Good morning my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
I wonder how often you’ve found yourself being cheated, or lied to, or caught in a scam, or deceived in a business deal? I imagine you were frustrated, probably angry and praying for justice to be done, right? Do you suppose God understands? Do you believe justice and integrity and fairness and honesty are important to God?
Once again it might amaze you to know that 2700 years ago God was speaking to Isaiah and His people in Jerusalem about this. WHY? Because injustice, unfairness, deception, people taking unfair advantage of others was all on the rise and people were living in fear, even in Jerusalem! Does that sound a little like the city where you live?
Isaiah wrote as he sensed God speaking to him: “Listen to Me, My people; hear Me, My nation: Instruction will go out from Me, My justice will become a light to the nations. My righteousness draws near speedily, My salvation is on the way, and My arm will bring justice to the nations.” (Is. 51:4,5) Do you hear God drawing a contrast between HIS justice and the normal justice of our world? Now as you think back over history, have there been times when these words of God have become reality in our world? If so, what did it look like?
As we’ve seen in our last few months of “Walking with Jesus” tracing the history of Israel through the Kings & Chronicles, I see it happened, at least on a limited scale, in the centuries before Isaiah, locally in and around Jerusalem, in the days of Kings David and Solomon.(1 Kings 10:23,24) It happened again in the days of king Asa; (1 Kings 15:11-15) and again in the days of king Jehoshaphat; (2 Chron. 17:3-10) and in the years of king Uzziah’s reign; (2 Chron. 3-5) and finally during the years of king Hezekiah’s reign. (2 Chron. 31:20,21)
Each of these seasons of God’s blessing was contingent upon a God honoring king who prioritized God’s Truth, God’s laws, God’s Justice above all else and in those times, as brief as they were, Jerusalem prospered and lived in safety. But Isaiah was predicting that God was planning something on a much larger scale in the future!
Because of the global proliferation of evil down through all history from the garden of Eden to present day, I believe the fulfillment of this great prophecy of Isaiah 51 requires the very Presence of God here on earth! Not figuratively, not in theory but in practicality and reality. It has happened once and it will yet happen again in the future, maybe the near future.
The first time it happened was when God came here, to live here, in the person of Jesus Christ. Do you understand that? God’s instruction went out as Jesus spoke God’s truth like it had never been heard before! As the disciples recorded what Jesus did and said, those records have been translated into almost every known tongue thus YES God’s instruction has and is going out like a light of hope and truth to all the nations, just as Isaiah predicted!
In fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy, Jesus, of course, brought God’s Salvation to humanity like it had never been known before, and still today, as the Gospel is proclaimed around the world, thousands of people, every day, are experiencing the powerful deliverance of God as they trust Jesus to be their Savior. And yes, in those situations when God’s people live and do business and build marriages and families in full agreement with God’s truth, then God brings His justice, His righteousness into those situations and relationships. I hope you’ve experienced that my friends.
And there will be yet another time in the future when Isaiah 51 will be fulfilled in a radical, amazing way. It will be when King Jesus returns to reign here on earth during His Millennial kingdom reign as described in Revelation 20:1-6.
But you and I are not living either in the days of Isaiah, nor the days of Jesus in the first century, nor in the Millennial kingdom, so what about today? Is it possible Isaiah’s prophecy of Isaiah 51 could be experienced by you and me and our world today? YES, my friends, YES! How?
Well do you remember after His resurrection, as Jesus was preparing to return to heaven, He promised His followers that God wanted the power and influence of God’s Truth, God’s Righteousness, God’s Justice to remain active here on earth EVEN IF Jesus was not physically here!
Jesus said to His disciples: “It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, will not come to you, but if I go, I will send Him to you…When He comes, He will convict the world about sin, righteousness and justice… He will guide you into all truth.” (John 16:7-13)
Now that was bewildering and unimaginable to His disciples! But when God’s Spirit came upon them at Pentecost, this all became a reality for them, and every person since, who has been redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ and transformed by the Holy Spirit of God. (Acts 2:)
Jesus had promised His disciples: “I will ask the Father and He will send you another Counselor to help you and be with you forever – the Holy Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him for HE lives with you and will be in you!”(John 14:16,17) And that, my friends, means that God is Present wherever there is even ONE authentic, Holy Spirit filled Christian, anywhere in the world!! It means when there are several authentic Christians in a town, God’s Presence should be significantly influencing that town, do you agree?
Now I know that seems radical but it’s the miraculous truth and it fulfills Isaiah’s record of what God said: “Hear Me, you who know what is right, you people who have taken My instruction to heart: do not fear the reproach of mere mortals or be terrified by their insults…My righteousness will last forever, My salvation through all generations.” (Is. 51:7,8) With the powerful Holy Spirit of God in us, we can face any situation, any deceitfulness, any injustice, and evil with confidence, as John wrote, that “Greater is HE that is in me than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)
Do I hear a rousing AMEN from all of you, all around the world? Will you and I live today in the confidence that Isaiah 51 is happening in our lives in 2024 thanks to the powerful Holy Spirit in us, no matter how dark things get around us? So, let’s worship… and here’s a worship song to help us thank God for these great truths that should encourage us!
Today’s Scripture: Is. 51:4-8.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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