6/23/2021 Imagine This!

June 23 | Bible in a Year: Esther 9-10; Acts 7:1-21

I will create new heavens and a new earth.
Isaiah 65:17
READ ISAIAH 65:17–25
LISTEN ONLINEDuring the course of a popular home renovation television program, viewers often hear the host say, “Imagine this!” Then she unveils what could be when old things are restored and drab walls and floors are painted or stained. In one episode, after the renovation the homeowner was so overjoyed that, along with other expressions of elation, the words “That’s beautiful!” gushed from her lips three times.
One of the stunning “Imagine this!” passages in the Bible is Isaiah 65:17-25. What a dazzling re-creation scene! The future renovation of heaven and earth is in view (v. 17), and it’s not merely cosmetic. It’s deep and real, life-altering and life-preserving. “They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit” (v. 21). Violence will be a thing of the past: “They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain” (v. 25).
While the reversals envisioned in Isaiah 65 will be realized in the future, the God who will orchestrate universal restoration is in the business of life-change now. The apostle Paul assures us, “If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). In need of restoration? Has your life been broken by doubt, disobedience, and pain? Life-change through Jesus is real and beautiful and available to those who ask and believe.
By Arthur Jackson
REFLECT & PRAY
God of restoration and renovation, You know what changes are needed in my life for me to look more like You. Please work in my heart and life today.
What changes can you imagine the God of restoration making in your life? What’s keeping you from believing in Jesus for life-change today?

SCRIPTURE INSIGHTAlong with the portrayal of the new heavens and earth found in Isaiah 65, we catch another glimpse in 11:6-9 of this glorious place where animals and mankind live together in peace. Revelation 21-22 echoes many of these wonders and tells us more: “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away” (21:4). “The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face . . . . And they will reign for ever and ever” (22:3-5).
​Alyson Kieda