A New Economy

Read: Isaiah 55

Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Isaiah 55:1, NIV

IN WORD

Imagine living in a world where no money is needed. Everyone is industrious, not from a sense of obligation, but from a sense of honor and service. No salary scales are needed because every job is equally important and everyone works equally hard. When you need something, you get it without cost because products and services are offered to you generously, just as you offer your products and services freely to others. It’s a utopian economy where trust and loyalty rule and where competition is nonexistent. No one ever lacks.

That’s a picture of the Kingdom of God given in Isaiah 55. The Kingdom will be that kind of system—spiritually and materially—because it’s based on the character of God Himself. It’s the kind of Kingdom earthly political philosophers have long dreamed of and even tried to attain, not realizing that it can only work when every participant is redeemed and fully sanctified. It cannot happen until God reigns in every heart.

Our salvation is a foretaste of that Kingdom. It is freely given and freely received; in fact, it can’t be obtained any other way. God is generous with His grace, but only those who are willing to come to Him on those terms can have it. And salvation is only our entry into the Kingdom. It’s a gateway into this new way of thinking, this radically different economy where God has paid every price and freely shares all He has with those He loves.

IN DEED

It’s hard for us to think in such terms because we’re so used to a world of competition and costs. We even have a saying about it: “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” But in God’s Kingdom, “free” is the only kind of lunch there is. Every blessing He gives is given by grace, and grace is always free. Get used to it. Those will always and forever be His terms.

ADDITIONAL READING: Revelation 21:6-7

The entrance fee into the Kingdom of God is nothing.

HENRY DRUMMOND