The housing challenges we face in DC, and the magnitude of the racial, social, and economic injustices involved, feel grim. They are a sobering reminder that we live in a fallen world. A world where sin and broken permeates everything: broken people, broken relationships, broken systems, and broken communities.
Yet, we believe in a God who loves this fallen, broken world so much that he sent His only Son to redeem it. And He promises to repair it in an ultimate renewal when everything will be restored to its original state: completeness, wholeness, shalom.
What does this future wholeness of shalom look like?
““See, I will create a new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind...
They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat…
They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the Lord.”
In Isaiah 65, the Lord reveals to the prophet Isaiah a picture of a new Heaven and a new Earth; a preview of the future God has planned for all of creation. In this new Heaven and Earth,
there will be gladness and rejoicing
the city of Jerusalem will be a joy-filled delight
there will be no more weeping or crying
no more infant mortality or premature death of any kind
all who labor will receive a reward
no child will lack what she or he needs to thrive
predators and prey will live in harmony
what once threatened to destroy will lose all its power
This image is beautiful. It is inspiring. But it is more than just an image. More than a dream or a hopeful glimpse of a distant future.
The vision of Isaiah 65 is a goal. A target. A direction.
This passage gives us -- the hands and feet of God on this earth -- a vision to strive for and a purpose in this fallen world.
