No Longer

Scripture Passage

Isaiah 65:17–25 (NLT)

17 “Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore. 18 Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation! And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness. Her people will be a source of joy. 19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and delight in my people. And the sound of weeping and crying will be heard in it no more. 20 “No longer will babies die when only a few days old. No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life. No longer will people be considered old at one hundred! Only the cursed will die that young! 21 In those days people will live in the houses they build and eat the fruit of their own vineyards. 22 Unlike the past, invaders will not take their houses and confiscate their vineyards. For my people will live as long as trees, and my chosen ones will have time to enjoy their hard-won gains. 23 They will not work in vain, and their children will not be doomed to misfortune. For they are people blessed by the Lord, and their children, too, will be blessed. 24 I will answer them before they even call to me. While they are still talking about their needs, I will go ahead and answer their prayers! 25 The wolf and the lamb will feed together. The lion will eat hay like a cow. But the snakes will eat dust. In those days no one will be hurt or destroyed on my holy mountain. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Focus Statement

Despite its pervasive brokenness and iron fist, God promises that this world and its doom and gloom reality will one day cease to be and it will no longer hold sway over us.

Point of Relation

Watching the news can be so depressing…can’t it.

I have honestly gotten away from watching too much of it because...

It seems that the world is going to hell in a hand basket whenever I watch it.

It doesn’t matter which network you watch...

All you hear are people screaming past each other,

Down-talking the other side...

And tons of speculation about this or that politically and whatnot.

When watching the 24 hour news cycle, it can be very easy to pick up a pessimistic view of the world.

And it repeats itself over and over and over again...

Danger Will Robinson, Danger…the world is awful…they’re coming for this…they’re coming for that...

Prepare, prepare, prepare...

Putin…Ukraine...prepare, prepare, prepare,

Elections…the sky is falling…get out and vote.

Not to mention seeing immigrants shipped to other cities as political weapons…

Or the rising inflation, a rise in crime and violence, etc., so on and so forth.

Things to Consider

Friends...Though we live in a hostile world...

One that tries to divide us, to get us to give into our values, that tries to pull us away from God at every turn...

We are a people of faith...

Faith in God, the Father, Creator of Heaven and Earth...

And in his only begotten son, Jesus Christ...

Through whom all things were Created...

And apart from whom NOTHING EXISTS...

And in the Holy Spirit who guides us and perfects us in the Christian life...

We are a people who BELIEVE that God is ACTIVELY working in the world...

and that One day, God will WIN OUT over the world and its current order.

What Scripture Says

Now, before talking about the Scripture itself, let me as that It is a HUGE theological error and heresy to think that the God of the Hebrew Scriptures

is NOT the same God of the New Testament.

This is an old heresy at that, one that started with Marcion of Sinope...

Who believed there were too many “contradictions” between the Hebrew God, Yahweh, and the Christian God Jesus Christ.

Now you can probably see why that would be problematic…you now have two gods instead of One...

And one of the Gods, Yahweh, is a lesser god.

What’s more, this was all Marcion’s conjecture because the Old Testament

and the New Testament say no such thing!

In fact, a careful and faithful reading of the Old and New Testaments...

Will show that the authors of the New Testament were quoting and pulling theology and Scripture from the Old Testament.

At the time of the writing of the New Testament, the Old Testament WERE the Scriptures people referred to.

It is ludicrous to think that the New Testament writers believed they were pulling from a lesser god, more confused god.

Let me show you what I mean...

In our Scripture today, God proclaims through the prophet Isaiah in verses 17-20:

17 “Look! I am creating new heavens and a new earth, and no one will even think about the old ones anymore. 18 Be glad; rejoice forever in my creation! And look! I will create Jerusalem as a place of happiness. Her people will be a source of joy. 19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and delight in my people. And the sound of weeping and crying will be heard in it no more. 20 “No longer will babies die when only a few days old. No longer will adults die before they have lived a full life. No longer will people be considered old at one hundred! Only the cursed will die that young!

Does that sound like a lesser god to you?

Does that sound like a different God that the one Jesus Christ embodies?

Listen now to John of Patmos as he began to conclude his Apocalypse or Revelation:

In Revelation 21:1-5

1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

Gee, where does it sound like he’s pulling this from...

Ding, ding, ding…Isaiah 65:17-20

So, let’s look at what Isaiah says here,

First, he points to the fact that something is inherently wrong with the world as it currently is.

Would anyone disagree with that assessment.

There’s suffering, pain, sickness, famine, war, disease and ultimately death.

Some do very well, while most barely get by or worse yet, DON’T GET BY.

It’s a world that IS VERY UPSIDE DOWN from the way God created it to be.

We live in a world where babies die suddenly…right as the hope for new life and family are at its strongest...

We live in a world where people die way too early…never getting to achieve a full life.

We live in a world where everything…EVERYTHING…is temporary...

NOTHING lasts forever…not me, not you, not anything nor anyone.

Yet, this is not the WHOLE STORY!

No, God who is the author of Creation…the Creator…is RECREATING the WORLD...

Ever since SIN took over the world, God has been active in bringing about the RECREATION of the world.

And Isaiah is proclaiming that God’s PLAN will one day be REALITY.

One day there will be NO MORE pain or sorrow or death...

Evil will cease to exist.

Sin and death will be no more.

There will be NO MORE tears of pain and suffering, but only of JOY and eternal HAPPINESS.

What’s more, Isaiah is not just proclaiming this as a thing of the FUTURE…

This message isn’t meant to be tucked away in some time capsule to be opened up when the predictions come to pass.

It is something to be LIVED INTO right now.

And how do we live into it?

BY PROCLAIMING IT…and by showing people through our own lives and actions...

THAT GOD MEANS BUSINESS when it comes to RECREATING THE WORLD.

What This Means for You

Let me ask you this...

Do you BELIEVE in what Isaiah and John proclaim?

Do you BELIEVE that one day there will be NO MORE pain, suffering, crying or death?

If you BELIEVE this, how is it being expressed in your life...

How are you sharing such hope with others?

How are you inviting others into the JOY of eternal life that you have.

It need not be with words either...

Volunteering at Manna House,

or visiting the sick as one of our Faith Community Health Partnership ministers.

or being present for our children in the Sunday School...

or paying it forward in line at Dunkin or at the Green Mermaid or Siren…aka Starbucks.

What This Means for Us

As a congregation, we have an obligation to our Lord Jesus Christ,

to witness to the New Heaven and the New Earth...

through our Prayers, our Presence, our gifts, our Service and our witness...

We are called to JOYFULLY spread the good news in all that we do...

And we are called to invite as many people as possible into fellowship and service with us.

Friends, despite the challenges that face us...

We can and will continue to be the Church of Jesus Christ here in Newton...

if we but KEEP THE FAITH…and remain faithful.

Including in our Stewardship and Tithing.

Let us faithfully respond, as individuals and as a congregation,

to Christ’s call to make disciples of all people for the transformation of this world.

Amen? Amen.