God Gives Beauty for Ashes: What Isaiah 61 Means Today
At times we experience hardship, difficulty, and tragedy. This is often the result of living in a sin cursed world. It can feel as though your life has burnt down and is now slipping through your fingers as ashes scattered in the wind.
During such times, we must recall the good news that Jesus not only heals the sick but also raises the dead, restores the broken, and breathes beauty into the lifeless heaps of ash that are sometimes our lives.
A poignant and powerful illustration of God’s restoration is Old Testament Israel. In the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations, their civilization is literally wiped from the face of the earth, and they are prisoners of war in a foreign land. The last thing you would ever expect as a prisoner of war is that another foreign king would rise to power who says you can go home and rebuild your civilization. That just doesn't happen...usually. But we know such things do happen when God is in control.
Even today there are lives that have been ruined by the devastating effects of sin, sometimes through no fault of their own, and sometimes just the result of a sin cursed world. Many others experience crumbling lives because of their own sin and its consequences. But in all cases we find in Isaiah 61 an enduring hope, an overcoming truth that tells us that God can give us beauty for ashes. We experience this beauty through the work of Christ, the blessings of restoration, and the joy that overflows from these.
To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. Isa 61:3
The Work of Christ
Christ Frees from Bondage
Through the work of Christ, we have the opportunity for new beginnings. God isn't just interested in saving us from the penalty of sin, although the work of Christ does precisely this. He is also interested in saving us from the bondage of sin, the oppression of sin, and then transforming our lives to make us look like Him. The Gospel of Christ is a thorough, wonderful, transforming, freeing truth.
The gospel is the greatest news in the history of the world. It tells you that you do not have to be dominated by the effects of sin, the agents of sin, or the end of sin. Christ is triumphant over all of it. Jesus Christ is described as having the Holy Spirit without measure, without boundary, without limit. As He walked the earth He had the power of the Spirit of God resting upon him.
And we have been given the Holy Spirit to empower and guide and direct us. He has anointed you to do something, to preach good news to the meek, the poor, the afflicted, the humble. If there is anybody in life who needs good news, it's the meek and oppressed.
Jesus says, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you…” what? Rest. “And ye shall find rest unto your souls” (Matt 28:12). Have you ever been worn out, at the end of your rope where life is just a burden you’re trying to survive. Ever thought, “I just can't carry it. I'm weary and heavy laden”? Imagine if someone said to you, ”Sit down, rest. Kick your feet up. Here is some lemonade.” When you hear that–that’s good news, isn’t it? When you're oppressed by sin, you're weighed down, you're overwhelmed, you're burdened, you're afflicted, you're in bondage.
Christ Gives Rest and Healing
But then you are reminded there is good news: there is forgiveness, pardon, reconciliation, and Sonship to enjoy now, and there is an inheritance undefiled, incorruptible that is reserved for you in Heaven. This is good news to the meek, to those who know they need it. It’s not good news to the self-righteous, the proud, the arrogant, and the resistant. It’s not good news to them because they don't believe they need it.
When someone says Christianity is a religion for losers, a crutch for the weak. I say, “Give me the crutch: I need it. And so does he, he just doesn't know it yet.” We need to understand we are exactly the ones Jesus came to deliver:
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me; because the LORD hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; Isa 61:1-2
Jesus was and still is on a mission to bind up each wound, to wrap it, to pack it, to put the ace bandage around it. He binds up the crushed in spirit, those who are smashed in the inner man, the brokenhearted. re there times you are broken? He binds up the brokenhearted, and proclaims liberty to the captives, freedom to all those who are under oppression.
Christ Gives Restoration and Purpose
Like Jerusalem, you may be a city wiped from the earth, but you will be a city rebuilt and restored. The Lord gives beauty for ashes. Beauty here is referring to a wreath of flowers to wear on the head instead of ashes that serve as a symbol of mourning.
You will go from the funeral and the crying and the weeping and the mourning where there is devastation and nothing left to celebrate–to a time of joy and rejoicing. You are no longer participating in a funeral but a marriage. It's the oil of joy for mourning. A substitution takes place here, a transformation occurs–the garment of mourning is traded for the spirit of happiness. Beauty for ashes. Joy for sorrow.
