Good morning my ‘Walking with Jesus” friends,
Have you ever looked through a strong telescope far out across the horizon or even looked up into a clear night sky? It’s amazing isn’t it, to see through a telescope what you can’t see with your normal sight. Now, what if we could do that with TIME? What if you could see tomorrow or next year or 100 years from now?
We’ve spent the past several weeks looking at messages the Jewish prophet Isaiah received from God about 2700 years ago. Many of those messages described events which were futuristic for Isaiah but are past history for us.
But in Isaiah 65 God gave Mr. Isaiah a vision for a future that is yet far, far out in our future, did you know that? Isaiah wrote as the Spirit of God led him. God said: “See I will create new heavens and a new earth.” (Is. 65:17) Almost 800 years later, the Spirit of God gave a vision to the disciple John, and we know that great vision as the book of Revelation and chapter 21 begins with these similar words: “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, coming down out of heaven from God… And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away.“ (Rev. 21:1-4)
Far into the future, at a time known only to God, everything will be made new as God re-creates all we know as our current universe which God originally created as described in Genesis 1. Both Isaiah and John call it a new heaven and a new earth!! John’s description, as given to him by the Holy Spirit, continues for the remainder of Revelation 21. Isaiah’s description, as given to him by the Holy Spirit, continues in Isaiah 65:17 with these words: “…the former things will not be remembered nor will they come to mind.” This does not mean those who occupy this new heaven and new earth will have no recollection, no memory of their present life on this earth, but rather the glory and magnificence of this new heaven and earth will be so extravagant, so magnificent that they will have no desire to spend time remembering the pain, the suffering, the dysfunction; nor even the good times of this life and this planet earth.
Isaiah continued writing as the Spirit of God guided him: “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 Jerusalem no more! Never again will there be an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years…” (Is. 65:18-20) It sounds wonderful doesn’t it, my friends? Do you hear the similarities and differences of this future place to what we know today?
In similarity, there will be a great city in this future new earth which will be called Jerusalem, just as today. In that wonderful future a particular people will be known as the people of God and He will take great delight in them, and they will feel greatly blessed. God will create this future as He alone has the capability of CREATING and as He did when He first created our universe.
But in this glorious new Jerusalem there will be many differences from what Jerusalem is today. In that wonderful future there will be NO tears, no grief, no fear, no crying and yet if you are watching the news of Israel these days Jerusalem and almost all of the land of Israel is a place of great fear and tears and mourning as Iran and its proxies continue to rain down rockets and drones upon the people of Israel.
And did you notice in Is. 65:20 people will not age the same in this future Jerusalem as they do today and there won’t be infant death or such tragedies? Isaiah continues: “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.” (Is. 65:23) So this glorious future new earth will be a place where life is much the same with fulfilling work and families and marriages and babies, but babies born in this new world will be born to blessing and not misfortune or danger. Parents will welcome news they are pregnant, and no one will have any thought of aborting those babies! People in this new future will live God blessed lives because God will be living among them!
And there’s more for God wants us to know that He will be the very same God in that new future as He is now: “Before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear.” (Is.65:24) Oh my that is what we’ve seen so often in our study of Isaiah and the journey of God walking with His people centuries ago. It’s what we find in the New Testament both when Jesus was here and after His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension when people were discovering the wonder of living with the Holy Spirit of God within them. And it’s what many of us are experiencing today!
In one last statement describing the peace of this future utopia without evil, Isaiah wrote: “The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw with the ox and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on My holy mountain,’ says the LORD.” (Is. 65:25) It sounds to me very much like the original garden of Eden! With evil removed this new earth will be a return to God’s original design of holiness and peace without any evidence of Satan or the dark kingdom for they will be forever bound in the lake of burning sulfur, according to Revelation 20:10,14.
So, my friends, when the craziness, the darkness, the evil of this world nearly overwhelms you, take heart, for there is a much different future ahead when God creates a new heaven and a new earth. And if Satan and his demons and all humans who have rejected God are suffering eternally in the lake of burning sulfur, (Rev. 20:10-15) that means the inhabitants of this new earth will only be those God considers to be His people, those who have believed in Him and trusted Jesus Christ, from all time. Oh my, what a glorious future awaits us, and I have found an unusual song built on this Isaiah 65 to help us celebrate its truth.
But first this question: will you be there living on this new earth with Jesus?
Today’s Scripture: Is. 65:17-25.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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