Can you please explain the phrase when Jesus said, ‘I have made everything new?” Does it mean that we have to ignore the laws in the Old Testament as everything has been renewed?
I am not aware of any verse where Jesus spoke those words while He was on earth. You may be referring to Revelation 21:5 which reads, “Then He who sat on the throne said, ‘Behold, I make all things new.” This verse, as we shall see, looks on to the eternal state AFTER Christ has reigned over the earth for 1,000 years. He will have “delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father” (see 1st Corinthians 15:24), so the one sitting “on the throne” and speaking those words are “God the Father,” though He is surely speaking on behalf of the Triune God; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Let’s take a look at verses 1-4 to see exactly what is meant by the words, “I make all things new.”
Verse 1: “And I saw a NEW HEAVEN and a NEW EARTH, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also, there was no more sea.” Again, we are being introduced here to the ETERNAL STATE and the first thing that God does is to MAKE A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH. He had promised to do this in Isaiah 65:17, “For behold, I create NEW HEAVENS and a NEW EARTH; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind.” This means the PRESENT HEAVEN AND EARTH will be destroyed and God will replace them with an absolutely NEW CREATION. The Apostle Peter described this in detail in 2nd Peter 3:10, 12-13: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which THE HEAVENS WILL PASS AWAY with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both THE EARTH and the works that are in it WILL BE BURNED UP…looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which THE HEAVENS WILL BE DISSOLVED, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat…according to His promise, we look for NEW HEAVENS and a NEW EARTH in which righteousness dwells.” The present heavens and earth have been defiled by sin, but after God destroys them and creates the New Heaven and New Earth “righteousness will dwell.” There will be no more sin, only a perfect state of HOLINESS forever and ever! Indeed, “all things will be new!”
Verse 2: “Then I, John saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” Just as there has been an earthly city named Jerusalem that served as the capital of God’s “earthly people,” there will be a heavenly city named the New Jerusalem which will be the home of God’s “heavenly people” (see Hebrews 11:10 and 12:22).
Verse 3: “And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, ‘Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.” It has always been the desire of God to “dwell with men.” He dwelt WITH MEN in the Old Testament in a building called the Tabernacle (see Exodus 25:8). He dwells IN MEN now in those who make up the Church, the “House of God” (see Ephesians 2:19-22). In eternity He will dwell with all the redeemed in the New Heaven and the New Earth. We saw in verse 5 that the voice from the throne was that of God the Father (yet speaking on behalf of the Son and the Spirit also); in this verse it is the Triune God speaking, for all Three Persons of the holy Trinity will live forever with all who were saved through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. I had referred to 1st Corinthians 15:24 in the beginning to show that Christ delivers up the kingdom to the Father, but it goes on to say at the end of verse 28, “that God may be all in all.” All the purposes of God through the ages of time will have reached their final conclusion and then God…the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit…will live with redeemed men through the endless ages of eternity!
Verse 4: “And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for THE FORMER THINGS HAVE PASSED AWAY.” We noted above that there will be “no more sin” in the New Heaven and the New Earth. Here we see that God will eradicate all the “effects of sin.” It is hard to imagine living in a world without sin and its devastating results, but in the eternal state sin will never rear its ugly head again in the newly created Heaven and Earth which means there will be “no more death…sorrow…crying…or pain!” We saw in Isaiah 65:17 that “the former shall not be remembered or come to mind” so even the memory of our lives on earth with all of its sorrows, heartaches, suffering and death will be erased! Is it any wonder then that God goes on to say (in verse 5), “Behold, I make all things new?”
I could close there but I want to cite one more verse. In 2nd Corinthians 5:17 we read, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a NEW CREATION; OLD THINGS HAVE PASSED AWAY; BEHOLD, ALL THINGS HAVE BECOME NEW.” I would like to quote the comments of Edward Dennett as he compares this with our passage in Revelation 21. “The correspondence between these scriptures cannot be unobserved. The difference is that in 2nd Corinthians 5:17 the old things have passed away, and all things have become new FOR FAITH, whereas in our scripture the change is actually wrought, the former things having disappeared forever. In 2nd Corinthians all who are in Christ belong to the new creation; they are by faith introduced to this sphere—the sphere where Christ is the Head, Center, and Glory, In Revelation the old creation has forever passed out of existence, and the new remains. We wait for the latter; but it must not be forgotten that it is the privilege of the believer to anticipate this glorious scene.” (455.3) (DO)