Isaiah 65:17-25 & Rev 21:1-8 | Real Hope for a Fallen World | Paul Sampson

A world reborn - where joy endures, peace thrives, and all creation lives in perfect harmony.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:04

The first reading is taken from Isaiah chapter 65, verses 17 to 25. See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight, and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people. The sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years. The one who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere child. The one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. 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. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people. My chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. They will not labor in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune. For they will be a people blessed by the Lord, they and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer. While they are still speaking, I will hear. Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Look, God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them, and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, I am making everything new. Then he said, Write this down, for the words are trustworthy and true. He said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderous, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars, they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.

SPEAKER_01 3:52

In the city, beautiful as it is, with a lot of challenges going on. There's a good deal of anxiety in our city. And there's reasons for that. The economy, the cost of living, people are recognizing we've got inflation, there's a housing crisis, there's job security worries. 30% of Australians report financial stress, and that's in a time of low unemployment. Add to this picture, there's climate anxiety. In a recent report, 75% of 16 to 25 year olds, and some of you in this room are in that category, 75% of that age group report the quote, the future is frightening. That's a very pessimistic view. And then we've got political distrust, institutional distrust. Then we add to that tech and AI uncertainty. Only 17% of people think that AI will have a net positive effect. 41%, 42% rather, think it'll be negative, and I'm guessing the other 41 don't care because they think AI will be able to work out uh everything for them. Got the answers. Add to that the geopolitical concerns. We turn on it in the news and we see that the things that are happening, the conflict that's happening on the world stage. This statistic alarmed me. 29% of people surveyed expect a major terrorist attack during 2026. And then, of course, come back even closer to home. Relationship breakdowns on so many fronts. In our own families, in our work school communities. It's an ironic situation, isn't it? That it's never been easy to communicate. We have computers in our pockets that enable us to communicate with everyone around the world in real time, and yet people have never felt lonelier and more disconnected. What a bizarre irony. There's much to be concerned about, and frankly, there's reason to be pessimistic. Many things are inducing stress in our lives, but this morning I want to remind you, friends, that as Christians, we have real, genuine, profound reasons not to be pessimistic about the current state of affairs or our future, but to be entirely optimistic. Now, this is not some sort of naivety that I'm wanting to put forward this morning. It's not trying to gloss over the realities, but I want to give you a reason that we can look forward with optimism to the future. And it is this good days are coming, and that is a promise, not from me, that is a promise from God. Here's the spoiler alert this morning, friends. God has promised his people a wonderful future. As we come to this passage, shall we pray? Let's pray together. So that we might be appropriately optimistic about the future and live wisely in the light of your promises. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. I know you've been working through Isaiah these last few weeks, and I'm glad I got invited to come along at this end of Isaiah. I was speaking to some people over morning tea, it's pretty hard going, hasn't it, as you look through these earlier chapters where there was a lot of judgment, a lot of uh judgment on the nations, on Israel, but also the other nations. Uh it kind of can wear you down chapter after chapter of that. But it of course is dealing with in Isaiah the major arc of the Bible, the major story of the Bible, that from Genesis 3, God is bringing about his redemptive purposes for his people. That he has a plan to redeem people from the consequences because of our sin. So the whole of the book of Isaiah then is about that movement from human failure into the ideal world. Now, Isaiah 1, which is a few weeks ago now, I suppose, opens with God's condemnation of Israel because of their rebellion against him. And then judgment after judgment after judgment follows in those chapters up to uh chapter 36, and then chapter 40. The tone changes completely, doesn't it? There we hear a message of comfort, comfort my