It Will Be Alright

Isaiah 42:5-9 ESV

 

“Thus says God, the Lord,

    who created the heavens and stretched them out,

    who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

who gives breath to the people on it

    and spirit to those who walk in it:

‘I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness;

    I will take you by the hand and keep you;

I will give you as a covenant for the people,

    a light for the nations,

    to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

    from the prison those who sit in darkness.

I am the Lord; that is my name;

    my glory I give to no other,

    nor my praise to carved idols.

Behold, the former things have come to pass,

    and new things I now declare;

before they spring forth

    I tell you of them.’”

 

This was a prophecy concerning Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the Savior (See also Isaiah 49, Isaiah 61, and Luke 4:18-19). The part about Jesus being the covenant for the people is exclusively about Jesus Christ, but some of the rest of this was given to Paul as his calling (Acts 26:16-18), and to us, too (1 Peter 2:9).

 

And this is the essence of the gospel message to have our spiritually blinded eyes opened and to be delivered from our prisons (slavery, addiction) to sin, to be turned from darkness (sin, wickedness) to light (truth, righteousness), and from the power of Satan over our lives to walk with God in obedience to his commands, that we might receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ (see above verses referenced).

 

For all of us who are called of God are called in righteousness. And all of us who are in Christ, by God-given faith in Jesus, are to be the light of the world, so we, too, are to be a light for the nations. And we are all called to proclaim the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light, so we are to proclaim to the people the way out of sin into a life surrendered to Jesus Christ, dead to sin and living to please God.

 

[1 Pet. 2:9; 1 Pet. 2:21; Matt. 5:13-16; Matt. 28:18-20; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18; Rom. 10:14-15; Jn. 4:31-38; Jn. 13:13-17; Jn. 14:12; 1 Jn. 2:6; Rom 12:1-8; 1 Co 12:1-31; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Col 3:16; Heb 3:13]

 

So, Jesus Christ did not die on that cross merely to forgive us our sins so that one day we can go to heaven. He died to deliver us from our slavery to sin so that we can now walk in his holiness and righteousness while we still live on the earth. And that leads to sanctification which then ends in eternal life with God. For our salvation is about us no longer living as slaves to sin and it is about us now living as slaves to God and to his righteousness.

 

For, if we believe in Jesus Christ with God-given faith, our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. So we must consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. And we are to no longer let sin reign in our mortal bodies, to make us obey its passions. For we are slaves of the one whom we obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness and sanctification and its end, eternal life (see Romans 6:1-23).

 

So, we are to now walk (in conduct, in practice) by the Spirit so that we do not gratify the sinful cravings of the flesh. Daily we must deny self and die to sin and walk in obedience to our Lord’s commands (New Covenant). And we are to now live for Jesus and no longer for ourselves. So, we are to no longer give ourselves up to sensuality and impurity of any kind. We are to put off our old self, which belongs to our former way of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and we are to put on Christ and his righteousness.

 

We are to no longer walk in sin but in the light of Christ and his gospel. And we are to walk in obedience to his commandments (New Covenant). And sin is no longer to be what we practice, for it is those who practice righteousness who are righteous in the sight of God. For if we are born of God we will not continue in deliberate and habitual sin against God. So if sin is what we practice, and righteousness and obedience to the Lord are not what we practice, then we are not born of God.

 

So, if we are in the practice of committing adultery against our spouses and then lying about it and denying the truth, or if we are habitually engaged in the viewing of pornography and then engaging in self-gratification, which is also adultery, and if impurity, sensuality, fits of anger, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these are what we practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not what we practice, then we will not inherit eternal life with God regardless of what lip service we have given to Christ.

 

[Matt 7:21-23; Lu 9:23-26; Jn 14:23-24; Jn 15:1-11; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14; Rom 12:1-2; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 10:26-31; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15]

 

But for those of us whose hope is in the Lord Jesus, who have died with Christ to sin, and who were resurrected with him to walk in newness of life in him, and who are now walking according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh, we have the promise and the hope of eternal life with God provided that we remain in him until the very end, steadfast in our faith, and that we do not return to our vomit and stay there. For our salvation is progressive and it will not be complete until Jesus returns and he takes us who serve him with our lives to live with him for eternity.

 

Now, the following song is a secular song, but the Lord has put this song in my mind for a reason, and I think one reason is that we might replace “Sun” with “Son,” and that we might think of this as the promise and hope of Jesus’ return when everything will be alright, when all our sadness, and all our suffering, and our heartaches and all sin will be gone for forever.

 

Here Comes the Sun

 

By George Harrison

 

Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo

Here comes the sun, and I say

It's alright

 

Little darlin', it's been a long, cold, lonely winter

Little darlin', it feels like years since it's been here

Little darlin', the smile's returning to their faces

Little darlin', it seems like years since it's been here

Little darlin', I feel that ice is slowly melting

Little darlin', it seems like years since it's been clear

 

Here comes the sun, doo-doo-doo-doo

Here comes the sun, and I say

It's alright

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKLV8GCrveQ

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