“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
Lord Jesus, I am grateful the promises and imagery in this text aren’t similes, analogies, metaphors or hyperbole. You love us this much Your plan is this big. You intend the world you have made, and the people you are redeeming, to be overwrought with “an inexpressible and glorious joy” (1Pet.1:8). Hallelujah, we will receive!
I got a foretaste of this joy last night at the 10th anniversary celebration of City Church, here in downtown Manchester. Through what you have done for us, Jesus, the entire Trinity already greatly delights in us (Zeph.3:17). The Gospel is this true, good, and beautiful. Nothing we do, or don’t do, is connected to a scale, scorecard, or worthiness-meter. Jesus, you are our worthiness, and we are your beloved. With our lives hidden in yours, and your life in us, all is good—now and eternally so.
When you return, Jesus, everything promised in this passage in Isaiah (and all of the prophets) will find glorious fulfillment. Just as our aging bodies will be resurrected and glorified, so our current world is destined to become “new heavens and new earth”—of which the Garden of Eden was a mere hint. You are already making all things new, and you will “finish the job.” All sin and evil, brokenness and lovelessness have an expiration date—and perfect everything has an arrival date.
Until that Day, keep freeing us to live, love, and serve to your glory. Our labors in you will never be in vain, Jesus, because your labor for us was perfect and complete. So Very Amen.