Letting go of the old life

So they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord that He may be glorified.

Isaiah 61:3c

We are divinely chosen and planted by God, grown up in His Son, Christ Jesus, so that He may be glorified. Isaiah is speaking through the presence and power of Jesus in this prophecy where the Believer is defined as an oak of righteousness. Every oak belongs to the One who is righteous and holy, eternal perfection in every way. All of Isaiah 61 speaks to the coming of Christ and who He is, and how He will transform the believer into an eternal planting of the Lord. Jesus breathes life onto the page describing how the Believer who is planted in Him will become a mature oak, unwavering, standing in beauty and glory for the Kingdom of Heaven for the world to see. In reading Isaiah 61:4, we as Jesus people are described as those who build up, raise up, and repair the people around us. We are defined by these Christlike characteristics when we grow in maturity of the Spirit of God, and are obedient to the call on our lives. In our obedience, we are able to step into the blessings God has for us, which enable us to shine even brighter for the world to see. We are called to be more than flowers which fade as spoken in Isaiah 40:6-8, but rather perennial trees which exude the strength, longevity and majesty of God.

In 1 Peter 1:22-25 it is spoken of how the believer is planted of imperishable seed because we are born again and called to walk out that new life. We are then found purified through our obedience to the Truth of God, and revelation of what it means to be a believer. The righteous oak who is planted of imperishable seed by God, is one who is found holy, redeemed, obedient, set-apart, and steps out of their old ways and passions of the flesh. To be grown up into a mature believer, we must truly lay down all of our old ways which do not bear the image of Christ in order for growth to happen, straining towards maturity. When we pursue a mature spirit in line with the beckoning of the Holy Spirit, our nature in Christ shines so that to the world we are different, no longer blending in, but set apart so that God may be glorified. Practically this is so difficult, but to yield fruit in all seasons and prosper in our ways, maturing in a way that we call others to maturity, we have to live out the gospel to its fullest and allow for the sanctification to happen daily in our lives.

In looking at chapter 61 of Isaiah calling Believers to be called oaks of righteousness, there are important details to be seen under the surface when looking at the Hebrew of the text. We don’t see elsewhere in the bible believers being called oaks of righteousness, but based on the context of the chapter being about Christ, prophetically spoken by Christ through Isaiah, we know that the passage is extremely significant. For me personally, Isaiah 61 was spoken over my life prophetically when I was a brand new believer calling me into maturity and I’ve held onto the passage ever since. When you look at the Hebrew word for oak in Strong’s Concordance, it is the root word, Ayil; you will see the immediate context of the word usually means is ram, as in the animal used frequently for sacrifice in the old testament. Other meanings include tree, lintel, pillar, and leader. I don’t believe there is any coincidence in the more frequent meanings of the word Ayil, the most frequent (over 50x), use of Ayil is the meaning ram. Rams were used for frequent sacrifice and for cutting covenants in the Hebrew church. Sacrifice was used to help maintain right standing with God despite unintentional sin, it was a profession of faith believing God would forgive (future forgiveness through Christ) and repentance to God for the sins committed because of the flesh. Sacrifice signified faithful believers desiring to be in right standing with God which is relevant to us, because when we see that this root word ram is used for oak, you will see that you can not be an oak without the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus Christ. This scripture looks forward to a day when you don’t need a ram to stand tall before God but rather, Jesus Christ, and His finished work on the cross. Two other similar meanings for Ayil are lintel and pillar; lintel is a horizontal beam over windows and doorways, and pillars are upright structures which also bear weight. Both of these pieces are important parts of structures which bear weight and hold everything standing upright, bearing the major loads in buildings. Who is the one who bore the weight of our sin on the cross, and continues to bear the weight of our lives on His shoulders? Jesus. We can’t be oaks without allowing Christ to bear the weight of our sin and mistakes every day. We can not shine His glory without laying down the weight of our lives on His shoulders. In that we can then lead like Christ. The final definition of Ayil, is mighty man or leader, which is our ultimate call. Jesus went before us as the mighty man who could lay His life down for us, the ultimate leader, making the ultimate sacrifice for us. Every single one of us are called to lead just as Jesus did, bear the burdens of fellow believers, and live a sacrificial life before God, serving well, pouring out the love of Christ on the people around us. The true Righteous One is Jesus; His perfection and sacrifice is what calls us out of our old ways to become an oak of righteousness just like Him. Jesus righteousness is imputed to us when we are made new in heavenly places, therefore we are able to carry His righteousness before God and to the world around us.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.

Psalm 1:3

We are called up out of our old ways, planted in new waters, and meant to be watered by the Holy Spirit. When we are watered in this way, we strive towards maturity, towards the upward call of Christ, and pressed to turn away from our passions of the flesh. The mind of the believer is continually renewed, which allows the believer to continually grow and mature in faith. Mature believers are called to bear fruit prospering for the Kingdom of Heaven. I think a major struggle for many of us in pressing forward and attempting to leave the old self behind, is our timeline. An important detail to remember is that the Son of God spent thirty years in preparation for only three years of ministry. Curiously enough, the oak trees we are compared to in Isaiah on average take a minimum of twenty years to bear fruit, aka produce acorns. Most oak trees reach best acorn production between fifty to eighty years. We have to be reminded that maturity takes time to cultivate, and in that maturity, only then will fruit be found. The most and best fruit comes with a deepening of maturity. We are not flowers, which come quickly for a season, and then fade out after reaching their peak. Unlike flowers we do not grow faint or weary as we become more mature. Instead we are given supernatural power and strength in our weakness, because our maturity and building is not from our own might, rather from our humility and submission to Jesus. We are planted oaks, maturing over time, deepening roots, and aging with measure.

The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. The still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

Psalm 92:12-14

In order to reach maturity for bearing fruit and continue to grow in maturity throughout our lives we have to submit to the sanctifiction of the Spirit. What this means is we need to be in submission to the Spirit of God, through intimate relationship with Him in obedience to His shaping of our life. Submission requires us to turn from sin, and repent in humility when we fail to turn from it. We are also called to pray, fast, worship, read the Word, and be involved in active community with other believers. We have to forgive frequently and renounce lies of the Enemy regularly. We are called to be generous with our time, finances, and skills for our community. We have to walk in our gifts, and actively cultivate them for the benefit of the body. We have to be set apart from the world, being cautious with what we read, listen to, and watch. In order to defeat the Enemy daily, build up the body, and raise the next generation we have to be willing to not conform to the comforts, opinions, and sins of the world around us. Coming under the authority of what God says about our identity and what we do with our true identity is what rebuilds, raises, and restores the nations. When we step into our calling, in complete submission to Him, and fill our lives with every facet of Him, then we begin to reach maturity, and continue bearing fruit in old age. Rejoice in Jesus, bear His image and cast off those old habits, sins, and dirty rags. Allow yourself to be clothed in new garments worthy of the King. Allow Jesus to renew your mind daily so you can grow, fill your life with Truth, even when it isn’t easy. Pursue the heart of the King and you will find you will become more like Him than you ever thought you could. Beauty and strength in Jesus is the manifest glory of Him. You are called to flourish in an undeniable way, putting off your old self, and taking up your new self, righteous and holy. Stand tall as you are called an Oak of Righteousness a planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.

I will rejoice greatly in the LORD, my soul will exult in my God; for He has clothed me with garments of salvation and wrapped me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom wears a priestly headdress, as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. For as the earth brings forth its growth, and as a garden enables seed to spring up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring up before all the nations.

Isaiah 61:10-11