A New Day Awaits the Children of God – Isaiah 60:1-22
Isaiah’s prophecy in this passage speaks to an occurrence not yet realized in the history of Israel (Judah) but will be realized at a future time. This prophecy depicts the Glory of the Lord resting fully upon His children. For those enduring the Babylonian captivity, the words of the prophet must have been joyful to their ears, although they could not fully comprehend the actual time of the prophecy’s fulfillment. Undoubtedly, both the thought and the realization of this future date for the children of God pictures a time of blessings and rejoicing.
What Isaiah foretold revealed that God’s glory upon His children would result in 1) the return of Israel’s sons and daughters from distant lands, 2) the wealth of neighboring and distant nations flowing into Israel, 3) the assistance of foreigners in rebuilding the nation, 4) everlasting security, 5) the submission of those who had previously oppressed the nation, 6) the recognition and praise of Israel’s God by other nations, 7) the establishment of peace and righteousness within Israel, 8) the cessation of violence and devastation within Israel’s borders, 9) the provision of an everlasting light via the manifested presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. While Israel awaits the blessings cited above, Christian believers today rest confident in the fact that as God has already promised blessings for Israel, He also sees the plight of His “grafted-in family.” God will likewise bless and sustain all Christians through the many trials and tribulations encountered during their earthly existence while awaiting the culmination of their redemption.
Whereas Israel awaits the reality of redemption on a national scale, Christians today have already experienced individual redemption via the initial coming, sacrificial death, and subsequent resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yes, Christians do await a better day in the future, however, they can now rejoice in the knowledge that their belief in the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ has unequivocally purchased for them an eternal fellowship with God Almighty. With the assurance of this eternal fellowship Christians can live in the present environment with its many tests, trials, struggles, conflicts, sicknesses, pandemics, political divisiveness, economic disparities, etc., knowing that there is nothing that can separate them from the love of their Heavenly Father.
As we await with Israel that glorious day of redemption when Jesus Christ returns as Lord of lords and King of kings, let us Christians rejoice in the present foretastes of our divine redemption - the promises and blessings of our ever-present Heavenly Father.