Here, in Isaiah 60, we find a chapter full of hope. It is the promise that God gives to His people. It is part of a larger covenant that God makes with the church.
He will bless the church with the light of His glory. He promises growth. He promises peace. He promises... The most extraordinary thing about God making promises it is that He will fulfill those promises. None of these blessing of the church on earth or in heaven is accomplished by what you or I do. It is all a work of God.
He has promised and the fulfillment of those promises is found in our LORD, Jesus the Christ. Arise and shine for our light has come (Isa 60:1) Jesus is the light that, as promised, has come into the world. What God has promised, He has fulfilled.
The church on earth has a tendency to delude itself into thinking that somehow through lobbying and politicking, through doing the right things, it will fulfill the promises of God. Peace will come, growth will come, edification will come by the works of our hands. It is just not so. These things are gifts from God. We will not know peace, our neighbors will not know peace, unless we know Jesus the Christ, who is our peace. (Eph 2:14) Peace come from him. It is a gift, as he stated on more than one occasion "My peace I give you." (John 14:27) Then, of course, most of the world is looking for another kind of peace than the one that Jesus offers.
As I began reading the lesson for today, I immediately taught of two things. First, a memory of my father that had been buried way back in my memories. When I was a child, my father would generally wake us up by hollering up the stairs: "Rise and Shine." I wonder if he knew that morning wake up call may have originated from Isaiah 60. The first also put that popular children's song into my head and so I close with its refrain this morning:
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Children of the Lord
(Author and copyright unknown - happy to credit it if someone would email or fb it to me)
God's Peace - Pr. J
He will bless the church with the light of His glory. He promises growth. He promises peace. He promises... The most extraordinary thing about God making promises it is that He will fulfill those promises. None of these blessing of the church on earth or in heaven is accomplished by what you or I do. It is all a work of God.
He has promised and the fulfillment of those promises is found in our LORD, Jesus the Christ. Arise and shine for our light has come (Isa 60:1) Jesus is the light that, as promised, has come into the world. What God has promised, He has fulfilled.
The church on earth has a tendency to delude itself into thinking that somehow through lobbying and politicking, through doing the right things, it will fulfill the promises of God. Peace will come, growth will come, edification will come by the works of our hands. It is just not so. These things are gifts from God. We will not know peace, our neighbors will not know peace, unless we know Jesus the Christ, who is our peace. (Eph 2:14) Peace come from him. It is a gift, as he stated on more than one occasion "My peace I give you." (John 14:27) Then, of course, most of the world is looking for another kind of peace than the one that Jesus offers.
As I began reading the lesson for today, I immediately taught of two things. First, a memory of my father that had been buried way back in my memories. When I was a child, my father would generally wake us up by hollering up the stairs: "Rise and Shine." I wonder if he knew that morning wake up call may have originated from Isaiah 60. The first also put that popular children's song into my head and so I close with its refrain this morning:
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Rise and shine
And give God the glory, glory
Children of the Lord
(Author and copyright unknown - happy to credit it if someone would email or fb it to me)
God's Peace - Pr. J
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