In Isaiah 35, God gives us six joyful blessings for the future:

• New Life (v1-2, 5-7) – He paints a picture of new life spring up all over the new earth. The wilderness and desert are blossoming. Abundant water is flowing. And even better there is new life for his people. Here today we grow old: our eyes dim, our hearing goes. We need help walking. At the end we may not be able to speak. But one day we will experience new life: v5-6 We will throw away our glasses and hearing aids and walkers. We will experience new life on a new earth springing up with new life.
• New Sight (v2) – We will see the glory and majesty of our God. Think of the most glorious majestic sight in creation you have ever seen. Maybe a sunset over a lake, stars ablaze in the sky, a forest of trees in all their Fall splendor, or some particular place of beauty. That is just a glimpse of the majesty and glory of our Creator. One day we will see him. We will see our Savior who suffered and died for us, who rose from the dead and ascended into heaven where he reigns at the right hand of the Father. We will have a new sight.
• New Salvation (v4) – God will save us from all that comes against us: the trials that we face today, the struggles that seem to never end, the persecution many of our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world face. God will save us from our final enemy death, and all the sickness and disease that goes with it. We will have a new salvation.
• New Way (v8) – There will be a new way – a way of holiness. We will walk rightly before God, never to sin again. Those who are unclean – lost in their sins – will not be there, but only those clothed in the righteousness of Christ. There will be a new way.
• New Safety (v9) – There will be no wild animals on this way to harm us. Indeed, there will be nothing to harm us ever again. Nothing. There will be no more valleys of the shadow of death to walk through. Today the road is often difficult. Dangers lurk all around. But one day we will enjoy a new safety.
• New Joy (v1, 2, 6, 10) – Joy is a repeated theme throughout the chapter that reaches its crescendo in verse 10: v10 Today we may know sorrows and sighing, but one day sorrow and sighing will flee away. Everlasting joy will chase sorrow away forever. And we will sing, celebrating our glorious God and gracious Savior. There will be a new joy forever.

And how should we respond to these joyful future blessing?

We should be strong (v3-4). Looking at these joyful blessings should give us strength for today. These blessings should strengthen our weak hands, make firm our feeble knees, and give courage to our anxious hearts. In the midst of all of our struggles, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Our path may take us through dark valleys, but it leads to a joyful end. So be strong.

We should be saved (v8-10). The unclean will not experience these blessings (v8). Only the redeemed, the ransomed of the Lord will know this glorious future (v9-10). So let us embrace the redemption that is found in Jesus. On the cross he paid the debt of our sins; he bore the judgment we deserve for our sins. Instead of judgment, we can know these joyful blessings if we simply look to Jesus. So be saved.

We should share with others. How could we keep these blessings to ourselves? Let’s encourage one another with this glorious hope that we have. And let’s tell others about Jesus and his promises that they too might receive Jesus and one day experience these blessings too.