When Christ is Reigning, Natures are Changing - Isaiah 7-11

 Isaiah 11:6-9 (ESV)

6 The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,

and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,

and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;

and a little child shall lead them.

7 The cow and the bear shall graze;

their young shall lie down together;

and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,

and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.

9 They shall not hurt or destroy

in all my holy mountain;

for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD

as the waters cover the sea.

When Christ is Reigning, Natures are Changing.  

In this section of Isaiah we have a couple of themes unfolding.  At the current time the Assyrians were joining forces with the northern tribes (Samaria) and were planning on destroying the southern tribes (Judah).   Isaiah begins to prophecy about how God will intervene and make sure that doesn’t happen, BUT also extend the prophecy to beyond those days to the day of Jesus brith from a virgin (chapter 7) and to His finally reign over the earth (chapter 11).   In the above text we see what happens when Christ is in charge.   When the nations are completely under the rule of the Messiah, this is what you have.   Christ will not just make sure everyone and everything is not just living in their own “spaces” but will actually be living together in peace and harmony.   For that to happen, Christ has to change the nature of man and beasts.   After the fall of mankind there was enmity between everyone.  Beasts to beasts, beasts to man, man to man, man to God.   The entire world was set at odds with each other.  But, when Christ came He broke down that enmity (Romans 5:1-5).   He will write His laws on the hearts and minds of those who come to Him in faith (Jeremiah 31 and Hebrews 8:10-12).   He will renew their minds (Romans 12:1-2).  He will put his character within them (Matthew 5:3-10).  The wolf will need a mindset shift in order to lay down next to the lamb.  If you tell the wolf to change is ways (behavior) nothing will change.  But if the wolf had his nature changed, his new mindset will change his behavior.  This is what the Gospel does. It changes our nature.   Christ came to put the nature of God back into all creation, as it was before the fall.   That is the Kingdom of God and that is what Christ is doing to complete the plan of God, now.