God Will Reclaim His Creation

Philip Bliss wrote the hymn “Hallelujah, What a Savior” in 1875. One of the verses says, “Ruined sinners to reclaim.” That is a theme of the entire Bible. God is always reclaiming what is his. God has never surrendered his title to humanity and to this earth. He owns it---and he will not relinquish it to his enemies. David wrote, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” (Ps 24:1).

The word redeem means to buy back to restore to its original state. Redemption is just that, whether God’s wayward people or the earth itself. God will one day restore this earth to its original design, and we will be who God intended us to be. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, at the renewal of all things” (Matt 19:28). There will be a renewal of all things. Jesus is the creator and will make his creation as it was before sin brought devastation to it.

Jesus will redeem the earth, our culture, and everything about those he has redeemed. Isaiah wrote, “Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn” (Isaiah 60:3). Drawing from these words, John wrote: “The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it” Rev 21:24). God’s work of redemption involves the purging of human arrogance and the restoration of his creation to its original beauty and splendor. Nothing is wrong with what God has made, but the misuse of those things has distorted it. Isaiah chapter 60 is a vision of heaven—the new earth. This chapter is followed by a description of the power of Jesus’ ministry to reclaim his creation in Isaiah 61:

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair” (Isaiah 61:1-3).

Isaac Watts wrote “Joy To The World” not for Christmas but as a poem in 1719 based on Psalm 98: “Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him” (Ps 98:1). This psalm is a vision of the new heaven and earth.

2 Joy to the earth, the Savior reigns!

Let men their songs employ,

while fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains

 

3 No more let sins and sorrows grow,

nor thorns infest the ground;

He comes to make His blessings flow

far as the curse is found,

Finding Strength in God

David found himself in the worst situation of his life when he returned from a journey. It was about sixty miles to his home of Ziklag, about a three-day march. When he and his men arrived, they found their homes had been raided and burned and their families and livestock gone (1 Sam 30:1). David deduced that their families had been taken alive because there were no signs of killing. He and his men wept aloud for their loss until they had no strength left (1 Sam 30:4).

The men blamed David for the situation and talked of stoning him. It had been David’s idea to leave Israel and live in Philistine territory. Maybe this whole idea had now backfired, and it had all ended in a disaster because of David.

In this moment of anxiety, David was greatly distressed, “But David found strength in the Lord his God” 1 Sam 30:6). This is an extraordinary statement that is relevant today. We, too, experience stressful situations, and it is these moments that we need to turn to the Lord for help.

David took advantage of the Priest, Abiathar, and the ephod to seek God’s guidance. We don’t know how the process worked, but it gave David guidance. It was used here as a means of asking the Lord about whether or not David and his men should pursue the raiders and whether or not they could find them. God’s answer came in the affirmative (1 Sam 30:7). David obeyed the Lord and pursued the raiders. He did not know who these raiders were, but he suspected they were the Amalekites, and he was right.

They had to be weary after a three-day march, and then to begin a forced march in pursuit of the enemy was too much for 200 of the 600 men. David left those men in the Besor Valley to rest and take care of their baggage (1 Sam 30:9).

God did not give David a detailed map of where to go, but he did send him someone who would lead them to the raiders. They found an Egyptian who had been left by his master and who was starving to death (1 Sam 30:11-12). He had been part of the raiding party, and with David’s promise that he would not be harmed, he led them to the enemy. They found the enemy celebrating their spoils and launched a surprise attack that lasted 24 hours. They recovered their families and much more.

When they returned to the other 200, some troublemakers among David’s men did not want to share spoils with them. They said, “Because they did not go out with us, we will not share with them the plunder we recovered” (1 Sam 30:22). David’s response was, “No, my brothers, you must not do that with what the Lord has given us” (1 Sam 30:23). The troublemakers’ view was we did this. On the contrary, David believed that God did this, and he has given us the spoils so they will be shared with each man. That is a view of grace. There is no room to boast.