Extreme Makeover: Earth Edition--Isaiah Series

            Call me biased, but I don’t understand why some people can’t appreciate the beauty of Kansas. People who say, “there’s nothing to look at,” just don’t get it! When you can see for miles around you in every direction, there’s too much to look at, and that’s part of the beauty—being able to take in so much at once.

            Honestly, we can see beauty all over our planet—awe-inspiring, breath-taking beauty! But let’s pause and remember that our planet is under a curse from God. The same sky that gives us sunsets gives us tornadoes. How amazing is it that we still see such beauty in our planet even after it has been blemished because of mankind’s sin!

            As we have worked through the book of Isaiah, we have read numerous prophecies about a future kingdom in this world in which the effects of The Curse will be almost completely scaled back. Mankind will once again live at peace with God, each other, and the even the animal world, and we will behold this planet in all of the glory which God created for it. How amazing to think that the beauty of this world could get even better!

            As we close our study of Isaiah today, we will read one more prophecy about this extreme makeover along with one final warning about embracing God by faith before it is too late.

1. What’s the purpose of a kingdom of peace in this world?

            Before we jump into the text this morning, I’d like to briefly follow a rabbit trail and answer a question that may have come to your mind as we’ve been studying Isaiah. Over and over again, we have read prophecies about a time of blessing which I have interpreted to refer to a future kingdom that will be established in this world. We often refer to this kingdom as the “Millennium,” or the “1,000-year kingdom of Christ.” But not all Christians have interpreted these prophecies in the same way. Some groups and denominations have interpreted these prophecies as metaphors which refer to the spiritual blessings that we enjoy through Jesus Christ. So for example, they might interpret prophecies about peace among the nations to refer to peace among Christians today, or a prophecy about Israel being re-gathered to the Promised Land might be interpreted as a prophecy of God’s people being taken to their home in heaven. And so, some people have questioned what the purpose of a Millennium in this world would be. I would like to briefly give two answers to that question.

            A. To prevent Satan from having the final victory over Planet Earth

            As history stands today, Satan has delivered quite a blow to God’s creation by introducing sin into this world through mankind, which caused God to place a curse upon humanity and the planet in which we live. Now, if the history of our planet were to end this way, then Satan would have scored a final victory over Planet Earth by permanently disrupting God’s original plan for it.

            I don’t think the Lord has any intention of giving Satan the last laugh over this planet. That is part of the reason that I think these prophecies that we have read should be interpreted literally and not as metaphors. By establishing a kingdom of peace and righteousness in this world, God will fulfill His original plan for it and prevent Satan from having the final victory.

            B. To demonstrate God’s faithfulness to keep His word

            There can be little doubt that believers in the Old Testament expected God’s promises of blessing to be fulfilled literally. Thus, they were looking forward to a kingdom of peace and righteousness in this world. This was their hope for the future, but if the Old Testament prophecies were actually metaphors, then we must conclude that God allowed Old Testament believers to persist in believing something that was actually a false hope.

            In my opinion, this idea casts doubt upon God’s New Testament promises as well. If the Old Testament prophecies were metaphors, what guarantee do we have that New Testament prophecies are not actually metaphors as well? How would we know that statements about heaven aren’t really metaphors for simply ceasing to exist after we die?

            For the sake of God’s faithfulness to keep His word, I believe that the hope of Old Testament believers will be fulfilled literally; thus, there will be a kingdom of peace and righteousness in this world. Moreover, when we look at the prophecies of Jesus’ first coming into this world, we find that they were fulfilled literally. I believe this observation gives us every reason to think that prophecies about Jesus’ second coming will be fulfilled literally as well.

So with those thoughts in mind, I believe the description that we read in the latter half of chapter 65 is a description of a time that will literally come to pass in this world.  Let’s take a look at this description.

2. God will roll back the effects of The Curse in almost every way (65:17-25)

            The Lord begins v. 17 by saying, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth.” That phrase might sound familiar, especially if you have read the book of Revelation. The apostle John uses the same phrase in Revelation 21:1 as he starts to describe our eternal home with God. However, John and Isaiah must be describing two different points in the future because in Isaiah’s description, as we’ll see, there is still the life cycle of people being born and people dying. Birth and death will not occur in our eternal home with God, so Isaiah is apparently describing “phase one” of a two-part reconstruction of our world. This first phase will occur during Christ’s kingdom on earth as virtually all of the effects of The Curse will be removed. Let’s highlight a few parts of this description.

            A. Humanity will enjoy peace and gladness (65:18-19, 21-23)

            Human beings were not created to be at odds with each other, and we see here that peace will prevail during this time [READ 65:18-19, 21-23].

            B. Long life spans will be the norm (65:20)

            This future kingdom will present an interesting situation. We will live in this kingdom, but we will already have our heavenly bodies—the same kind of body that Jesus had after He rose from the grave. If you remember our study from a few weeks ago, we noted that we will be taken out of the world at the Rapture and given our heavenly bodies at that time. Later, we will come back to the world with Jesus to live here with Him during this kingdom.

