A Bright Future In God’s Kingdom
We are fully into graduation season, and at commencements everywhere the consistent message from commencement speakers is that the challenges graduates face are great, but their futures are extremely bright. In Isaiah 65:17-25, the prophet Isaiah delivered a similar message to all of us who belong to the Lord. God will create a new heaven and a new earth where we will be with Him in perfect health, joy, peace and love. This world and everything in it are under the curse of sin, but God has planned a perfect future for us in His kingdom… and our future is bright! If you experience moments of darkness, frustration or despair this week, just remember that God has created a bright future for you as part of His perfect plan! Amen
See, I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
The former things will not be remembered,
nor will they come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight
and its people a joy.
I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and take delight in my people;
the sound of weeping and of crying
will be heard in it no more. (Isaiah 65:17-19) The prophet Isaiah provides God’s people with a view to His ultimate end and plan for us. God’s resolution to this sinful world will be to create a new heaven and a new earth. The former sinful world with its hurts and pains won’t even be a memory for us. God will be with us in this new creation. We will live in joy with Him, He will rejoice over us (His greatest creation) and we will be His delight forever. In this eternal state of joy, we won’t experience any more pain or crying. See also John’s reference to a new heaven and a new earth in Revelation 21:1
“Never again will there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not live out his years;
the one who dies at a hundred
will be thought a mere child;
the one who fails to reach a hundred
will be considered accursed.
They will build houses and dwell in them;
they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
No longer will they build houses and others live in them,
or plant and others eat.
For as the days of a tree,
so will be the days of my people;
my chosen ones will long enjoy
the work of their hands.
They will not labor in vain,
nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune;
for they will be a people blessed by the LORD,
they and their descendants with them.
Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb will feed together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox,
and dust will be the serpent’s food.
They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,”
says the LORD. (Isaiah 65: 20-25) This new creation will exist for rest of eternity. Isaiah uses the words “never again” to express that the effects of sin will never exist in this new creation. Children will no longer suffer or die from childhood diseases or abuse, and all people will live long beyond our current life span expectations. Oppression, abuse and neglect are all parts of a sinful world but none of that will be a part of God’s new creation. We will be blessed beyond measure, so much so that even before we can ask, God will answer. Isaiah shares imagery of wolves and lambs, lions, oxen and serpents living together harmoniously. Peace will reign in God’s newly created world, not just among His people, but in nature as well.
Isaiah let’s us know that God has a plan for His people. It is a plan for us to live with Him in eternity in a state of complete joy, health, peace and harmony. Isaiah prophesied a world in complete contrast to this world. A world untouched and not impacted by the curse of sin. Isaiah’s prophecy is consistent with John’s vision in the book of Revelation, of a new heaven and a new earth. God’s message to us in both the Old and the New Testament is that He has a plan to give us hope and a future. God wants His people to know that sin will not reign forever and the curse it has cast upon this world will be lifted. He will create the world that He intended from the beginning and we will live with Him the way He always intended. So, for those who belong to the Lord, He has plans for a perfect future for us. And the future in God’s kingdom…is bright!
Blessings,
Rev. Glenn
