#DailyDevotion Tired of this world? Trust in Jesus for a better new world.
January 5th
Read Is 65:8–25
Isa 65:15 You shall leave your name to my chosen for a curse, and the Lord GOD will put you to death, but his servants he will call by another name…17 “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. (18) But 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. (19) I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress…24 Before they call I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear. (25) The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.
Indeed because of the sins of Israel and Judah, their names have become a curse upon the earth. Calling someone a Jew is still considered to be an insult. So God, though preserving for himself a remnant of Abraham’s race, calls his servants by another name, Christians. The name of the Holy One of Israel, Jesus, the Christ is the name by which God’s people are now name and called. Made of both Jew and Gentile, one holy Israel in the One who is Israel, Jesus. All who are baptized into his name and have faith in his blood are God’s holy people.
For such a people God promises a new beginning. A new heavens and a new earth for the people of God, all those who confess Jesus Christ as the God who rescued Israel from the Egyptians and who now rescues us from sin, death and the power of the devil. This new world the Lord is bringing us into will no longer bear the curse and neither will we. For even as creation is renewed in its redemption, so too, all who have faith in Jesus will have new immortal, imperishable, glorious, sinless bodies like our Savior Jesus Christ.
In the new creation, there will be no more crying, pain, suffering or death because sin is no more. Even the animals are renewed and restored to the time in the beginning with the wolf and lamb grazing together. The mighty lion will no longer be eating antelopes but straw like an ox. So wonderful will this new creation that this world will quickly be forgotten. It will no longer come to mind because of the beauty and awesomeness of it all. Indeed we shall see God and be like him. That which God had begun in the beginning will be complete at that time. Jesus shall be our king and no longer will politics push and pull upon us vying for our devotion and attention. Jesus shall rule all men’s hearts and we shall all dwell together in peace, a peace that is eternal that no other man or government can accomplish.
It will be as it is written, Revelation 21:3-5 …”Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. (4) He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (5) And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
Amen. Come Lord Jesus. Amen.