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A brief family discussion a day or two ago resulted in the revelation that in just 44 days time we will be in our Christmas Day Service! It is very obvious that we are fast nearing the end of the year, and maybe we are looking forward to the New Year. What will it bring?

If this year has been tough, will the New Year be any better? If we have had to face sickness, or family struggles, or financial reversals, or bereavement – what will the New Year bring?  At least there’s no Rugby World Cup next year, or America’s Cup! It is most likely that as we near the end of this year, we may well be hoping for something better NEXT year. 

And its often at this very point of what lies in the future, that the Believer and the UnBeliever take two radically different paths through life.  I use those terms without any sense of moral judgment, but simply as a way of trying to distinguish between those who Believe in God – the Believers, and those who don’t believe in God  - the Unbelievers. I’m not saying one is any better morally or ethically than the other, in this context. I am here referring to their stated beliefs.

What is quite clear, and will come out in any discussion sooner or later is that the Believer and the Un-Believer  have two totally different views about life, and about the future.

The Believer at some point in life, has chosen to believe that there is a God, and from that vantage point of faith, begins to look for evidence of God in every circumstance, in every event; in every part of creation. That ,in itself is often not an easy journey!(St. Paul speaks most eloquently of this in Romans 1:19 – “for what can be known about God is plain(to them) , because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world His eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things He has made.”) For the Believer – everything declares God’s presence and God’s glory.

The Unbeliever , bluntly speaking,  doesn’t see God in anything or anywhere! He doesn’t believe God exists!

The Believer chooses to believe that not only the so-called “good” things of life, but also in the “bad” things and the negative things of life, God is still active and very present.  So when the Believer comes to a passage of scripture, such as we have heard earlier from Isaiah 65, the Believer says “Yes – God is at work in the world – whether I can see it or not.” When we come to Isaiah 65 we find the prophet declaring that God IS at work!  While this prophecy directly relates to God  being at work through the Jewish people , and the rebuilding of Jerusalem, - as a prophecy, and part of our Christian literature, it has also another meaning.  Often the words spoken to Jerusalem  can also be interpreted as God’s prophetic words to all His children – to all believers -  including the Gentiles. – and that’s you and me!

So God is declaring in Isaiah 65 that He is at work, creating a new heaven and earth – and we are co-workers together with Him in that re-creation. St. Paul echoes this same inclusiveness when he refers to Believers as “fellow workers and joint-heirs with Christ.”  

Isaiah gives us a vision and a dream of a new world recreated by God in which His original intentions for his creation have been restored.

This New Creation began with God sending his only Son to deal with the greatest problem since creation and that was the sin problem. Nothing could be change or be re-created until the power of sin was broken and the penalty of sin paid for. On the Cross, Jesus dealt both of those a fatal blow.

So a new beginning is now possible; the shackles of sin from our past are broken, and the power of God is breathed into us through His Holy Spirit. We are reinstated as children of God  who delight to know and do the Father’s will. The new Order has begun; the new World is on its way, and we are called to be fellow builders of that Kingdom of Heaven.    The fullness of this Kingdom, scripture tells us, may not come about in our lifetime, but it will surely come.  We know that when Christ returns  (and the Advent Season,-  just a couple of weeks away-  is a reminder of  that epic event)  - we know that when He returns that this present new world which is in the making, will be somehow transformed into the New Heaven and the New earth ( whatever that might mean !) and all things will come under Christ’s rule in perfect harmony.

            But on this Sunday as we read of Isaiah’s prophecy of a New Creation in which peace and justice and righteousness and love prevail, we also have a gospel reading which speaks of the destruction of the temple and the cataclysmic signs of Christ’s return.   What is the link between these two? Well, I think the link is in the fact that between the end of the old order and the advent of the new – there will be much suffering.  Jesus uses the illustration elsewhere to describe this as being like a woman in labour,- the birth pangs before the new order is born. There will be signs of upheaval both in the heavens and on the earth. The whole of creation will be shaken, and even Christ’s followers will be persecuted to the point of martyrdom.   But Jesus makes it quite clear that those who stand firm in the faith of Christ will not perish. They may die ! – but they wont perish! – they wont be lost eternally.  And the reason is that God will uphold them through those times.  Believers will not be exempt from suffering or sorrow or tragedy – but, as St. Paul says  -“ in all these things  we are MORE than conquerors through Christ Jesus who loved us and gave Himself for us.”

Isaiah gives us the beautiful picture of God’s benevolence and affection towards us when he says  - “Before they call, I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear.” (Isa 65;24)     

God is already at work among us bringing about a new creation, beginning His work, first of all, in us. But that work is not yet complete - We are not perfect,-  so there are still flaws which we admit to each week as we gather for worship– but God hasn’t finished with us yet!     In the midst of those trials, when we see so clearly our own shortcomings, or our own failures - let us not forget to hold to His promise, “Before they call, I will answer; while they are yet speaking I will hear.”