2/9/13. Isaiah 43:1-28. OUR ONLY SAVIOR – my devotional

Key Verse: 43:11-12                                                                               Kevin Jesmer NIU UBF

“I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. ¹² I have revealed and saved and proclaimed— I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God.”

Dear Lord, I want to thank you for the inner stability that Jesus brings. Though this world is crazy and there is so much instability and lack of peace, in Jesus there is peace and stability and eternal security. Even if I perish in this world, that only means that I am going to see you earlier than I thought. Even if I suffer in this world it means that I am growing in Christ-likeness and strength of heart and soul. Life in you, Lord is a win-win situation. I pray for the whole world to discover your salvation. Please help me to learn something powerful through this passage. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen!

Part 1: I will be with you (1-13).

Verses 1-5 reads, “But now, this is what the Lord says- he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. ² When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. ³ For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cushand Seba in your stead. ⁴ Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life. ⁵ Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.”

God created and formed his people Israel for himself. He redeemed them, even giving other peoples and nations in exchange for them. God loved his people. His people would be scattered after the Babylonian exile but he planned to gather them again to himself. His people should not fear. God would be with them when they passed through the deep waters of sorrow and grief and trials of fire. God has also redeemed us through his Son Jesus. God has saved us to be his redeemed people. Our new lives in Jesus witness to the world that the Lord is God.

God brings us through very tough times. He loves us and wants to help us pass through the waters. I thank God for helping me to pass through the waters of troubled relationships. He brings me through the troubled waters of debt. He brings me through the troubled waters of sin and the fear of death. Jesus is always bringing me through troubled waters. By doing this he reveals his love and his grace to my heart. He strengthens my faith. I can go to others and tell them the way to their savior. And I can speak with conviction and from personal experience because Jesus has delivered me and my family time and time again.

I do not necessarily agree of other people being given in exchange for me. (in verse 4) but I do concede that some people in the OT time were decimated because of their sin that they refused to repent about for centuries. And their cities and lands were given to the Israelites. I am moved that God does care for me and is willing to go to great lengths to show me his personal love.

    God is different than idols. He is the God who proclaims things before they happen and they happen just as he said. Look atverses 6-13, “I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’ Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth— ⁷ everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.” ⁸ Lead out those who have eyes but are blind, who have ears but are deaf. ⁹ All the nations gather together and the peoples assemble. Which of their gods foretold this and proclaimed to us the former things? Let them bring in their witnesses to prove they were right, so that others may hear and say, “It is true.” ¹⁰ “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, so that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor will there be one after me. ¹¹ I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. ¹² I have revealed and saved and proclaimed— I, and not some foreign god among you. You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God. ¹³ Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”

Only the Creator God, the eternal God who knows the end from the beginning, can make such prophecies. Other people and idols can not do this. Even Nostradamus failed to predict the end of the world. Even the Mayans failed. Jesus and his words in the Bible never failed. We can trust what Jesus has said. We can trust his promises of things that will come true in the future, such as the promise of his coming again and the promise of seeing him face to face in heaven. I can trust the Bible. I can trust the Gospel. I can trust Jesus. I can not trust any other religion. Thank you Lord for fulfilled prophecies that show that you are the only God.

Part 2: I Am Doing A New Thing (14-28).

God promised to protect his people in verses 14-17 read, “¹⁴ This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “For your sake I will send to Babylon and bring down as fugitives all the Babylonians, in the ships in which they took pride. ¹⁵ I am the Lord, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator, your King.” ¹⁶ This is what the Lord says— he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, ¹⁷ who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick:

God promised to redeem Israel from exile by bringing down the Babylonians. God had once helped the Israelites leave Egypt by crossing the Red Sea and snuffing out the Egyptians. God does protect his people. I have to trust God’s protection. I can trust his protection at work, that he will vindicate me as I live for his glory. I need to trust him with my finances that he will provide for my family’s needs and be able to send my kids to college. But the real test of faith comes when we go out as missionaries to a far away land. There are missionaries being shot, robbed, harassed and subjected to pollution and disease. And yet they continue to preach the gospel. They continue to reach out to the people. They really have faith in the protecting hand of God.

But let’s face it. God does not always protect our physical bodies. There are times when we are called to be martyrs. I think about early Christian converts in PNG in the 1800’s. They wanted to preach the Gospel to Figi headhunters. They put some personal belongings in a canoe with their coffin. They fully expected to die. But God saved their souls. They entered into eternity. Their bodies perished. The Figi people were converted and ceased to be headhunters and the missionaries made it into the arms of Christ. God protects his people. Lord, thanks for your provision and protection thus far. My life is in your hands. Lead me as you will.

        Verses 18-28, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. ¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. ²⁰ The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, ²¹ the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise. ²² “Yet you have not called on me, Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, Israel. ²³ You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with grain offerings nor wearied you with demands for incense. ²⁴ You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me, or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses. ²⁵ “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. ²⁶ Review the past for me, let us argue the matter together; state the case for your innocence. ²⁷ Your first father sinned; those I sent to teach you rebelled against me. ²⁸ So I disgraced the dignitaries of your temple; I consigned Jacob to destructionand Israel to scorn.”

But God would do a new thing in bringing his people out of Babylon. God would make a way in the wilderness for his people to return home. He would do this so that his people would praise him. God made great promises but his people did not call on him. Instead they burdened God with their sins.

This is very unreasonable. If God shows his people grace and blessing and deliverance, then they should respond with worship and devotion and gratitude. But they did not respond as they should. Look at verse 22, “Yet you have not called on me, Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves forme, Israel.”  What can I say. Human beings are ungrateful to God many times. That is one way that we sin against the Lord. We really need Jesus to save us from our sins.

Our nation needs to thank God for his blessing on our nation. When I see what is happening in the world, with its crime and violence I thank God for what we have in Canada and the USA, Europe and Australia, for example. We are blessed because of our Christian heritage. Yes… individual people of other religious backgrounds may excel in education and self discipline. But we can really see the difference Jesus and the Gospel makes when we come together as a nation and as a people. Christianity blesses nations over the long haul. Thank you Jesus for your gospel that has blessed our land.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for Jesus our only Savior. Help me to be a witness of your love and grace.

One Word: Jesus, the only Savior