Isaiah 65:17-25

More than Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 15, and yes, even more than the words of Luke's Gospel in chapter 24, these words from the Prophet Isaiah, chapter 65, verses 17 through 25 are what gave me the goofiest grin in church on Easter Sunday.

This is what we're headed for, this is what we're all about:

¹⁷"For behold, I create new heavens
and a new earth,
and the former things shall not be remembered
or come into mind.
¹⁸But be glad and rejoice forever
in that which I create;
for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy,
and her people to be a gladness.
¹⁹ I will rejoice in Jerusalem
and be glad in my people;
no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping
and the cry of distress.
²⁰No more shall there be in it
an infant who lives but a few days,
or an old man who does not fill out his days,
for the young man shall die a hundred years old,
and the sinner a hundred years old shall be accursed.
²¹ They shall build houses and inhabit them;
they shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit.
²² They shall not build and another inhabit;
they shall not plant and another eat;
for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.
²³ They shall not labor in vain
or bear children for calamity,
for they shall be the offspring of the blessed of Yahweh,
and their descendants with them.
²⁴ Before they call I will answer;
while they are yet speaking I will hear.
²⁵ The wolf and the lamb shall graze together;
the lion shall eat straw like the ox,
and dust shall be the serpent’s food.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain,"

says Yahweh.

The Lutheran Study Bible's article on p. 1198 called A New Eden highlights the beauty of this passage from the prophet Isaiah. And in the last paragraph this really caught my eye, "As you await with all of creation the redemption of your body, read Isaiah 65:17-25 again. Close your eyes and ponder anew the new creation God has made for you. 'For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create.' "

The former things: sin, the devil, and death, will not be remembered or come into mind. Be glad and rejoice forever!