Holy Wholeness: The Highway of Holiness
Holy Wholeness:
The Highway of Holiness
Scripture: Isaiah 35
Lt. Colonel Allen Satterlee
Spiritual Life Officer
USA Southern Territory
Paradise Lost
Proud skyscrapers of yesteryear are shredded and in shambles. Abandoned cars line roads that are now succumbing to encroaching plants. Debris witnesses to a panicked exit, the last evidence of human habitation. What was once lively and thriving lies abandoned and decaying. The post-apocalyptic world remains a favorite scene in science fiction movies.
From the vantage point of Heaven this planet is in shambles. God created the world to be a place of beauty and perfectly balanced function. What is now the Sahara was to be as lush as the Amazon Basin. Animals that flee from us were to eat from our hands. The diseases that plague our days shriveled before a superior immune system. This is a post-apocalyptic world compared to the Eden of God’s design.
Isaiah 34 contains a frightening description of God’s judgment against the nations, particularly Edom. Their cities, villages and countryside were doomed, turned from thriving places to desert. But Isaiah 35 suddenly turns about face toward a restored earth that the future owns once God establishes His reign upon it with the return of Christ.
Centering on the nation of Israel, there are a series of contrasts as the prophet paints a picture of the new paradise.
Isaiah acknowledges that the present state of affairs is a world that is not right, that has crashed tragically. While he calls on nature to describe the scene, the images were symbolic of the corruption that sin has wrought not only upon God’s creation but within the souls of humanity. It is all in desperate need of repair, of renewal.
Paradise Promised
But there comes a promise. God has not abandoned what He has crafted, He will not forsake the ones He has redeemed. The day is coming when He intends to reassert His claim upon this planet and when He does, deserts will evaporate, hurricanes will be blown away, earthquakes tremble in submission.
Travelers will journey through the reborn earth on a highway, a highway of holiness (verse 8). But this is not an open road for just anyone. It is a turnpike for the holy. Isaiah is specific about who will not be admitted: “Evil-minded people will never travel on it. It will be for those who walk in God’s ways, fools will never walk there.” The issue of access will not be a question during Christ’s reign on earth. By then it’s a settled matter.
When Isaiah speaks of evil, he means those who have made a deliberate choice to reject Christ as Savior. It is a heart self-absorbed that would not have Christ reign over it, choosing instead its own road of rebellion. Unlike the highway of holiness, that alternate road, while broad, leads only to destruction (Matthew 7:13).
Isaiah also says that “fools will never walk there.” He does not mean the uneducated – many who lack formal education are wise beyond the learned. Rather, these are people who just frittered away their opportunity to serve Christ. They weren’t necessarily against Him, but neither did they align themselves to Him. These banked on getting around to it eventually until all their tomorrows slipped taken from them. One does not stumble blindly into the kingdom of God. It is a deliberate act of repentance toward God with a plea for His forgiveness. God receives us as we receive Christ.
Those who will feel most comfortable in the kingdom of God will be the ones who most prepared themselves to live there. If I were to decide to move to Mexico, I would prepare myself by learning Spanish, understanding the customs and studying the laws of that nation. And those who most fitted for the kingdom of God will have learned the language of heaven in prayer, conformed their lives to the Word of God so they know the laws and customs of the redeemed. The highway of holiness will be a familiar route to those who live holy lives now.
How prepared are you for Christ’s kingdom? How fitted are you to walk on the highway of holiness? If you are not, ask God’s Spirit to sanctify you now so that on that day your feet will tread a familiar path.
Our Corporate Prayer
Dear Lord, We long for the day when this old world is restored to what You always meant it to be. We know that our sins have wrecked it in so many ways. But just as you have redeemed and repaired our souls, You have promised to redeem and repair this world. Our resurrected bodies will walk on this earth as You intended it to be! We give glory to You for that. Make me holy now so that I can best serve You in this present age and be ready to live in that new world where everything is right and good and proper. I give myself to You for You to make me as I ought to be. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Our Worldwide Prayer Meeting
Korea Territory
Thinking It Through
Much of our earth is already beautiful and spectacular. What will it be like after God has restored it to what it is meant to be? Take a moment to think about the most beautiful place you have ever been and imagine how God could make even that place more beautiful. Thank Him for what He will do with His creative touch.
Notable Quotable
The only way the kingdom of God is going to be manifest in this world before Christ comes is if we manifest it by the way we live as citizens of heaven and subjects of the King. - R.C. Sproul
An old song that stirs our hopes for our place in the kingdom is the song, "I've Got a Mansion." Enjoy this song again.
We would appreciate any feedback and/or suggestions on how to improve these devotionals. Please email comments to: SpiritualLifeDevelopment@uss.salvationarmy.org or by going to our website: https://southernusa.salvationarmy.org/uss/spiritual-life-development.
We would love to hear from you.
Lt. Colonel Allen Satterlee
Territorial Spiritual Life Development Officer/THQ Chaplain
USA Southern Territory
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