Everlasting Salvation for Zion
1 “Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness
and who seek the LORD:
Look to the rock from which you were cut
and to the quarry from which you were hewn;
2 look to Abraham, your father,
and to Sarah, who gave you birth.
When I called him he was but one,
and I blessed him and made him many.
3 The LORD will surely comfort Zion
and will look with compassion on all her ruins;
he will make her deserts like Eden,
her wastelands like the garden of the LORD.
Joy and gladness will be found in her,
thanksgiving and the sound of singing.
4 “Listen to me, my people;
hear me, my nation:
The law will go out from me;
my justice will become a light to the nations.
5 My righteousness draws near speedily,
my salvation is on the way,
and my arm will bring justice to the nations.
The islands will look to me
and wait in hope for my arm.
6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens,
look at the earth beneath;
the heavens will vanish like smoke,
the earth will wear out like a garment
and its inhabitants die like flies.
But my salvation will last forever,
my righteousness will never fail.
7 “Hear me, you who know what is right,
you people who have my law in your hearts:
Do not fear the reproach of men
or be terrified by their insults.
8 For the moth will eat them up like a garment;
the worm will devour them like wool.
But my righteousness will last forever,
my salvation through all generations.”
9 Awake, awake! Clothe yourself with strength,
O arm of the LORD;
awake, as in days gone by,
as in generations of old.
Was it not you who cut Rahab to pieces,
who pierced that monster through?
10 Was it not you who dried up the sea,
the waters of the great deep,
who made a road in the depths of the sea
so that the redeemed might cross over?
11 The ransomed of the LORD will return.
They will enter Zion with singing;
everlasting joy will crown their heads.
Gladness and joy will overtake them,
and sorrow and sighing will flee away.
12 “I, even I, am he who comforts you.
Who are you that you fear mortal men,
the sons of men, who are but grass,
13 that you forget the LORD your Maker,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the foundations of the earth,
that you live in constant terror every day
because of the wrath of the oppressor,
who is bent on destruction?
For where is the wrath of the oppressor?
14 The cowering prisoners will soon be set free;
they will not die in their dungeon,
nor will they lack bread.
15 For I am the LORD your God,
who churns up the sea so that its waves roar—
the LORD Almighty is his name.
16 I have put my words in your mouth
and covered you with the shadow of my hand—
I who set the heavens in place,
who laid the foundations of the earth,
and who say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’”
My Understanding: Those of us who pursue righteousness and who seek the Lord, i.e. those of us who are in Christ Jesus by God’s grace through faith in him, should look to our heritage as saints of God. We should consider what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us in providing for us salvation from sin. Jesus Christ, God the Son, left heaven, came to the earth, took on human flesh, suffered as we suffer, so that he could become our compassionate and faithful High Priest, was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, died on a cross as a common criminal, although he had done no wrong, was rejected of men, despised, forsaken by his closest companions, beaten, mocked, ridiculed, accused falsely, misrepresented, betrayed by one close companion and denied three times by another, took upon himself the sins of the entire world, although he was perfect, crucified our sins and buried them with him and then he rose from the dead, triumphing victoriously over death, hell, Satan and sin.
In doing all of this, he provided the way for us to be free from the ultimate penalty of sin (eternal separation from God in hell), and free from bondage to and the control of sin over our lives on a day-to-day basis. When we take communion, this is what we are to remember, yet we should remember and be thankful and glorify the Lord daily for all that he did to provide for us the way of salvation. The greatest way in which we show our thankfulness, praise, adoration and joy over what the Lord Jesus did for us in dying for our sins so that we could go free is for us to turn from our sins daily and to walk daily in faith and obedience, in surrender, humility and submission to our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.
Right now, so much of the church is in ruins due to the church, overall, incorporating the ways and patterns of the world into its fold. The church, for the most part, is living in spiritual adultery and is idolatrous in following the ways of man more than they are following the ways of God. There is not much of a distinction anymore between the church (as individual believers and collectively) and the world. The world has slowly and surely crept into our lives and into the church so subtly that we have embraced the culture of the world as a means to reach the people of the world for Jesus Christ, but we don’t reach the world for Jesus by worldly means, i.e. by anything that would stand in opposition to God and to his word. We are just reaching them for more of the world (just cleaned up). We certainly can avail ourselves of modern technology, as I am doing right now, but what concerns God is that the church is following more after man and man’s ways and methods rather than following God and his word, and that it is appealing to the flesh of man in order to try to reach man rather than teaching bringing our flesh to the cross and to death.
Yet, I believe the Lord is going to bring revival to the worldly and lukewarm church of today, and he will do it through some type of divine discipline and correction, in order to get his people back into a right relationship with their God, creator, Savior and sustainer of all things. His desire is for his church to have perfect fellowship with him through repentance and obedience, i.e. through the working of the Holy Spirit in our lives in cleansing us from sin, in teaching us the ways of the Lord, in convicting us of sin, in counseling, leading, encouraging, comforting, rebuking and correcting us, so that we can live rightly and can have pure fellowship with our Lord God, as we cooperate with his working in our hearts. So, even God’s correction and discipline is an act of his love and compassion for his people. Then, we, as his church, will rejoice in our Lord and Savior, and we will sing praises to our Lord God for his love and compassion, his mercy, his tenderness and for his forgiveness.
A call is going out to the church to not put our trust in man and to not let the fear of man rule our hearts and lives, nor to let the fear of man’s rejection of us guide our decisions. We have God’s laws in our hearts, because we are God’s temple and God’s Spirit lives within us, and because we have been given his physical word. We have the very presence of God dwelling within us, i.e. within those of us who are truly the Lord’s through faith in Jesus Christ. So, we should let the Holy Spirit lead us and guide us into all truth and we should let God’s word teach and counsel us in the ways we should follow, and we should not be directed by man’s philosophies, schemes, principles, etc. Man will disappear and all the things of this world will vanish, yet God and his word and his salvation remain forever. We should be making our Lord and our salvation and his ways primary in our lives and Jesus Christ should rule our hearts, not the ways of man. We should seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and then everything else in our lives will fall into their proper place.
A call is also going out to the church to not forget God, her maker, Savior, and sustainer. So many professing Christians today are so caught up in the ways of man, the things of this world, and their own fleshly desires that they forget God. God is not to be found once a week in a church service. He is to be master of our hearts and lives 24/7. This does not mean we will live in absolute sinless perfection while we are still in these fleshly bodies, but what it does mean is that Christ is ruling our hearts and our desire is for him and for obedience to him, to follow him in all ways and to serve him in every aspect of our lives, and he is considered and thought about in all that we do. He is our “first love,” and just like a human “first love,” our desire is for him, to be with him, to tell him everything, to please him, to share every aspect of our lives with him, to want to hear his voice, to listen to what he is saying, and to be interested in what interests him, to feel what he feels and to see what he sees through his eyes. Being a Christian means that Christ is living in us and out through us, and we should desire nothing more in our lives than him and obedience to him.
Magnify Him/ An Original Work / April 17, 2011
Glory to the Father, and glory to the Son;
Praise the Holy Spirit – our God, the Three in One.
Alpha and Omega, beginning and the end;
Savior, sanctifier, healer, the Amen!
Jesus reigns forever; He is the King of kings.
He is our Redeemer, the Lord of everything.
Through His blood He saved us, and brought us victory;
Purifying, our debt buying, so we’re free!
Soon He’s coming back for us, to make us His bride.
He asks that we watch ‘til the time when He arrives.
When He comes, what glory then will be ours to share;
Magnify Him when we meet Him in the air!
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
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