Saturday, December 14, 2013
Isaiah 11:6-9 The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, The leopard shall lie down with the young goat, The calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; Their young ones shall lie down together; And the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play by the cobra's hole, And the weaned child shall put his hand in the viper's den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain, For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
CITIZENS UNDER THE RULE OF THE PRINCE OF PEACE LIVE TOGETHER IN PEACE
Now we can make sense of the picture of the wolf dwelling with the lamb and so on. Consider verses 6-9 once more. That sounds like an idyllic paradise, but when we consider the verses that follow which we read yesterday, we see that it is a picturesque description of the peace among believers.
Think of how the Jews once despised the Gentiles. Then, in God's Church, Jews and Gentiles lived together and loved one another for they were united under Christ's rule. Paul describes it this way in Ephesians 2:14-15, "For He Himself is our peace, who has made both [Jews and Gentiles] one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity ... so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace." In that way, the wolf *is* dwelling with the lamb. Those who once were bitter enemies, are dwelling together in peace and harmony as God's children.
It was not only the Jews and Gentiles who were enemies and came together in peace. Let's read verse 13 of Isaiah 11, "Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart, And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not harass Ephraim." Throughout much of the Old Testament there was bitter strife and warfare between the northern tribes of Israel, which were simply referred to here as Ephraim and the southern tribe of Judah. In the Christian Church, believing Jews from both nations now lived and worked together in harmony. The leopard *is* lying down with the young goat, the calf and the young lion and the fatling are all together.
Where is this peace today? It's where we are gathered together in Jesus' name with people of all nationalities and from all walks of life. We enjoy this peace in our congregations where we gather together to hear God's word and to strengthen and encourage one another in the faith. That peace also shows when we gather for fellowship meals and activities.
What a glorious resting place in the midst of this world of strife. After a week of stress in the workplace we are able to gather in this resting place to hear God's word of love and enjoy the peace with our brothers and sisters in Christ.
It is not only in our home congregations. We enjoy the same thing with our brothers and sisters around the world. Wherever you gather with those of your faith, you find that you are united and share a wonderful bond of peace. Even in far away countries with people of different nationalities, with people we don't even know, we have this bond of peace and unity -- with brothers and sisters in India, Myanmar, Nepal, many countries in Africa and South America. Truly people from the four corners of the earth are brought together with a common faith in our Savior and share a love and concern for each other.
This outward peace is not yet perfect -- not because of any failing on Jesus' part, but because our sins disrupt the peace with strife. That is where the power of Christ's death goes to work. We are forgiven even for bringing strife into His world and by that grace we are strengthened to "keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace" (Ephesians 4:3).
One day this peace will be perfect with Christ in paradise. Until then, we enjoy the peace with God that Christ has given us and with His strength we live at peace with one another.
