Always Increasing

Read: Isaiah 9:1-7

Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. Isaiah 9:7, NKJV

IN WORD

What would it be like to enter a world in which everyone is fulfilled, no one ever suffers injustice, and all needs are met? How would you feel if you stepped into that world and, still overwhelmed by the peace and pleasure of it all, realized it would never, ever end? We can hardly conceive of such things; we’ve never experienced that sort of world. But sometimes when we let our minds wander, we dream. Something inside us longs for that kind of existence.

This is the promise of Scripture. Not only is God’s government being established, and not only will it never end, it will actually continually expand forever. That’s the literal sense of this verse; it’s the increase of His Kingdom that goes on and on, not just the Kingdom itself.

That’s encouraging. Nothing instills more hope in us than the idea that our hearts will finally be filled, at rest, and completely unconcerned about the future. There will be nothing to dread and everything to look forward to. One day.

But it doesn’t have to be just “one day.” God is always urging His people to draw the future into the present by faith. Whatever picture you have of the Kingdom can begin to manifest itself in concrete reality in the present time. That’s what faith is all about—that “on earth as it is in heaven” vision. This vision drives us to pray, speak, live, and love as citizens and warriors of the Kingdom. We are present-day representatives of the future reality.

IN DEED

Envision the future Kingdom and then live by faith as though it’s a present-day fact. In many ways it is, and you are called to be a picture of it and to shape it for those around you. Like builders for the master Architect or representatives of the ultimate Ruler, we live the future in the now. And this kind of living will always increase and never end.

ADDITIONAL READING: Revelation 21:9-17

There can be no Kingdom of God in the world without the Kingdom of God in our hearts.

ALBERT SCHWEITZER