THE COMING RIGHTEOUS CITY

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts. Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith.

Isaiah 26:1-2

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Chapters 24 and 25 of the Book of Isaiah contain prophecy of the end days when Christ will return to judge the earth. In those days, as correlated with Revelation, Chapter 21, earth as we know it will be destroyed as will the current heavens, with a new heaven and earth being created. Within that new creation, we are told of no other city that will exist except for the New Jerusalem, the city we find mentioned at in our scriptures today at the beginning of Isaiah, Chapter 26. As we will see through the word of God, the New Jerusalem will be the coming righteous city, a definite upgrade over any city that perished when the original earth passed away.

Think about it. What city can say it is righteous today? There are none because all cities are inhabitated by and led by sinners who daily make decisions that are contrary to God’s word, will, and way. If you don’t believe it, you aren’t paying attention to the news, both nationally and in the world as a whole. Frankly, it’s amazing that God hasn’t started to just destroy cities for their transgressions and apostasy as He did Sodom and Gomorrah in biblical days. In the end, it’s one of the greatest daily testimonies of His amazing grace and mercy when it comes right down to it.

So what will the coming righteous city be like?

For the answers, we can turn to these opening two verses of Chapter 26 and a song that is foretold to be sung at the time of Christ’s return:

In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

We have a strong city; God makes salvation its walls and ramparts. Open the gates that the righteous nation may enter, the nation that keeps faith.

First, the city will be strong and it will be so because God and His Son Jesus will be the rulers and leaders of this New Jerusalem. There will be no need for kings or lords because all who reside in the new city will be there under the appointment and protection of the King of kings and Lord of lords. The Lord God Almighty and Christ Jesus will reign supreme with power, so much so that the New Jerusalem will have gates but not walls or ramparts. There will be no need for them because the salvation of God will serve as the fortification the city needs. There will be no evil in the New Jerusalem for Satan and evil were defeated and vanquished along with the old earth, cast into the fiery lake along with all people who chose to not place their faith and trust in Jesus as Savior. And so in this New Jerusalem, there will only be righteousness and peace, a perfect peace we will look at in tomorrow’s devotion.

Yes, the New Jerusalem will be strong and mighty, fully under the control and power of the Lord God Almighty and His Son Jesus. It will also be perfectly uncorrupted and holy, free from imperfection or impurity. It’s inhabitants will be righteous, the ones who kept their faith and trust in their Savior Jesus Christ, the ones who found justification and pardon from their transgressions through the precious shed blood of the Lamb of God who willingly gave Himself up as a sacrifice to pay the penalty for the sins of mankind. It will be those who were washed clean into righteousness who will be taken up to the New Jerusalem by Jesus at His return to live and abide with Him in perfect righteousness forever.

So the question for today is this: Will you be a resident of the New Jerusalem and be counted among the righteous when Jesus returns?

My prayer is that you will join myself and others who have made the right choice and given their lives to the Lord and Savior of the world, the Lord Jesus who God gave to us this Christmas season out of His deep love for His children, the children He didn’t wish to see perish but rather to have everlasting life in the New Jerusalem, the coming righteous city (John 3:16).

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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