July 29 - Isaiah 41-43
I do not mean for this blog to be about learning theology. It is about spending time with the Lord and hearing what He says to me and to us. However, some passages of Scripture teach more theology than other passages, and sometimes God teaches us through learning some theology and applying it in our lives. Allow yourself time to meditate on these theological truths. Let the Lord speak to you in a personal way through them, and not just in an academic way.
I hope you noticed the sovereignty of God in Isaiah 41. God is in control. He is the one who called Assyria and Babylon to punish His people. It was not just a coincidence that this happened when it did and the way it did. (41:2-4) In fact, nothing that happens is a coincidence in the sense that God is always working to bring about His will, and He uses every event to teach and to lead people in His way.
The point is made that God chose Israel and He has not cast them off. (41:9b) In fact, in the next verse He promises to be with them and to strengthen them. There is another special promise in verse 13. God would hold their right hand. This is the strong hand, so this shows that God would be their strength. However, in choosing Israel did God automatically save all of the people from sin and give them a free pass to heaven? I don't think so, myself. I think each one had to put his or her personal faith in the Lord. Salvation has always been by grace through faith. Did His choosing mean that they would not be punished and almost destroyed? No. It meant that God chose to work through the nation of Israel to bring all nations to know Him. In the process He would bless them as they trusted Him and punish them as they disobeyed. God is into relationships, and He has a special relationship with the Jews, and He is still working through them as a people, even though most of them are not saved now.
Isaiah 42 speaks of Jesus as "My Servant." He is the Chosen One. He is sent on a special mission to establish justice on the earth. (42:4b) This denotes Jesus dying on the Cross to provide salvation. The word justice means the same as righteousness. Jesus is so merciful that He came from the Father to pay for our sins and offer salvation through His blood. We know He was God, because God does not give His glory to anyone else, and Jesus had the glory of God. (42:8b) All of this leads me to believe that being chosen is more about a special mission than salvation. When God chooses us as Christians, He is not choosing us to be saved, but He is saying that since He knows we will accept Christ through His foreknowledge, He is choosing us to be holy and to carry out the mission of spreading the gospel as His children.
Finally, Isaiah 43:10,11 are very important theologically. Jesus can't be a "lesser" god as taught by some cults like the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons. There is no God or gods except our God, and there is no separate savior. Jesus and the Father are one. (John 10:30) We may not be able to fully understand the trinity, but it is truth. It is biblical. We must not strive to explain it away. There is one God, and He exists eternally in three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. I don't need to explain it here, but I need to say that we must accept God's Word as truth, and we must not explain it away. This triune God is there for you and for everyone in the world. He loves you, and He is love. He desires a relationship with you that is real and personal. He wants to save you from your sins and lead you each day in that relationship. I urge you to trust Him and to focus on that relationship.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Isaiah 44-46.
I hope you noticed the sovereignty of God in Isaiah 41. God is in control. He is the one who called Assyria and Babylon to punish His people. It was not just a coincidence that this happened when it did and the way it did. (41:2-4) In fact, nothing that happens is a coincidence in the sense that God is always working to bring about His will, and He uses every event to teach and to lead people in His way.
The point is made that God chose Israel and He has not cast them off. (41:9b) In fact, in the next verse He promises to be with them and to strengthen them. There is another special promise in verse 13. God would hold their right hand. This is the strong hand, so this shows that God would be their strength. However, in choosing Israel did God automatically save all of the people from sin and give them a free pass to heaven? I don't think so, myself. I think each one had to put his or her personal faith in the Lord. Salvation has always been by grace through faith. Did His choosing mean that they would not be punished and almost destroyed? No. It meant that God chose to work through the nation of Israel to bring all nations to know Him. In the process He would bless them as they trusted Him and punish them as they disobeyed. God is into relationships, and He has a special relationship with the Jews, and He is still working through them as a people, even though most of them are not saved now.
Isaiah 42 speaks of Jesus as "My Servant." He is the Chosen One. He is sent on a special mission to establish justice on the earth. (42:4b) This denotes Jesus dying on the Cross to provide salvation. The word justice means the same as righteousness. Jesus is so merciful that He came from the Father to pay for our sins and offer salvation through His blood. We know He was God, because God does not give His glory to anyone else, and Jesus had the glory of God. (42:8b) All of this leads me to believe that being chosen is more about a special mission than salvation. When God chooses us as Christians, He is not choosing us to be saved, but He is saying that since He knows we will accept Christ through His foreknowledge, He is choosing us to be holy and to carry out the mission of spreading the gospel as His children.
Finally, Isaiah 43:10,11 are very important theologically. Jesus can't be a "lesser" god as taught by some cults like the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons. There is no God or gods except our God, and there is no separate savior. Jesus and the Father are one. (John 10:30) We may not be able to fully understand the trinity, but it is truth. It is biblical. We must not strive to explain it away. There is one God, and He exists eternally in three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. I don't need to explain it here, but I need to say that we must accept God's Word as truth, and we must not explain it away. This triune God is there for you and for everyone in the world. He loves you, and He is love. He desires a relationship with you that is real and personal. He wants to save you from your sins and lead you each day in that relationship. I urge you to trust Him and to focus on that relationship.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Isaiah 44-46.