Let Us Go Out In Joy!

We are brought out of darkness into light through salvation, which is our great joy! We have even more joy knowing sin will one day be defeated in full!

Let Us Go Out In Joy!

This week's devotions are written by my friend Jessica Hermann, former director of our college ministry at Great Hills Baptist Church.

- Pastor Danny

Happy Friday! I pray that you have been encouraged this week by reading God's Word in Isaiah 55. It is so beautiful to read all about grace and salvation in the Old Testament. Let's wrap up the week by finishing up our study of this chapter which is all about salvation and God's plan. Today we will read Isaiah 55:12-13.

"For you shall go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and the hills before you
shall break forth into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress;
instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle;
and it shall make a name for the Lord,
an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off."

What a joyful way to wrap up a week. There are such amazing and joy-filled promises in the passage. Prophetic passages in the Bible often have two fulfillments: an immediate application for the original audience of the writing and then a later one, oftentimes pointing to the New Testament or even to end times. This passage has an immediate application to Israel during Isaiah's time, as they are about to be brought out of captivity and return to their homeland. This chapter's second fulfillment points to salvation through Jesus Christ in the New Testament, which is extremely relevant to us today as Christians.

God's faithfulness to Israel is marked by joy and peace! They will leave their captivity and return with joy as God leads them in peace (verse 12). They would surely be celebrating! The joy doesn't stop with them, though. Even nature itself would change as a testimony of God's faithfulness to His people.

This reminds me of our salvation. We are brought out of darkness and into light through salvation, and that is great cause for joy! We share our testimonies to tell others about God's faithfulness to us. But I think this passage also points to the time coming when the curse of sin will be broken in full. Do you remember the effects of sin? Sin affected everything on Earth. Genesis 3:17-18 pronounces some effects of Adam's sin:

"And to Adam he said, 'Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.'" (ESV)

Did you catch the connection to today's passage? In Genesis 3:17, one of the curses of sin is how the ground will become difficult to work and extremely laborious and challenging through things like thorns. Isaiah 55:13 tells us how the thorn and the brier will be replaced with cypress and myrtle. Why is this passage so encouraging? Because it is hopeful! It reminds us that the curse of sin will one day be lifted! The curse will be reversed. It will not always be this way. The penalty of sin has already been defeated through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. The presence of sin will also one day be defeated when Jesus returns, judgment is cast upon all evil, and sin is defeated once and for all!

My dear brothers and sisters, let us "go out in joy and be led forth in peace" today because we know that this day is coming. Let us "go out in joy and be led forth in peace" because even before this all comes to pass, we have the assurance of salvation today through Christ!