Israel’s Only SaviorMy Understanding: At the time of this writing, God’s chosen people were the Jews. Today, his chosen people are all those who have genuine faith in our Lord Jesus Christ via God’s grace in providing his plan of redemption for the people of the world through Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection, and through our repentance, submission to and obedience to Christ.
1 But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
“Fear not, 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,
Cush and Seba in your stead.
4 Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give men in exchange for you,
and people 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.
6 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 them 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?”
Jesus Christ is our creator, our Savior and our Redeemer. For those who are in Christ Jesus, we have no reason to ever fear, because no matter what we are going through, Jesus Christ is there with us, and he is able to bring us through safely (without failure) to the other side. For the Israelites, the waters and rivers were literal, yet for us, they are figuratively a picture of difficulties that we face in this life that wall up all around us to where we may fear drowning or being consumed or overwhelmed by them. Yet, God’s promises to his people then are the same as his promises to us now. He will carry us through those difficult times.
God is the Lord, the Holy One and our Savior. Our God is a triune God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is God the Son. He is the Son of God and he is also God. The Son has always existed and he is the creator of the world. He left heaven, came to earth, took on human flesh, suffered, was tempted, yet without sin, and was crucified on the cross. He took the sins of the world on himself, crucified and buried them with him, and then he rose from the grave, triumphing over death, hell, Satan and sin so that we could go free from the ultimate penalty of sin (the wrath of God and eternal separation from God in hell) and free from bondage to and the control of sin over our lives on a daily basis. He paid the price (the ransom; the redemption) so that we could go free from sin and free to live for God.
For those of us who are in Christ Jesus and are now God’s chosen people, we are precious and honored in God’s sight. He values us. We are important to him. He cares about everything that is going on in our lives. He loves us so much, which is why he was willing to die for us so that we would no longer live to please our fleshly desires but we would live to please God and to follow his ways and his truth. He created us for his glory, not for the glory of man, i.e. he created us to honor, glorify, magnify, worship, and praise him by giving our lives over to him in surrender and obedience (See Romans 12:1-2). He did not save us for us to continue in our sins and for us to continue to live to please ourselves.
Yet, many who have professed Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord are still walking in darkness, they are still blinded to the truths of God’s word, and they remain deaf to God’s words and to his call upon their lives, even though they have been given the truth, i.e. they have eyes to see and ears to hear. In other words, they remain blind and deaf by choice. Some of them have remained deaf and blind because they have been fed a false gospel message, which they have accepted, which teaches that repentance and obedience are not necessary for salvation, but that kind of teaching is contrary to the whole of New Testament scripture. That kind of teaching gives a free license for sin. Yet, God created us for his glory.
God is calling those of us who have genuinely repented of our sin and who have chosen to walk in faith and obedience to Christ Jesus to lead out those who are blind and deaf and to be his witnesses in giving out the true gospel of Jesus Christ that teaches that coming to faith in Christ Jesus means turning from our sin and turning to walk in faith and obedience. It does not mean we will live in sinless perfection, but rather that we choose daily to repent of any known sin and to trust our Lord Jesus Christ to lead us in following him.
We are also witnesses that God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – is the One and Only True God. There is no other god besides him. He is our only Savior. In other words, we are witnesses to the fact that we, as believers in Jesus Christ, should not be following after other “gods,” i.e. after men and the things of this world which we may follow, and give our hearts and devotion to above or in place of our heartfelt devotion and obedience to Jesus Christ. Only our God has given us the truth by which we must live our lives. We should not be followers of men and man-made truths or idols.
God is calling out to the world, yet he is also calling out to his church, which incorporates those who proclaim faith in him but whose faith is based upon an intellectual and/or emotional basis and is not truly founded in the truths of God’s word and is not accompanied by genuine repentance and obedience. He is proclaiming, revealing and declaring that Jesus Christ is the only way of salvation and without genuine faith in him, we will never know his grace (favor) in saving us from our sins and in giving us eternal life with him in heaven. So, he is calling out for us to give him our true worship with our lives on the altar, holy and pleasing to God, not conformed to the pattern of this world, but transformed by the renewing of our minds via the working of the Holy Spirit in our hearts and lives in cleansing us and in making us holy. He set us free! Let us live truly free from the power of sin and let us live in victory and in freedom to obey Christ with our lives and to be his servants and witnesses for his glory.
His Favor / An Original Work / April 18, 2011
Behold your King!
Worship the Lord, He’s the great I AM; the perfect Lamb.
Jesus, our Redeemer, our Savior, sustainer,
The heavens declare!
The risen One;
He gave His life as a sacrifice. He paid the price.
Our blessed provider, our Lord, magnify Him,
For He’s God’s Son!
Our God is King.
He reigns forever in majesty. He set us free.
Without Him forever, we won’t know his favor,
In victory!
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
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