“Behold, I create new heavens and a new earth… Be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people.” Isa 65:17-19
Heavenly Father, you made these imagination-stirring, heart-gladdening promises at a time when your people deserved the exact opposite. Both life among your children, and the cultures surrounding them, were filled with anti-grace passions, faithless living, and self-serving ambitions. And yet you gave this vision of hope that Jesus alone can/will bring into reality.
On this September Saturday, we want to take time to offer a gigantic, “Thank You!” In the Gospel, we don’t get what we do deserve (judgment), and we do get what we could never earn (the riches of grace). The Gospel isn’t just counter-intuitive, it’s anti-intuitive.
Because of Jesus’ first coming, you already greatly delight in us—the way Isaiah describes in this passage. In fact, you love us as much as you ever will. Why? Because you have declared us righteous in Christ. He took our sin; we got his perfection.
At Jesus’ second coming, we will finally love you as much as you deserve; and everything you promise in this vision (reaffirmed by John in Revelation 21:1-22:6) will come to pass. The “new heavens and new earth” will be a new-creation-sized city of joy. And we, your every-nation family, won’t just be happy, we will “be a gladness”—a people for your praise, glory, and joy.
May this hope quicken our repentances, deepen our worship, and free us to live more on mission, and less in fear. A BIG Amen.
