Future Hope In the Living God

Rev. Dan Sung
Isaiah 65:17-25

Isaiah gives us a picture of the New Heavens and New Earth, a promise to God’s people of a future where perfect peace is actualized. In light of this promise, we are called to live faithfully as kingdom citizens today, as we anticipate the reality that is to come when Jesus returns.

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Advent is rooted in the idea that we live between two arrivals – Jesus’s first advent in the incarnation and the second advent when he will return as King to bring about justice and restoration. The two arrivals (advents) mean that the Christian life plays out in the in-between. We may look back and learn from those who waited for the first advent as instructive for us today in waiting for His second advent.

The prophet Isaiah is proclaiming the unique greatness of YHWH to a people tempted by idols, allured by foreign powers, and distracted from God’s call to covenant faithfulness. And so his prophecy is a mix of warning and hope in the midst of many difficult circumstances (including the impending defeat of the Assyrian army and the foretelling (?) of the Babylonian captivity). In the midst of these circumstances, he calls the people to wait and hope on the Lord. It’s a practice the church continues today.