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Verse of the year 2026 Revelation 21.1, 5

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem (...) 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” (NIV).

“What’s up?”

Since modern times, what is new, most often associated with progress, has positive connotations. Our consumerist society tries to convince us every day to take an interest in or acquire the latest new feature. However, the frenetic pace at which today's novelty replaces yesterday's fosters a feeling of instability, a lack of reference points and disillusionment that undermines the health of many of us.

The situation was very different in ancient or in biblical times. The old and traditional were a guarantee of security and truth, while the new was viewed with skepticism and synonymous with risky adventure.

The message of the Book of Revelation, particularly in its final chapters, could not fail to strike the seven communities to which it was addressed. What is this “newness” that is meant not to disturb but, on the contrary, confirm that the old promises are still valid? The author wants to appease us: this newness is not the falsification or suppression of the old, but its actualization: God, who created the old, fulfils it definitively. Not by returning to the Garden of Eden or restoring the Temple, but by dwelling with and in his creation, his new City and his people, taking ‘possession’ of them through his Son. It is He and no one else who brings the security that comes from God.

At that time, the Roman Emperor had greatly reinforced a divine cult around his own person, making it compulsory, thus presenting communities with a dilemma: should they obey the new god and follow the social mainstream (spending money very often to make offerings), or should they ostensibly refuse and risk serious trouble or at least social disgrace? Should they keep a low profile, withdraw from society and flee its dark labyrinths of power and corruption?

In a subtle manner, coded for non-Christians, the author of Revelation sometimes uses the term ‘almighty’ (pantocrator) to describe Christ in his book. In doing so, he signifies a rejection of the absolute authority of the Emperor, for whom this term was strictly reserved. He forcefully asserts that only God, the Father of Jesus, who was crucified by Rome but rose again, is more sustainable than the Empire, which will fall down. He gives a message of resistance and encouragement to scattered Christian communities, probably mistreated and numerically weak: it is not to the Empire, to Rome, that they should look or trust, but to Jerusalem, where Christ rose from the dead. That is where he will return, not to Rome. Do not be lulled by false novelties that seek to tell you how to live and dominate you, but remain close to the one who received his life from God and challenged the claim of any power to control everything, including the word of God.

Christ's message is an alternative to the rules of the powers that govern us, whether they be economic, political ideology or prevailing public opinion. Once again this year, the FAP remains faithful to this vision and support its partners in putting THIS novelty into practice.

Serge Fornerod, pasteur
President