people, says the Lord. Oh Ziah's proclamation of judgment is intermingled with these promises of salvation and comfort. People are depressed and desperate, their situation is hopeless, not too different from the way many people in Sydney are feeling right now, but into that context, into our context as well, then we have this message of hope and restoration. The big question on viewing Isaiah, and indeed the whole Bible, is how do we get there? How do we get from the current situation we're in, with all the good reasons for pessimism, with all the distress of our current situation? How do we get to that picture that's prophesied about in Isaiah 66, 65, and indeed uh in Revelation? Well, that's what we're looking at this morning. But first, let me show you this beautiful picture at the end of Isaiah in Isaiah chapter 65. We're looking at that passage that was read for us, verses 17 to 25, and then your blue pew Bibles, you find that on page 753, this picture of promises renewed from God. It kind of breaks into three parts in this little section we're looking at this morning. Verses 17 to 19 of Isaiah 65 is the restored creation, the restored creation, and then we'll look at verses 20 to 23, the restored life, and then the final couple of verses, 24 to 25, restored relationship. So, firstly, restored creation. God promises verse 17. See the first verses, a new heaven and a new earth, a new heavens and a new earth. A picture of restoration, a decisive act of divine recreation. Not just the old creation with a lick of paint, right? This is not some quick, dirty, nasty Renault. This is a complete new heavens, new earth. That's the picture we get. And what a glorious picture it is when we think about the state of our world. When something is really worn out, or it's irreparably broken, we don't need just a kind of a lick of paint over the top of it. We need something new. A number of years ago, um Kathy and I had a uh a fridge, fridge freezer, uh, and it was quite new, it was still under warranty, but problems developed with it, and so I gave the uh manufacturer a call on their uh on their hotline, gave them a call, and they asked the kind of diagnostic questions and asked me, what is wrong with your fridge freezer? And I said, Well, the issue is the refrigerator is not refrigerating and the freezer is not freezing. Pretty fundamental, I thought. And then I was uh somewhat dumbstruck by the question that followed from the uh lovely lady on the line. She said, Okay, I hear that the uh the refrigerator is not refrigerating and the freezer's not freezing. Is there anything else wrong with it? And I was bewildered because I thought, okay, fundamentally, this is what a fridge does, right? It's supposed to, the fridge is supposed to refrigerate and the freezer's supposed to freeze. If it doesn't do those things, then this is a major issue. And I responded somewhat sarcastically, well, you know, the light still opens when we open the door. But that's not what a fridge is all about. It's not a light with a cupboard in it. Friends, when something is fundamentally broken, you don't need a lick of paint, you don't need a little Reno. It needs to be replaced. It needs to be new. If a light doesn't illumine, if salt is not salty, if a fridge is not cool, you need a new one. The first verse of uh Isaiah 65 sets the bar incredibly high. The Lord promises not that it's just gonna be refreshed, not that you're gonna get a new light or a or even a new fridge. But see what he says there, verse 17. See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. All things new. A new creation is what God promises. And if it's a God promise, then it's a certain promise, it's a certainty. The realities of our current context, the suffering in our current world, the rebellion, the judgment, that'll all pass away. And it won't even be remembered, we read. This is God's complete renewal. Notice what he says about the city of Jerusalem. Verse 18, he says, I will create Jerusalem to be a delight. Now, this is not promising that the city in Israel is going to be kind of uh a makeover and it's gonna become the Disneyland of the Middle East. You know, this it's gonna be terrific to be in it. No, that's not what it's saying. It is part of this picture of a brilliant new creation, an eternal kingdom, the one pictured in Revelation 21. The kingdom that the Lord Jesus pointed to and provided access to. Now we'll look more at that in just a few minutes, but first let's see. Restored creation. Second, in the next couple of verses, restored life, verses 20 to 23. Again, the prophet is using this poetic language, this kind of uh not literal language, but he he describes this picture marked by security and longevity and the removal of futility, the image of extended lifespan. He says there if you only live to a hundred, you'll be considered like you've been ripped off. Because in this new creation, a hundred years will be the blink of an eye. People will live long, productive, rich, fulfilled, meaningful, peaceful lives. What a picture. And then thirdly, verses 24 to 25, restored relationships, and perhaps this is where we really yearn for this, don't we? The focus shifts to the intimacy of restored