Quoting from linked article:
He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new
!’ —
Revelation 21:5 NIV, emphasis mine
The Greek word John uses for
new is
kainos.
Kainos is not the common word used in the New Testament for
new, which is
neos.
Neos is when you take an old car and overhaul it and restore it. Or when you take an antique piece of furniture and refurbish it and say, “Just like new!”
Kainos represents something completely and comprehensively new, totally new, brand-new! And
kainos is used in
2 Corinthians 5:17 where Paul wrote,
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new
creation has come: The old has gone, the new
is here! — NIV, emphasis mine
He is describing you and me. The new creation has already begun. This is why theologians refer to God’s plan of redeeming all that is fallen in the universe as “the already and the not yet.”
The curse has been reversed, is being reversed, and will someday be reversed. We define this reality with a four-letter word known as
hope.
In his book
Surprised by Hope, N. T. Wright wrote, “Easter was when Hope in person surprised the whole world by coming forward from the future into the present.”1
The mission of the church is to bring the future into the present. -
Hope: The Already and the Not Yet