epcblog

Devotional thoughts (Monday through Thursday mornings) from the pastor of Exeter Presbyterian Church in Exeter, NH // Sunday Worship 10:30am // 73 Winter Street

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Isaiah 60

Where would you like to live? You may think of the place where you were born and the place where you grew up. Some people have a special place where they spent vacations with all the good associations that come with having time off together with those you love. We read of attractive places and see pictures of homes or surroundings where we would love to live. Some people feel a great sense of loyalty to their city. I remember learning songs about Chicago and San Francisco as boy, and even Gary, Indiana. I have known people to think of one city as their home for life. God speaks to His city, Zion, in Isaiah 60. Of course in the Old Testament era the affections of the people of God were drawn to Jerusalem and to the place of the temple of the Lord, Mount Zion. The church is God’s city in the New Covenant era, and ultimately, we are told that we are citizens of heaven.

Who will bring us to Zion? The world is a place of darkness. If you are covered with thick darkness and you cannot find the way home, you are lost. This is even the word that we sometimes use to describe those who do not seem to know the blessings of God. They are lost. When the glory of God rises upon our hearts, then we arise and even shine with the glory that comes from God Himself. It is He who can bring us out of thick darkness.

In the Old Testament time there was a sharp distinction between Jews and everyone else. The Jews alone were God’s special people. All of the other nations were in that darkness of the world, without God and without hope. But here God promises that the nations shall be brought to Zion, and shall be children of God. Will they all become Jews? This was a difficult matter for the early church to consider. The special Old Testament position of the Jews was so firmly understood that it was hard to imagine that Gentiles could be in right relation with God without becoming circumcised Jews first. But the work of Christ did something not only for Jews, but for the whole world. The dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile was torn down through Christ’s fulfillment of the law as a covenant of works. The grace of God could be embraced by those who were once strangers to Zion. They too could count God’s city as their city.

The language of the prophets, using the worship idiom of their day, makes it sound like all of these new worshipers and servants of God will be in Jerusalem and will do what the Old Covenant worshipers did. God’s fulfillment of His promises would show something more – something much bigger. Gentiles would somehow be used by God to build up His holy Zion. We know from the coming of Christ and from the work of God’s Spirit through His church that the church where Christ is head is the temple of the Holy Spirit in a much more glorious way than could ever have been the case in the days of old on the top of just one earthly mountain. Now all who are in Christ are included in the Lord’s Zion. But even this blessing which we participate in today is only a small portion of the Lord’s good plan for Zion, for He will bring about the complete heavenly fulfillment of what He has promised.

On that day, the light of Zion will be brighter than the sun. The Lord will be our everlasting light, and the God who spoke light into being will be our glory. That bright and warm light will never be covered by clouds, or extinguished by anyone, and we will all have the glory of righteousness as the gift of God to all the citizens of Zion.

Only God could do such a thing. He has done this only through Christ, the Redeemer of Zion. There are many wonderful places on this earth, places that I would love to visit. There are other spots that I once know well, and they have a special place in my heart, even though I have not seen them in some time. But the one place where I want to be for eternity is Zion, where I shall see my King reigning over all, and where I shall be with all of the sons of the Kingdom, through Jesus Christ our Redeemer.

The pathway to the winning of Zion went through the lowest valley known to man when the Prince of glory shed His blood for us. Because we know that the cross was necessary in order for the security of Zion to be established, we are able to glory in it as we glory in Him. By that cross, because of our union with our Redeemer, we have been crucified to the world, and the world, even with all of its most wonderful places, has been crucified to us.

posted by Pastor Magee @ 7:00 AM

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