relationships, restored relationships between people and God, and the harmony of the entire created order, previously hindered by sin, no longer encumbered by sin, with rich, purposeful, meaningful relationships. And so this striking vision of cosmic peace where natural enemies are coming together and living in harmony. See what he describes there? Natural enemies like the wolf and the lion and the lamb exist together without harm. Now, again, this is not like a Disney movie where you've got Simba hanging out with people he'd normally see as lunch as friends. No, this is a picture of the new creation where all relationships are stored, even those that have previously been hostile to one another are now in harmony eternally. A picture where God's rule brings complete and lasting reconciliation, a glorious picture where everything is new and restored. Now, this Isaiah 65 picture that we see on page 753 has even more detail then in the end picture that we get in Revelation 21. So if you turn over to Revelation 21, which is uh pretty much the last um page in your Bible, and I'll give you the uh page number there if you want to flick over to it in your pew Bibles, it's page 1249. There we see the same language used. Revelation 21, the first verse, we read of a new heaven and a new earth. Notice the completely restored relationships between God and his people. Verse 3 God Himself will be with them and will be their God. And notice this beautiful picture of restored humanity dwelling eternally with God in the new creation. A place without the distress, without the suffering, without the difficulties of this world. Verse 4. There'll be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. So let me ask you a really obvious question. Is this something we want? If I can use the words of my kids, yes, it's a no-brainer compared to this world in which we live with all the struggles and all the difficulties and all the challenges? Of course we want that. So let me come back to the question we started with then. How do we get from the obvious fallenness and brokenness of the world in which we live to that place, to that new heavens, a new earth, that new creation? How can anyone move from the promise of the glorious vision of Isaiah 65 to the realized picture of Revelation 21? You see ads on TV, don't you? Maybe you don't watch TV, uh, but you see ads for cruisers, and they show you kind of uh a little glimpse of people uh on board these places sitting around a pool and sipping drinks and and then going to the kind of uh beautiful destinations and enjoying the scenery and and you see, how do we how do we get from seeing an ad on TV, which is just kind of a glimpse of what it might be, to the reality, as it were, of being on the cruise ship and enjoying? Well, I need to explain that it's not by buying a ticket, it's not by doing anything. The answer is through faith in the one who's seated on the throne, the Lamb of God. John's gospel, John uses this language when he speaks of Jesus coming, he says, Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Jesus, you see, came as, remember back to Isaiah 53, the suffering servant, the one who was pierced for our transgressions, the one who was crucified, in other words, to pay the price for our sin, the one who was crushed for our iniquities, that suffering servant, that's the Lamb of God, that is the way we enter the eternal kingdom by faith in him. In John 14, so coming forward a little bit in John's gospel to John 14, this is the time just before Jesus is about to go to the cross. He knows he's about to go to the cross where he will be, where he will suffer and die. And he meets with the disciples and he speaks with them and he tells them not to be troubled, not to be anxious, not to be worried about their circumstances at their time. He reminds them of the new creation. He says, There's a mansion for you waiting. There's a mansion up there, and it's got many rooms, and I've prepared a place for you, said Jesus to his disciples. And Thomas, who kind of speaks the other things that the other people were thinking at the time, he says, Jesus, that's fantastic, but I don't get what you're talking about. We don't know where you were going. So how can we know how to get there? And the Lord Jesus responds with this succinct summary of who he is and what he has come to do. Let me read it for you. Jesus said this it's John 14 6. Jesus said, I am the way and the Truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Jesus is not one way among many. He is the only way to enter God's kingdom by trusting in Him. And here's the assurance of the gospel. If we put our trust in Jesus as our Lord and Savior, then He assures us of the forgiveness of our sins and the assurance of eternal life, the assurance of entering that eternal kingdom, of entering that mansion with rooms for everybody. Recall again the words of Isaiah 53. The suffering and death of the Messiah means that the penalty for our sins is paid in fall. Recall the words of John 3.16. The assurance that by faith in Jesus we have a place in his eternal kingdom. That is the good news of the gospel. Salvation by grace through faith in Jesus. So, what difference does this make to