            So we will no longer face death, but there will be some people who have lived on earth right up to the start of Jesus’ kingdom. These people will still have their earthly bodies, so they will continue to have children and they will continue to die. But apparently, long life spans will once again be the norm, as they were in the early chapters of Genesis [READ 65:20].

            C. People will enjoy close communication and fellowship with God (65:24)

            In Genesis 1-2, we read about Adam and Eve enjoying unhindered fellowship with God. This kind of intimacy will exist between God and man once again [READ 65:24].

            D. Peace will reign among animals and between animals and men (65:25)

            We read a virtually identical prophecy back in chapter 11, and now the Lord restates it through Isaiah here at the end of the book [READ 65:25].

Once again, we find so much to look forward to as we contemplate this future kingdom which Christ will establish in this world.  We will bask in all that is good about this world with virtually none of these things which are bad! This time will be a thorough foretaste of our eternal home with God, but as the Lord has repeatedly warned us, we must embrace Him from the heart by faith if we want to enjoy these blessings. The fate of those who reject Him will be far different, so in chapter 66…

3. God issues a final warning and promise of blessing (66:1-24)

            In the first part of this chapter, the Lord issues a final warning against the idolatry and hypocritical worship of some of the people. He warns them that they better not think of Him the way they think about their idols [READ 66:1-2a]. These verses are a subtle jab against the mindset of idolatry. Idol worshipers approached worship with the idea that they were doing favors for their god. It was an “I’ll scratch your back, you scratch my back” kind of mindset. But God goes on to stress that such a mindset doesn’t fly in true worship of Him [READ 66:2b].

            The Hebrew term for “humble” in this verse conveys the idea of spiritual poverty. This is the humility that acknowledges that I have absolutely nothing I could use to gain God’s favor. This attitude says, “I am spiritually bankrupt;” I have no spiritual “currency,” so to speak, that would allow me to get anything from God. This is the attitude of the person who truly embraces God by faith. As the hymnwriter put it, “nothing in my hands I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling.”

            God makes it clear that anyone who would worship Him with the attitude that he is doing God a favor which God must then repay is actually offering God something that is offensive to Him [READ 66:3-4].

            My friends, we must understand that God is not fooled by hypocritical worship. If we think that we are doing God a favor by showing up at church or putting Him under obligation to us by putting some money in the offering plate, we better think again! True worship of God flows from the understanding that I am in complete spiritual poverty, yet through Christ, God has lavished upon me the riches of His grace.

            So much more could be said about this marvelous book of Scripture. Even in this long series of sermons, we have barely scratched the surface of the depths of insight in this book. Perhaps the central lesson that we should take with us from this study is that a vastly different fate awaits those who embrace God through Jesus by faith and those who do not. Some of the people in Israel thought they were okay with God because they were born in the right family or because they did the right religious activities. We must not fall into the same error! Being born into a Christian family does not make you right with God; attending church every Sunday does not make you right with God. We can only become right with God by confessing that we are sinners who deserve His wrath, and expressing our faith in Him by believing that Jesus paid the full price for our sins through His death on the cross and proved it by rising from the grave. We must each personally embrace that gift of salvation in order to be right with God. I urge you to do so today!

When the Saints Go Marching In--Isaiah Series

            Over the last two weeks, the nations of the world have been battling in London for athletic supremacy. Countries take great pride in their success at the Olympics. I’ve even heard that some countries are planning to form commissions to investigate why they didn’t win more medals!

            This competitive spirit shouldn’t surprise us, because its characterized the history of our race. Ever since human beings were dispersed by God from the Tower of Babel, our history has been marked by competition and conflict. Sometimes that conflict has been waged on the ballfield, and sometimes it has been waged on the battlefield, but the goal has always been the same—supremacy.

            According to the Bible, history is moving toward a period of time in which the nation of Israel will be exalted over all the other nations of the world—not because there’s anything particularly special about Israel, but simply because God has chosen to stake His reputation upon her destiny.

            If we are to take God’s promises in the Old Testament at face value, then we must conclude that there are glorious days ahead for the nation of Israel—not because of anything they will accomplish, but because of the king who will one day reign over them: the Lord Jesus Christ!

            The final chapters of Isaiah describe the climax of human history in which Israel will play a leading role because of her coming King. This may seem like an odd step for studying Isaiah, but I’d like to direct your attention first of all to the last chapter of Zechariah. Zechariah 14 describes in very straightforward terms the same events that Isaiah describes in more poetic terms. Sometimes, with poetic language, its tricky to discern a precise sequence of events, so Zechariah will give us the framework that will help us understand the prophecies of Isaiah [READ Zechariah 14:1-19]. Let’s make sure we grasp the broad outline of these verses. They describe a time when the Lord will physically appear in Jerusalem to defeat some armies that are gathered there against the people of Israel. The Lord will then become king over all the earth, and all the nations will become subservient to Him. These are the events that we usually call the Second Coming and the Millennium, and you can read more about them in Revelation 19-20.

