Behold, Yahweh empties the earth to destruction, eviscerates it, distorts its surface, and scatters its inhabitants….The earth will be completely emptied to destruction and completely plundered, for Yahweh has spoken this word.” (Isaiah 24:1,3 LSB)
“And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He is manifested, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who does righteousness has been born of Him.”
(1 John 2:28–29 LSB) https://accordance.bible/link/read/LSB#1John_2:28
Isaiah reminds us that the Lord will one day judge the earth and when He does, the condemnation He brings for our global disobedience will be devastating. The picture painted of our future is indeed grim, not one anyone would want to participate in. Yet we continue to live as though this day were not coming. The apostle John reminds us again that it is coming but that those in Christ need not worry about receiving God’s condemnation. But what does it mean to be in Christ? Here John says two things; we abide in Him and we live righteous lives. Abiding in Christ means going daily to Christ in order to receive the word of Christ for living a righteous life. This daily habit of Bible reading and prayer focused on obedience cannot be overstated. We must be with our God in order to know our God and carry out His will. Like any relationship, time with them breeds familiarity. Time with God is accrued through time in Scripture and praying back to God those scriptures for applying them to our lives. This application is what it means to live a righteous life before God. Obedience to God is what makes a man righteous. Obedience is doing the will of God and not doing what He condemns. While many focus on not disobeying God in the things like murder, rape, and theft, they fail to see their hate, lust and coveting as the very doing of those things God condemns. Not doing bad is not the same as doing good. Building the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven is the duty of every Christian. We must be about the business of rescuing people whose destiny is the destruction Isaiah describes unless they repent and become born again. Those in Christ have been given the mission of seeking and saving the lost then discipling them into obedience to Jesus just as we ourselves are living examples of the obedient life to God.
