Two Buckets

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. —Revelation 21:1

God has used Revelation 21 to reorganize how I see the human experience. John’s vision puts everything into one of two buckets—former things and eternal things.

What goes in the eternal things bucket? God, people, God’s Word. What goes in the former things bucket? Everything else.

All crying. All pain. All disappointment. All suffering. It’s bound to pass away. Maybe not today, tomorrow, or even in this lifetime. But eventually all suffering will cease. This longer view of redemption is our true hope rather than the temporary relief of temporary troubles.

In many ways, redemption is also a short game. It’s finished. Because of Christ’s work on the cross, your suffering is already redeemed. Christ’s victory is secure over the long shadow sin casts over your lives.

We live in the in-between—between the cross and Christ’s second coming. Suffering is par for the course on this middle ground, but our redemption is secure. Soon enough, every ache and pain will shift to the former things bucket.