Getting the Gospel Right -Isaiah 42:10-43:13
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Copyright June 5, 2022 by Rev. Bruce Goettsche
From time to time we take a look at comments made about our various YouTube sermons. When you dismiss the comments that are really ads for someone else’s videos, and those who just want us to know they think we are working for the Devil, the thing that comes through clearly is there are several people who are desperately confused about the gospel. I think we can learn how to get the gospel right from Isaiah 42 and 43.
In Isaiah 42:10 we read something that we hear a few times in the Bible
10 Sing a new song to the Lord!
Sing his praises from the ends of the earth!
This is not a verse teaching that new music is better than older music. He is saying “sing a fresh (as opposed to stale) song to the Lord”. We can sing stale contemporary songs as well as stale old hymns. When we don’t know what we are singing or are only singing for our enjoyment, we are singing a stale song. When the music, spirit, or energy of our lives is focused on Him and the words and melodies are drawing us to Him . . . it is a fresh song.
This “new or fresh song” isn’t just about our worship times, it is about the melody of our lives. God wants us to maintain a fresh faith every day. The wonders of the gospel should never grow stale. His mercies should be “new every morning.” The way we keep faith fresh is to preach the gospel to ourselves continually. I’m not talking about yelling at yourself in a mirror. This is about reminding ourselves of the staggering nature of the gospel. Isaiah lays this out for us.
We are By Nature Rebels Against God
In verses 18-20 we are shown the problem that necessitates salvation. After Isaiah tells us about the coming Messiah he seems to explain why a Messiah is necessary,
18 “Listen, you who are deaf!
Look and see, you blind!
19 Who is as blind as my own people, my servant?
Who is as deaf as my messenger?
Who is as blind as my chosen people,
the servant of the Lord?
20 You see and recognize what is right
but refuse to act on it.
You hear with your ears,
but you don’t really listen.”
God is the Sovereign Lord. He will not tolerate those who rebel against Him. He cannot do so because of His perfect character. The Lord will not pervert that which is right. It is right to honor and praise Him.
We may nod in agreement with these truths because we see how Israel didn’t seem to “get it.” But as we nod at the obstinacy of Israel, we are also indicting ourselves. We have so much more evidence than the people of Israel and we are still obstinate!
Romans 1 Paul give a similar indictment. Paul argues that we should know, just by looking at creation, that there is a God, and we should honor Him as the One who gives us life. However, he adds,
21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused. 22 Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 23 And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people and birds and animals and reptiles. (Romans 1:21-23)
In Ephesians 2 Paul says,
Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. (Ephesians 2:1-4)
We are ALL alike in our need to be made right with God. We naturally follow the ways of Satan. God gave us a choice and we chose (and continue to choose) to rebel against Him. We chose to pretend to BE God rather than submit TO God. Israel had not learned from their past. Have we? Isaiah relayed the questions of the Lord:
23 Who will hear these lessons from the past
and see the ruin that awaits you in the future?
24 Who allowed Israel to be robbed and hurt?
It was the Lord, against whom we sinned,
for the people would not walk in his path,
nor would they obey his law.
25 Therefore, he poured out his fury on them
and destroyed them in battle.
They were enveloped in flames,
but they still refused to understand.
They were consumed by fire,
but they did not learn their lesson. (Isaiah 42:23-25)
We talk a great deal about free will, but our wills are bent and biased. As such, we will always choose the way of rebellion. We have a predisposition to sin. The thing we must remember about free choices is that there are consequences that come with those choices. The consequence of our free choice to ignore and rebel against God is the wrath of God!
Anyone who believes they have been good enough to enter Heaven either does not see themselves clearly, or do not see God clearly. They are either unacquainted with what sin is, or feel they are immune to it. They either are in deep denial about the reality of sin in their lives, or they feel they should not be held accountable for their choices. They do not see the Holy nature of God and how far short we fall of His standards.
God’s Remedy (43:1-7)
The next words in Isaiah 43 are worth celebrating,
1 But now, O Jacob, listen to the Lordwho created you.
O Israel, the one who formed you says,
“Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you.
I have called you by name; you are mine.
2 When you go through deep waters,
I will be with you.
When you go through rivers of difficulty,
you will not drown.
When you walk through the fire of oppression,
you will not be burned up;
the flames will not consume you.
3 For I am the Lord, your God,
the Holy One of Israel, your Savior.
The word that is translated “ransomed” in the New Living Translation is the same word as the one translated “redeemed” in other translations. This is a significant word throughout the Bible. To redeem something was to purchase it so that it was set free. We are told that God redeemed Israel from slavery in Egypt. He did it by paying a ransom price of the Son of God. The Bible illustrates this. He also redeemed them from exile to Babylon.
In the Biblical story of Ruth, Ruth returned with her mother-in-law to Israel. The property the family had owned had been taken over because Naomi and her husband left Israel during a famine. In those days, family property (think of a family farm today) was considered to be given by God. If a family lost their property (often due to debt) a close relative could act as a “Redeemer” and buy back the property for the family. The book of Ruth tells the story of a man by the name of Boaz who bought back the property that once belonged to Naomi and agreed to marry Ruth, her daughter-in-law to provide children for the family of Naomi (so the family could keep the land in the future). The land was redeemed.
When I was growing up my parents saved S&H Green Stamps which they would paste into various books. It was the first shopping rewards program. When you had enough books you could trade in the books at a “redemption center” and get various products in exchange.
In Galatians 1:4 Paul wrote: “4 Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue (or redeem) us from this evil world in which we live.” God sought to redeem us by sending Jesus to die as a payment for our sin.
