This is Redemption

"[Creation] shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." Isaiah 11:9

Habakkuk 2:14 says the same as Isaiah 11:9, except it puts it, "the knowledge of the glory of the Lord." (emphasis added) In scripture, to have "knowledge" of something is to have a complete understanding of that thing. The "glory" of God is found in Who He is: it is His character and His person that makes Him glorious to our eyes and drives us to worship. Where Habakkuk expands slightly, Isaiah cuts to the chase: a filling of all with the complete understanding of God is what will bring peace to creation.

"They shall not hurt nor destroy in all My holy mountain..." This turns our idea of what is natural in creation upside down. The relationship of predator and prey is thought to be a natural part of the "circle of life." Here we find that such a relationship is actually unnatural, an aberration that will be removed when the created order is made new, i.e., restored to the way it should be. The natural animosity that exist between animals (and humans) will vanish when the whole of creation understands and is full of Who God is.

"...the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord..." To the fullest extent that it can be, inside and out, creation will understand all that God is. This filling of creation starts with us. That is what Romans 8:18-23 is all about. When Christ comes again, our bodies will be redeemed at last. Finally, the flesh will no longer be the barrier that resisted the Spirit of God in us. Redeemed from corruption, our mortal bodies will be the perfect transparent conduit for manifesting the Spirit of God, i.e., the presence of God, i.e., "the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18b) The "manifestation of the sons of God" is the unabated pouring forth of the glory of God Almighty through us, and that pouring forth will fill the earth with the knowledge of God, and the world will be made new as God Himself is manifested in our redeemed flesh.

"...as the waters cover the sea." As intrinsic as water is to the oceans, so intrinsic shall the knowledge of God's glory be to creation. It will not be that creation merely apprehends a fact, but that creation's very being will have changed; transformed, if you will. The glory of God will fill all, so that all may be "full" of Him as the seas are "full" of water. All that God is will become (as it was meant to be) an intrinsic part of creation's being. To paraphrase Chesterton, God will once again walk in the garden, in the cool not of the evening, but of the dawn.

In all points, redemption is found only in God. Our souls and spirits are redeemed because Christ has brought us back to God and has filled us with His Spirit. Our bodies (and the whole of creation) will be redeemed when Christ brings the presence of God back to earth, and the whole world will be full of His glory. This is redemption: Immanuel, God with us. It has always been, and ever shall be. Amen.