All Your People will be Righteous

All your people will be righteous;

they will possess the land forever;

they are the branch I planted, the work of my hands,

so that I may be glorified.

(Isaiah 60:21 CSB17)

Isaiah is given revelations concerning the future. He writes about some things happening in his own lifetime, about the (to him) future fall of Jerusalem to Babylon, about release from the Babylonian captivity, about the birth, ministry, and death of Christ, and about the spread of the gospel to all nations. Beyond all this, Isaiah is given visions of God’s judgment on rebellious humanity and on the glorious age to come.

I love reading Isaiah’s description of God’s eternal kingdom. Many of his phrases are later echoed in John’s Revelation when John describes the New Jerusalem. Isaiah, inspired by God, speaks of a city of eternal peace, full of riches and joy and God’s redeemed people from all over the earth. He describes a city full of brilliant light that comes from neither the sun nor the moon, but from the presence of the Lord Himself.

With all the riches, joy, and light, it might be easy to miss one of the best things about the age to come. Isaiah writes, “your people will be righteous.” It’s not just our surroundings that will be gloriously and eternally changed. We will be changed! And as wonderful as it will be to have immortal bodies, I am even more excited about another, deeper change. I will be righteous.

I will never sin again or even want to. And neither will anyone else in God’s Kingdom forever and ever.

Imagine living in a world where every person you meet is as pure, kind, good, loving, trustworthy, truthful, and holy as Jesus. You will never have to doubt anyone’s motives again. Everyone you meet will be eager to bless you. They will only desire what is good for you. And you will feel the same way about them. Our long, brutal, painful, daily struggle against sin and temptation will melt into the past and be gone forever.

We will live forever in this new earth, this new land. God’s work, which He begins in this life (“the branch I planted”), and which He continues throughout our lives as He transforms us into Christ’s image (“the work of my hands”) will be complete.

Then He will be glorified. It’s not that He will become more glorious than He always has been, but rather that we will see His glory more fully and truly. We will see how wise, good, and powerful our God is. Everything we went through will be worth it. All His promises will be fulfilled.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Two related posts:

What does Paul mean by a “spiritual body” in 1 Corinthians 15:44?

Sunflowers and Sonpeople

Hebrews 13:16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others . . .