The Redemption of the Mundane - Mike Chipman

 


I have been preaching through Isaiah for a few years. I just preached through Isaiah 60 and I remembered that John borrows from this imagery in Revelation 21. As God reveals the new heavens and new earth, He also shows the city of God, and the “kings of the earth will bring their glory into it.” (Rev 21:24) This is further spelled out in the words of Isaiah 60, as Isaiah details for us what we will see in this parade. In verse 9, the ships of Tarshish sail before the Lord, drawn in by his marvelous light to show their wares. Ancient trade knew these ships for their beauty, but also for the fact that they carried many wonderful things from afar. In Isaiah 2:16, the ships of Tarshish were an object of God’s wrath, but in 60, we see them again - this time having been redeemed. “For the coastlands shall hope for me, the ships of Tarshish first, to bring your children from afar, their silver and gold with them, for the name of the Lord your God, and for the Holy One of Israel, because he has made you beautiful.” (Isaiah 60:9). In Revelation 21, Jesus says, “Behold, I am making all things new.” In Isaiah 60, we see that one of those things is the ships of Tarshish. A seemingly mundane part of the ancient world, but in the the new city of God, these ships carry the redeemed people of the Lord.


So what does this have to do with me? While the people of Isaiah’s day were hearing these prophecies before their times of exile, they knew those days were coming. The budding civilization of Babylon would soon be a mighty juggernaut, and they would sweep up Judah into their grasp. The people in exile would read Isaiah, and long for the day of redemption - that would find it’s near fulfillment in Cyrus, but its ultimate fulfillment in the one who makes all things new - Jesus. We know that in Christ, we are a new creation - the old is gone, the new is come. Yet, as we live our day-to-day lives, we don’t always feel that way. We know the truth, but that doesn’t always change our hearts. We get bogged down in the ordinary. The “exile” of this world is drudgery sometimes, and we long for the day when our Savior will come again and lead us home.


Yet, here we are. How do we live in light of the fact that we are new creations, but the world around us isn’t yet? Christians, we are ambassadors of Christ, agents of redemption, salt and light to a sad and dark world. If the ships of Tarshish find will one day be redeemed, so will the works of our hands. When the wealth of nations is brought before the Lord, among those things will be the works we have done in the name of the Lord. We have been created in Christ Jesus for good works. More than that - they have even been prepared beforehand that we might walk in them (Eph 2:10). Even the “mundane” things of this world have meaning in Christ. As Christians, we represent the King of kings, and whether we are on the mission field, in the office, or the home, our work matters. Because our work matters, we should do it for the Lord. This truth liberates us from the mundane and gives us hope for all our work. This hope is not only for our growth in grace, but it is also for a lost world. Jesus said they were, “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” The hope we have is a boon to the lost soul. The gospel message we preach is redemption from the mundane and removes the veil of darkness. It takes the harassed and gives them rest. The world cannot redeem itself, and in the end, even the most beautiful things turn to dust. We worship one who is making all things new.


As you minister to one another and the lost, remember the picture of the ships of Tarshish, coming to their final port in heavenly glory. As the nations of the world bring their glory to the Lamb of God, there will be a place for all who are in Christ. Remind one another of that hope. Preach the gospel of hope to a weary world.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Make Our Worship Spaces Presbyterian Again by Rev. Benjamin Glaser

Image
We’ve all heard the jokes about Presbyterian’s being anti-fun, the so-called frozen chosen. The seen, but not heard denomination. The post you are about to read is going to sound like it came from the official spokesman of the “Presbyterians against anything nice” coalition. Maybe it’s true, maybe I am the grumpiest Presbyterian alive, but my goal here today is not to get hits or cause trouble. Rabble rousers are boring people. Men who seek out controversy don’t have enough to do and they aren’t really seeking to win converts to their position. They just like to see the fight.  At the end of the day I’m really a harmless little fuzzball who just wants Presbyterians to be Presbyterians, Baptists to be Baptists, and Anglicans to be Anglicans. Good fences make good neighbors. If you know where the other person stands it makes it easier to know where you stand. The topic I’d like to get into today is about the meeting space. Some call it the “sanctuary”, others the “preaching hall”, ...
Read more

What Does the ARP Confess About the Civil Government? by Rev. Benjamin Glaser

Image
A common problem in our conservative Presbyterian circles is that some members of the PCA believe they not only invented American presbyterianism, but that they and the OPC are the only actual members of the party. One way their aloofness shows itself is through an unwillingness to recognize that not all of us descend from the 1729 Adopting Act nor gauge our history through Francis Makemie or the Philadelphia Assembly of 1789. When Makemie established the first presbytery in the American colonies in 1709 some of us were still in Scotland, both in and out of the revolution settlement CoS. Ebenezer Erskine was a spry twenty-nine years old and Alexander Moncrieff was fourteen. The years 1782 and 1803 are relevant to our history in ways the other dates are not. We are not overly concerned with what the mainliners were up to in those days. We’ve been blessedly free from that mess for two hundred twenty plus years. The reason why I bring that up is because the folks who think they hung the m...
Read more

Ralph Erskine and Mental Images by Rev. Benjamin Glaser

Image
  One of the most common exceptions taken in the ARP (and the PCA  et al ) by newly ordained men and those taking transfer exams in presbytery is without a doubt a certain clause in the explanation to Westminster Larger Catechism #109. This mainly concerns the prohibition against making mental images of the Godhead, especially the Second Person, in accordance with the catechism’s teaching on the Second Commandment. I will post the question below: Q. 109.  What sins are forbidden in the second commandment? A. The sins forbidden in the second commandment are, all devising, counseling, commanding, using, and any wise approving, any religious worship not instituted by God himself; the making any representation of God, of all or of any of the three persons, either inwardly in our mind, or outwardly in any kind of image or likeness of any creature whatsoever; all worshiping of it, or God in it or by it; the making of any representation of feigned deities, and all worship of the...
Read more