Isaiah 61:10-11 – The Garden of God
Verse 10 is a response, from the people of God, to everything He has done. In verse 11 we see a picture of life springing up. This is a good summary of the promises that Jesus preaches to us, of the promises Jesus accomplishes for us, and of the joy and the blessing which we receive in Him. The ground spoken of here should perhaps remind us of the parable of the sower that Jesus speaks in Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 8. The ground there was that which, in a way, determined what would happen to the seed. Could the ground make itself to be a different way than it was? The ground is what it is. It can do nothing to change itself. The heart of man can do nothing to change itself. God puts the seed of new life in Jesus Christ within us, He makes our dead hearts, our old hearts, to live. The first thing these new hearts do is look. They look to Jesus Christ, and they look away from their sin. Just like the soil brings forth life and brings forth beauty, then that which God has made to be fruitful brings forth the bud. It comes to pleasant, green and delightful harvest in the field. And it does in our lives as well.
We have a special garden here. The old garden was ruined by sin. From the old garden, we and our first parents were kicked out. But now we are brought in again to a new garden established by the same Gardener. It is all the work of our God in Jesus Christ. Jehovah causes righteousness and praise to spring forth. The righteousness comes from Someone else, but it sets us apart as God’s special treasure and delight. The life of holiness, which is worked into us by the Holy Spirit, comes forth as praise from our lips and praise to God in our lives as we live before people. How does God bring this about? Jesus has lived in our place. Jesus has died in our place and died with a death that was sufficient. It was enough to pay off everything we owe to God because of our sin. Our righteousness is not of ourselves. All over the world the garden grows. Not only do the plants within it grow up, but the garden grows in size to cover all the world.
To you who are in Jesus Christ — you may at times be very discouraged with the way your life is, but your life is growing in Jesus Christ. You have not come to the full fruit yet. To those who are not in Christ, is there any hope for you? Yes, there is. Cry out to Jesus Christ to save you from your sin. You will be put into the garden of God!
Question
- What does God do in the life of the believer?
Prayer Points
- Pray for the preaching and hearing of God’s Word tomorrow.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.