He Will Complete
We live in a period of “already but not yet”, when the Kingdom is here among us but not fully present in our world. Things are not yet what they will be with the coming of Christ’s reign, when God will make all things new: governments, systems, communities, relationships and bodies.
Many people think that when Jesus comes, we will go to live in heaven forever, but Scripture teaches that Christ will return to earth and we will reign with Him here. [Revelation 21:2-5] We will finally experience the capitulation of the Kingdom in its fullness! This provides tremendous hope for those committed to living our lives in service to the King!
On this side of the Kingdom’s coming, we live in a world marred by sin and the effects of the Fall. In our sowing and reaping, it often seems our work reflects a pattern of “two steps forward and one step back…”
We have high hopes for how a person or community is growing in the Lord, we rejoice at their progress, only to have some disappointment break in and seemingly sabotage what we thought God was doing in them. Or we start a project requiring hours of investment, and it begins to really take shape, but its duration is cut short. Or perhaps the resources needed to finish it are removed.
If we were gardeners, we would say that the work we put into the soil does not yield a 100% return. Rather, there is waste; our efforts come up short, we experience fatigue, projects fall through, and there are unwelcome interruptions to the work.
So, what do we do when circumstances change overnight, or a long-term goal gets cut short by a worldwide pandemic, economic downturn or the illness of a family member? What about the “unfinished” business that ends before it’s truly had an impact? We might be tempted to be discouraged.
But GOD…!
Because of GOD, whose ways are higher and whose heart is good, with the coming of the New Kingdom, GOD will complete what only seemed unfinished.
Isaiah 65:17-25 encourages us that, on the day we see the end result of our sowing and reaping, of breaking up the hard ground for people to receive and live out the Gospel spiritually and relationally, what we were unable to finish, GOD WILL COMPLETE. We are told to “be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.”
And the griefs we endured, the everyday struggle we lived with will not be a reality anymore. “…the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.”
In that Kingdom, everything we set our hand to will be successful and fruitful! “They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit.” The things we built will not be left half-finished, because God will complete the good works He began.
And we WILL reap a 100% return on our labor and rejoice to see God’s work completed through generations: “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.”
Even the beasts of the “wilderness” will be tamed and abandon the impulse to ravage the weak. Former oppressors and previously oppressed ones will dwell in fellowship together: “’The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,’ says the LORD.”
God doesn’t stop nurturing His people just because we leave a city, a job, or a season. He continues His work of recreating, because that is what He was doing before we got there!
It’s not just Jerusalem that will be renewed; it is ALL the nations and communities of the earth!
This encourages me…this truth gives us confidence that God is not done yet! What we were unable to finish, HE will continue, HE will complete!
For Jesus’ Sake,
Chris & Julie