our lives? What difference does it make knowing we have forgiveness, knowing we have the assurance of a place in God's eternal kingdom? I went to a funeral last Thursday for a friend who was 57. Now, for some of you, you think that's pretty old. For someone who's older than that, I don't think that's old at all. He received a cancer diagnosis just about a year ago. It was a great reminder, actually. Great reminder of the fragility of life and the imperative of understanding and responding to the gospel of Jesus, of his offer of forgiveness and eternal life. Now, a funeral of a friend will always be a deep sadness. A funeral of a friend or a relative, there is a grief there because of the breaking of relationship as the person is gone. With the casket there before you, the question that comes to our mind is where is the hope? Where can there be any joy in this time of incredible grief? And we know, don't we, that the grief is not mitigated by knowing that our friend was an ice bloke, or he was clever, or funny, or creative, or even knowing that he was godly. And all of those things are true in relation to Andrew. No, our grief is only mitigated by the fact that Andrew knew and trusted Jesus as his Lord and Savior. Therefore, he knew of the certainty of God's promise. The hope of the picture of the new creation forecast in Isaiah 65 and fulfilled in Revelation 21. You see, these verses in Isaiah 65 cause us to lift our eyes to the ruins of the present. From that to the promise of that glorious fulfillment in Christ. The Lord says, behold, He wants His people to look, He wants His people to imagine, He wants His people to trust, to see the reality of the future that awaits us in Christ. Because God is creating all things new, we can live today with real hope, with joy, with faithfulness. We can pray knowing that the Lord hears our prayers even before we pray them. We can have peace. And we can confidently make choices now, knowing that our ultimate hope is not in the things of this world. I received a letter during the week, and uh this is the first time I can remember ever quoting a letter from a Christian donor management company, but that's what I'd like to do this morning. Let me read from this uh letter from the Christian donor management company. They write this every year we survey donors across the country to find out what's really going on beneath the headlines, how they're feeling about the economy, how it's shaping their generosity, and what it means for Christian organizations like yours. The 2026 study is our largest yet, and the findings are ready. Spoiler alert, church attending donors are showing remarkable resilience. While the broader donor population grows more pessimistic about the economy, your supporters are holding a different posture. That got me thinking, what do they mean by a different posture? And why would Christians hold a different posture from the rest of the world? Are Christians just more naive? Is that the issue? Is that why they have a different posture? Or is it because they are less informed? They don't really know what's going on, they don't turn on the news. Now I'll tell you why Christians have a different posture to the rest of the world. Let me go back to the letter. They write this. Christian's posture is, quote, one that is clearly shaped by conviction rather than circumstances. Christian's posture is one that's shaped by conviction rather than circumstances. Interesting observation, isn't it? It's not that believers are shielded from the economy or shielded from suffering or sickness or even death. It is not that we are ignorant to what is going on in the world. But believers are shaped by the conviction that this world is not all there is. Our priority, therefore, is to live gospel-shaped lives, certain of the eternal kingdom that God promises to all those who have put their trust in his Son. Shall we pray? Our gracious God and Heavenly Father, we thank you that Jesus paid the price for my sins and the sins of all mankind through his suffering and death on the cross. Thank you that he rose again from the grave. To give us assurance of eternal life in your kingdom. That beautiful picture of a mansion built with a place for all of us who trust in Jesus. So we pray, please, through your Holy Spirit, strengthen us now to live in your power, with the convictions that come from your promises, with certain hope, with generous hearts, with confident prayer, living reconciled to our neighbors, seeking peace, and witnessing joyfully to the good news of Jesus until that great and glorious day when he returns. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 29:48

A restored creation, restored life, restored relationships. I don't know which part really resonated with you, but the joy, the joy of people living long and productive lives and having a God who hears our prayers. We have a great hope. God's given us a hope. A hope that really we can really hang on to in a fallen world. And the really good news is that hope is not because of us, but because of Jesus. And our next song, I love our next song because it it reminds us and we express that confidence that we have in Christ alone. My hope is found. Please stand.