The World We're Waiting For
The King We Weren't Expecting • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 6 viewsBig Idea / Sticky Statement: We are all homesick for a perfect world. God promises He is building one (Isaiah 65) and calls us to trust Him with joy while we wait (Isaiah 12).
Notes
Transcript
1. ENGAGE: The Setup
Illustration: The Golden Spike (Historical)
"In the 1860s, America embarked on one of the most ambitious engineering projects in history: the Transcontinental Railroad.
The plan was wild. They had two teams.
The Union Pacific started in Nebraska and built west.
The Central Pacific started in California and built east.
They were separated by 1,700 miles of brutal, untamed wilderness.
They had to cross deserts, blast through the blizzards of the Sierra Nevada mountains... and they didn't have GPS.
They had maps, that may have been accurate....maybe.
Imagine being the foreman on that job. 'Alright boys, just keep laying track.
I'm sure there's another crew a thousand miles away doing the same thing.
Let's just hope we don't miss each other by 200 miles...’
Then, on May 10, 1869, at Promontory Summit, Utah, the two lines met .
They drove a 'Golden Spike' to connect them. The nation celebrated.
Why? Because two separate, difficult journeys, guided by one big plan, had finally come together to create something new.
The nation was connected. All that weary, seemingly endless labor had paid off when the plan came together perfectly.
Transition:
That story captures a powerful idea:
working hard in the present because you are trusting in a promised, future connection.
And the tension for us as Christians is that we often feel like we're that crew in the middle of the desert...
but we're not sure the other team is even out there.
We're not sure there is a plan.
2. TENSION: The Problem
Last week we talked about being Homesick for a Better World:
We all have a deep, built-in longing for a world that we have never been in
A world without pain, without division, without injustice.
We are for a perfect home we've never seen.
We are longing for the home that God made for us in the Garden of Eden.
That perfect world where everything was GOOD.
We Live in a Broken Reality:
But we look around at our reality.
We see a broken world.
We feel like that work crew in the middle of the desert, surrounded by chaos, wondering if our work even matters.
We Settle for Temporary Fixes:
We get so tired of the real world that we spend our lives trying to build our little destinations.
We think a new house, a new job, a new relationship will finally make us feel "home."
But these are just temporary stops, not the final destination.
They don't satisfy that deep homesickness.
Transition:
This homesickness isn't a flaw; it's a feature.
We feel it because this broken world is not our final home.
And to a people, just like us, who felt hopeless, God gives a stunning promise.
He shows us the blueprint for the real meeting point.
3. TRUTH: The Biblical Solution (Isaiah 65 & Isaiah 12)
Alright, church, grab your Bibles or open your Bible App.
Turn to Isaiah chapter 65.
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.
A. The Blueprint (The Promise )
This isn't a "fix-it" job; it's a complete recreation.
God promises a new world where the core problem, along with all the sorrow, pain, death - gone forever.
This is the "Golden Spike" moment He is building toward.
21 They shall build houses and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
22 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.
23 They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity, for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants with them.
B. The Vision (The "New Home")
1. No Pain (v.21-23)
They shall not hurt or destroy
This is the vision of that perfected world.
All work has meaning. No "labor in vain."
This is Eden restored. A world where all the brokenness is gone.
2. Total Peace (v. 25):
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.
1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “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.”
Transition from Isaiah 65 to Isaiah 12:
So... that's the destination.
That's the blueprint.
God is building this incredible New Creation here on earth, for us, and He's building it toward us.
A place where God will once again DWELL with us.
But what about us? What do we do in the mean time?
We are the other work crew.
We're the ones still in the middle of the desert, laying our track through a broken world.
If that's the destination, what's our fuel for the journey?
What keeps us going when we are not sure where we are going or how were going to get there, or what is taking so long....
Isaiah gives us the answer just a few chapters earlier.
Turn back to Isaiah chapter 12.
C. Our Response (The "Work Crew's" Song - Isaiah 12:2-3):
2 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”
3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
I will trust, and will not be afraid........ joy wells of salvation.
The command "I will trust, and will not be afraid" is our marching order.
Fear is the natural response to a broken world; trust is the supernatural response to God's promise.
We trust the Builder even when we can't see the finished project.
Trust Over Fear:
"The LORD GOD is my strength and my song."
We don't rely on our own grit to keep going.
We rely on His strength.
He becomes our "song"—our joy and motivation—in the midst of the work.
God as Source:
"With joy you will draw water..." We don't have to wait until the end to taste the victory.
We can "draw water" from the "wells of salvation" .
Every act of worship, every prayer, every moment of trusting God is a refreshing drink from the future kingdom that sustains us in the present desert.
Transition:
This is the incredible vision that starts our journey to Christmas.
We are waiting for the King who will one day make this new, real, physical creation a reality.
Our job is to trust Him and not be afraid.
Until that day comes, there's a few things we need to be doing.
4. APPLICATION: The Choice
1. Stop Settling for Temporary Stations:
Stop putting your ultimate hope in the temporary fixes you're trying to build (your career, your house, your bank account).
They will never satisfy that deep homesickness.
2. Anchor Your Hope in the Promise:
The "New Heavens and New Earth" are not a "maybe";
they are the "coming" destination.
This week, when you feel that homesickness, read the promise in Isaiah 65:17-25.
Remind yourself what God is building.
3. "Draw Water with Joy" (Live with Trust):
How do we "trust and not be afraid" (Isa 12:2) in our broken world?
By joyfully drawing on the "wells of salvation" .
We do this through prayer, worship, and fellowship.
We live with hope, not despair.
This week, do one intentional act of joyful trust from Isaiah 12—
Sing a song of praise (He is your "song"),
thank God for His salvation,
or share your hope with a friend
5. INSPIRATION: The Vision
Imagine a faith that isn't just about escaping a bad, broken world, but about looking forward to a new perfect one.
Imagine a hope so profound that it fuels you to not give up, and to work with your team, knowing the King is also building toward you.
This is the world God has promised.
This is the Kingdom.
It is brought by a King.
Next week starts the season of Advent
the season of anchoring our hope in this hope,
and the reality that the King is coming,
which gives us strength for our daily life.
Next week, on Christ the King Sunday, we're going to meet this King,
and discover He's not at all the King the world was expecting.
Closing Line:
This world may look like a broken, unfinished track in the middle of the desert.
But we know the Builder.
He has promised a New Creation.
He is building toward us.
And one day, there will be a 'Golden Spike' moment when His Kingdom and our hope meet perfectly.
So let's trust, and let's not be afraid.
