The Real Meaning of Life

I’m not sure if we’ve covered this or not, but Jesus the Man came through the line of David. When we get to the Gospel of Matthew, he gives a very detailed list of the genealogy of Jesus. And that is what Isaiah is talking about here, we know David was the son of Jesse, and Isaiah is making reference to a “branch” from the root of Jesse.

This is the perfect example of why you have to read the Bible more than once. Without having read the entire book, and especially the gospels about the life of Jesus, what you’ll read here will probably be confusing. And even if you have studied the Bible in depth, some of these scriptures are very poetic or symbolic, as you can’t take them literally.

For example, Isaiah mentions that Jesus will “slay” the wicked with the “breath of His lips”. If you believe this, you can’t believe the wicked die by fire and vice versa. And if you believe the wicked go to hell, then how can Jesus “slay” them. So we know this passage is either poetic or symbolic.

Starting with Verse 6, it is my opinion that Isaiah is talking about the New Jerusalem, after the second coming of Jesus, after the New Jerusalem descends from Heaven, and after the earth has been cleansed of sin. It will be as God intended for it to be when He created it.

Because there will be no sin, there will be no killing, even for food. The carnivores with become vegetarian, and as scripture says, all of animals of prey will now be tame and lie down with the animals that are meek, and they will live in harmony. The child can play with the cobra, likely because the cobra will no longer be venomous, and even if it were, it will no longer strike as it will not have a reason to be defensive.

And then we talk about “the remnant”, often referred to as the “remnant church”. But to believe one church will be saved over another is quite prideful if you ask me. And let’s hope there isn’t one remnant faith as I assume it would be the Jews since Jesus was a Jew. No, the “remnant” refers to all who follow God and who love Him with all their heart. There was no “religion” in the days of Jesus, they all just followed the God of Abraham; there were no Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists, etc. Those denominations all came after the reformation in 1517 after men like John Wesley, John Knox, and Martin Luther.

Then after Jesus, His followers became “Christ-ians”, simply non-denominational followers. Then my knowledge becomes sketchy. I know it was in the 4th Century when Pope Constantine of the Roman Catholic Church drew many Christians into that church, and from that, centuries later, reformers like Catholic Priests Knox and King who were “protesters”, formed the “protest-an” church, which divided into different denominations.

Back to “the remnant”, I don’t believe God cares if your Baptist, Southern Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, Jew, or some other denomination; if you truly love God with all your heart and follow Jesus, confess your sins and repent, I believe you will be part of the “remnant”. But just because you “assume the title” of “Christian” isn’t good enough. Jesus said (and I’m paraphrasing), “many will call my name…but I will not know you”. And that is because you didn’t have a relationship with Him and talk to Him, and get to know and love Him.

Remember when God was talking to Satan in the first Chapter of the Book of Job, when He said, “Have you considered my good servant, Job?” While God knows my name as He does everyone, the best treasure in life would to hear Him speak, “Have you considered my good servant Big John?”