Jesus the Creator, Carpenter, Gardener, and KingSýnishorn

Over the past three days, we have examined Jesus as creator, carpenter, and gardener. Today, we look ahead to Jesus's return—to the final advent, if you will—where Jesus assumes his eternal throne as Christ the King.

Today’s verses from Isaiah are some of my favorite in all of Scripture. In Isaiah 60, the prophet is painting a vision of the “new Jerusalem” of Revelation 21 where “[God] will dwell among the people,” and Jesus will reign as king forever.

But pay attention to what else is happening in this scene. People from all nations are coming into the new Jerusalem, and they’re not coming empty-handed. The people of Tarshish are bringing their ships. The people of Midian and Ephah are bringing their livestock. The people of Sheba are bringing gold and frankincense. Jesus is inviting these people to bring their very best works of culture—“the wealth of the nations”—into his eternal Kingdom.

New Testament scholar N.T. Wright says, “What you do in the present—by painting, preaching, singing, sewing...building hospitals, digging wells, campaigning for justice, writing poems...loving your neighbor as yourself—will last into God’s future. These activities are not simply ways of making the present life a little less beastly...They are part of what we may call building for God’s kingdom.”

In other words, the work we do in between the first and final advent matters.

The Kingdom of Heaven is not devoid of culture. Based on this passage and other clues throughout Scripture, I’m willing to bet it is filled with it.

My prayer is that that hope will inspire us all to do our most exceptional work for the glory of God and the good of others. And who knows? Maybe one day, Christus Rex—Jesus the King—will graciously take those creations and work them into our forever home.

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