And why does He do it? He wants to take your life of sin, ruin, destruction, mourning, ashes, and heartache, and He wants to transform it with a life of joy, praise, and happiness. He does this so that we might be called trees of righteousness and a planted, established oak (Isa 61:3). God wants us to be his mighty oaks of righteousness that are a testimony of Him and His power. We are the planting of the Lord. That is the ultimate purpose of the work of God.
You might not always feel like a mighty oak the Lord has planted, but remember that oaks take a while to grow, unlike weeds which spring up quickly. God is at work in your life. It's about partnering with Christ in the work He is attempting to do within you. Confess, forsake, repent, be transformed by His Word. Remember that “...he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phi 1:6).
The Blessings of Restoration
There are blessings in being restored to God, and we see this clearly with Old Testament Israel. Israel’s kingdom had been laid waste, but God says He will rebuild it all. This rebuilding begins in the time of Cyrus but is ultimately completed after the Tribulation period. Just as with Israel, God wants to take the years that the oppressors have wasted and renew them or restore them to your life. God never wastes anything of value.
Understand that your restoration involves servanthood. You are lifted out from under the thumb of a cruel master and become a humble and empowered servant of a Good Master. As He restores your heart, mind, and life, He will raise up in you a minister to proclaim His good news to the world. Regardless of your vocation, each day you live you get to serve God. It is a privilege to make Him known. And He is truly a good master. He is kind, wise, and loving.
Did you know that Jesus is praying for you? He ever lives to make intercession for you? God will take His Word, lay open your heart before Him, and show you things about yourself you won't like, but He is a skillful surgeon. And when He shows it to you, He also has healing truth to grow you and transform you. His love is amazing.
Jesus said, where I am, there will my servants be (Jhn 12:26). Jesus doesn't send us out: He walks us out and goes with us. He is a good master. So are you serving Him? Are you living your life to bring glory to His name and to make a difference in the lives of others? Are you functioning as a mediator between God and the rest of humanity? Whether it be your wife, your children, your family, your extended family, your coworkers, your neighbors? Are you praying for them? Are you interceding on their behalf? Are you making God's truth known to them through your Word and your life? Are you functioning as a priest of God in this age? This is why He saved you. This is why He restores you.
We serve the Lord Christ. We've been restored and blessed so we can be known as the priests of the Lord and the ministers of our God. For your shame, the embarrassment, the confusion, the humiliation that you experienced when sin invaded, you shall have double restored to you (Isa 61:7). He chooses to restore, because that is who He is. Christ said, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (Jhn 10:10).
God does not promise us an easy life: He promises us a worthwhile one. If we live for him, we live lives that matter. It's why we have been placed upon this planet. It is why we are restored, transformed, and healed.
Rejoice in the Lord
I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. Isa 61:10
As you walk through the Christian life, there are times of discouragement, heartache, difficulty, and struggle. There are things in life that are really hard. But no one can take from you your Sonship, your place as a child of God.
Furthermore, no one can take from you the forgiveness, pardon, and reconciliation you have in Jesus Christ. No one can take from you the fact that someday you're going to get to see your Bridegroom. So, no matter where you are in the journey of life there is grounds for rejoicing–for rejoicing over the work of Christ in you.
If you are in Christ, then you've been saved, pardoned, transformed, made new, made a joint heir with Jesus Christ, made a partaker of the divine nature, are a child of the living God. If that's not grounds for joy, nothing is.
So adorn yourself as a bride. Live your life in such a way that you are preparing to meet Jesus. That you can celebrate His coming. Adorn yourself as His bride.
God Is at Work
God is still at work. We will see the culmination of this object lesson in the complete restoration of Israel during the Millennial Kingdom. But it began long before that. Today He is at work in the lives of His people. He offers us beauty for ashes. Life for death. Joy for mourning.
It is an unequal exchange in your favor, just like you experienced in salvation. You're giving Him your sin and broken life, which is the empty, burned up, ashes of a world that does not know God. In truth, a world in rebellion against God cannot know true beauty. It can only offer ashes, but we can choose God’s beauty. So do not sit on the ash heap of your life in despair as the world wants you to do. Rebellion is ruinous. Jesus is joyous. Choose beauty and not ashes.
Want to know more about how to have a relationship with God? Watch this video.