            So with this outline of events in mind, let’s look at Isaiah’s description of these events in chapters 59-62. Our main points this morning focus on the metaphor of a change of wardrobe that these chapters describe—first for the Lord, then for His people.

I. The Lord puts on His battle armor to come as a Savior to Jerusalem (59:14-21)

            The prophecy in Zechariah focused on the external threat to Jerusalem from foreign armies. Isaiah focuses on the internal spiritual condition of Israel, and we see that it will not be universally pleasing to the Lord [READ 59:14-20]. These verses describe the coming of the Lord that we read about in Zechariah, when the Lord will come with deliverance and protection for those who are in God’s family, and vengeance against those who are not.

            The Lord will then establish His kingdom in Jerusalem, as Isaiah had already prophesied in chapters 2, 9, and 11. Isaiah poetically describes this time as a change to garments of praise rather than garments of mourning.

II. The Lord gives His people garments of praise rather than mourning (60:1-62:12)

           

            A. The nations will be drawn to Israel with offerings and praise for her God (60:1-9)

            B. The children of Israel will be gathered to the homeland that God promised to their ancestor, Abraham (60:1-9)

            These first two points are both characteristics of this time that Isaiah describes in 60:1-9 [READ 60:1-9]. Verse 9 offers an important point of emphasis. This passage describes a parade of people coming to Israel with their wealth, but v. 9 emphasizes that these gifts are “for the name of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel.”

            Israel will be blessed, however, because of their association with Jesus, their King. Think of the way that friends and relatives of famous people tend to get special treatment—that’s the basic idea.

            C. The children of Israel will enjoy peace, blessing, and security (60:10-12, 18)

            [READ 60:10-12, 18] Since the time that the Jewish people first settled in the Promised Land, it has hardly known a time of extended peace, but such is the Lord’s promise for the time of His kingdom.

            D. The children of Israel will all embrace righteousness (60:21)

            [READ 60:21] Notice again that all of this is for the Lord’s glory. This point highlights the reason that this kingdom on earth has been delayed for so long—the Jewish people as a whole have never embraced the righteousness of God; they have never embraced His plan of salvation. When Jesus first began to preach in the Gospels, His message was “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” The king was here, and I believe He was genuinely offering to establish His kingdom, but the people were not spiritually prepared for it, so He called them to repent. By and large, however, Jesus was rejected by the Jewish people, but this rejection only served to further God’s plan to provide forgiveness for sins by sending Jesus to the cross. But when Jesus returns, there will be Jewish believers waiting to greet Him, and they will be the foundation of a righteous remnant who will live in Christ’s kingdom.

            E. Mourning and oppression will give way to comfort, gladness, and praise (61:1-4)

            [READ 61:1-4]

            F. Jerusalem will be honored throughout the Earth (62:1-12)

            [READ 62:1-7]

            And so, in the kingdom of Christ, God will finally fulfill all of the promises that He made to the people of Israel—first to Abraham, then Isaac and Jacob, then to all the people through Moses, then to King David, then to all the people again through the prophecy of the New Covenant that Jesus referred to during the Last Supper. But how does all of this apply to you and me—children of God living in the here and now? Will we live in this kingdom on Earth? We certainly will!

            When Jesus returns to set up His kingdom, you and I will have already been taken out of the world at the Rapture, but we will accompany Christ when He comes back into this world. Zechariah 14:5 said that after the nations have gathered against Jerusalem to battle, “then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.” So a group referred to here as “the holy ones” will be coming with Christ.

            When we compare this verse to the description of Christ’s coming in Revelation 19, we can see that “the holy ones” are you and me! Turn with me to Revelation 19 [READ Rev. 19:11-14] Now these clothes of fine linen were just mentioned in vv. 7-8 [READ Rev. 19:7-8]. So the clothes of fine linen represent righteous deeds done by the saints who are part of the bride of Christ. And according to Ephesians 5, the bride of Christ consists of believers from today—those who are living in what we call “the church age.”

            So when Jesus returns to establish His kingdom, you and I will be in the cavalry right behind Him! What an honor—to join our Lord in His glorious return and triumph! We will be given a role to play in His kingdom based on our obedience to Him today, and we will enjoy the blessings of that time when Jesus—the head of the church—will be King and Lord over all things.

            If you have accepted Jesus as your Savior from your sins, welcome to your destiny!! Someday, we will see this world the way that God created it to be in almost every detail. Doesn’t it thrill your heart to think about it? It should, and thinking about this glorious destiny can keep your joy from eroding today as you face the temporary pressures of this world.