VII.
Let’s look once again at Isaiah’s words about the coming “new heavens and … new earth.”
Notice those words which describe the kind of life people will have in this Kingdom of God.
VIII.
Isaiah 65:17-25 (NRSVue)
For I am about to create new heavens
and a new earth;
the former things shall not be remembered
or come to mind.
But be glad and rejoice forever
in what I am creating,
for I am about to create Jerusalem as a joy
and its people as a delight.
I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and delight in my people;
no more shall the sound of weeping be heard in it
or the cry of distress.
No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days
or an old person who does not live out a lifetime,
for one who dies at a hundred years will be considered a youth,
and one who falls short of a hundred will be considered accursed.
They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat,
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity,
for they shall be offspring blessed by the Lord—
and their descendants as well.
Before they call I will answer,
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
The wolf and the lamb shall feed together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
but the serpent—its food shall be dust!
They shall not hurt or destroy
on all my holy mountain,
says the Lord.
IX.
What description of this new earth most brings joy to you?
I asked in the previous post, “What aspects of the Kingdom of God do you already notice dawning or even actually present?” What came to mind for you?
Do you sense a desire to work for some aspect of this “new earth,” this Kingdom of God, not already fully present but promised in the words of Isaiah?
What will be your role in helping to bring the Kingdom nearer and nearer to us all?
charles
{ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est}