The Lord tells us that because he has ransomed or redeemed us, we are now His. We are “sons and daughters of God.” We are part of His family, and because of that, we don’t have to be afraid when going through hard times. We don’t have to fear death, judgment, or anything else. We are citizens of Heaven! The resources of the Creator are at our disposal. We are God’s children, and He will not let us be destroyed.
In verses 10 and 11 the Lord says,
You have been chosen to know me, believe in me,
and understand that I alone am God.
There is no other God—
there never has been, and there never will be.
11 I, yes I, am the Lord,
and there is no other Savior. (Isaiah 43:10,11)
I mentioned two weeks ago that the concept of being chosen by God is staggering. We live in a world that measures everyone by their performance. Let’s face it, for most of us, the world does not even know we exist. We are barely noticed by the people around us. We can walk down a crowded city street and be unseen. Yet the Bible tells us the God of all creation has not only seen us, but for some unknown reason, has chosen us to be His.
He is the ONLY Savior. There is no other Savior. There is no other religion or religious discipline that can save. The only way to Heaven and eternal life is through Jesus. This is not meant to be divisive – it is good news for any who will hear it.
There is more in Isaiah 43:12-13
First I predicted your rescue,
then I saved you and proclaimed it to the world.
No foreign god has ever done this.
You are witnesses that I am the only God,”
says the Lord.
13 “From eternity to eternity I am God.
No one can snatch anyone out of my hand.
No one can undo what I have done.”
God has done what no other God can do! Not only has He chosen us . . . He declared no one can snatch us from His hand. Jesus said the same thing in John 6 and Paul says it frequently in his letters. Once God has chosen us . . . He will not let us go. Those who put their trust in Him and follow Him are His forever.
At the end of Isaiah 43 in verse 25 we read even more great words,
I, I am he
Who blots out your transgressions for my own sake,
And I will not remember your sins.
Do you hear that? God does not forget our sins . . . He chooses not to remember them! Stop and hear this! That guilt you have been carrying around for so long is FORGIVEN. You know you don’t deserve it, just like I know I don’t deserve to be forgiven. However, when we come to Christ and confess our sin and declare our willingness to trust Him as our Savior, the sacrifice of Christ pays the penalty for our sin, and we don’t have to carry it any longer.
Imagine what it would be like to have the sin of your past forgiven. How would your life be different if you could really believe those past sins were truly past sins? No more carrying the regret, or the fear of “being discovered.” This is the wonder of forgiveness.
Getting it Right
Salvation is not something we earn by being good or by doing certain things. There is no magic formula! Salvation is something that is offered to us through the work that Christ has done on our behalf. This is what grace is . . . being given a gift we do not deserve. No one can say they are too far gone to be saved. Christ has paid for every sin! The only requirement is to gratefully accept it.
This is why the Bible tells us there is no room for boasting. We do not earn salvation by our church attendance, Sunday School awards, baptism, ministry experience or anything else. We receive it as a gift of God’s grace. An arrogant Christian is not trusting Christ – they are trusting their own goodness (which is only a delusion, not a reality).
When a person embraces the Lord, the Bible tells us that we are given the Holy Spirit as a deposit that guarantees our inheritance. The Holy Spirit works inside of us leading us along a new path. A true believer is one who is now a follower of Christ. We receive Him as our Redeemer and our King.
We receive the redemption of Christ by
1. Confessing and acknowledging before God that we have rebelled against Him
2. Declaring that we believe that what Jesus did for us is our only hope of salvation
3. Welcoming Christ as our Savior and expressing our desire to follow Him as our Lord.
God does not save us so we can continue to live a sin-filled life without guilt! He saves us FROM that life so we can live the life that God created us to live! The process of change is admittedly often slow. It is often a bumpy road. However, there should be some progress in our walk with Christ. If there is no progress, there is a good chance that person does not understand the gospel. This is not about information; it is about transformation.
It does not mean hard times will go away. We still are living in the world and sometimes living in the world hurts. However, when responding to these hard times, we remember that what matters most is not what we deserve, but who we are in Christ! If we are truly children of God, we know that whatever happens in life we will not face it alone, or with only our strength. He will be with us through all it . . . even through death, which because of Christ, will lead to a greater life.
We started in Isaiah 42:10 with the text “sing a new (or fresh) song to the Lord.” It is a command to continue to see salvation as fresh and wonderful; to keep its ‘newness’ alive let me give you four suggestions.
· Share the message of the True Gospel with broken people. There is nothing that reminds us of the wonder of the gospel as much as seeing other lives transformed. In this passage we are not told to go and witness, we are told that we ARE witnesses (12). It is our job to show the gospel to others and at times to “use words.”
· Venture out of your comfort zone. Dare to step out in faith. Try a new ministry. Dare to break out from what is comfortable and dare to do what God seems to be calling you to do. Make the visit, start a ministry, dare to begin a conversation with someone about Christ. Give God a chance to work through you. See the power of God in action!
· Revitalize your prayer life. Talk to God about the changes He is making in your life. Thank Him for His promises. Seek His direction. Learn to love prayer. Seek to develop a faith that is honest, open, and genuine, rather than mere formality and ritual.
· Spend Much Time pondering salvation. Remind yourself of the truths found in Isaiah 42-43 and throughout the Bible. Remember where you were before He found you. Marvel at the fact that He chose you. Allow yourself to be overwhelmed by the grace that sent Christ to die in your place. Let yourself be stunned anew by the reality that you are a child of God.
If you remember the true message of the gospel, you will have no trouble singing a new and fresh song to the Lord, whether it is a great old hymn, a brand new chorus, or simply an enthusiasm for living each day to His glory.