His promise to make all things new in His new creation, and to reward those who trust Him, Jesus also reiterates His judgment on those who reject Him as Savior and Lord: “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death” (Revelation 21:8). And Revelation 21:5 is proceeded a few verses earlier by the description of the Great White Throne Judgment (Revelation 20:11-15).
So except when otherwise specifically qualified, when God says “all,” He means all. Randy writes, “Christ’s incarnation, life, death, and resurrection secured a New Earth, where life will be the way God always intended.”
You might also like to read/listen to this sermon from John Piper. And see this article from Got Questions.
May the Lord bless you as you continue learning about and pursuing what’s eternal!
