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Created Through Him

True God

9/9/2012

10 But the Lord is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation (Jeremiah 10:10).

I don’t suggest reading parts of Jeremiah in an effort to get cheered up. Jeremiah spends a lot of time warning the southern kingdom of Judah about pending judgments. As a result, Jeremiah was not a popular man. But the messages of a prophet are not meant to make the prophet popular, they are meant to rebuke and attempt to change the ways of hearers of the prophet’s words. And so verse 10:10 is a reminder and warning that God is God and His power is unimaginable. This is not a God to be messed with, crossed, or disobeyed. This is a God to submit to and to bow down before. We know that God is love too but we should make no mistake it is a fearful thing to be in the hands of an angry God. We cannot withstand God’s fury; therefore we should strongly desire to avoid, at all costs, this position. Call upon the name of the Lord and be saved-In mercy, He will save.

Hope in God

9/9/2012

23 Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from the hills, and from the multitude of mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel (Jeremiah 3:23).

To look to anywhere or to any person other than to God for ultimate hope and salvation is of no use. It is in the Creator, the maker of heaven and earth that we are to place our trust. In God we trust. Is this just a slogan, or should it be a way of life? Our hope and trust should not be in any government, or any individual. It is not to say that governments, and individuals are not important but to recognize that they are not superior to God, and are under God’s dominion. Additionally, anything of this world is temporary, but the good news of the Gospel is that our hope is in the permanent unchanging God of all-Creation.

God's warnings

9/8/2012

11 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. 12 Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. 13 For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water (Jeremiah 2:11-13).

Recently we have discussed God’s holiness and that He ordains all things according to His will and purposes. Today’s verses from Jeremiah should remind us that it is not a good place to be if we find ourselves against God’s will. We are against God’s will when we disobey and/or reject God’s word. God is warning both people and nations to not exchange relationship with the true God with anything else. To do so is to forsake God and worship an idol. An idol is anything that detracts or distracts us from keeping our eyes on God. God’s warnings are for a purpose, that purpose is to save.

God ordains

9/7/2012

5 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations (Jeremiah 1:5).

God controls past, present and future simultaneously according to His will and purposes. This is necessary in order for God to be sovereign. In verse 5, Jeremiah is told that he was chosen to be a prophet even before he was born. I find this verse on God’s sovereignty to be very reassuring. God has a set purpose and design for each of us, and God will bring to pass whatever He ordains. This should eliminate worry from our lives. God designs what we will become.

Worship

9/6/2012

23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord (Isaiah 66:23).

One way or the other, all will worship God. But from the context of the verses surrounding verse 23, it appears that not all do so willingly. You may wonder why God demands worship? On the surface it may seem that God is a megalomaniac. But this is not so. God is holy and a holy God demands worship as part of His being. And it is therefore a proper response to a holy God to worship. Part of our problem with understanding may be that we really don’t know what it means for God to be holy. One thing is for sure, we have not seen holy in our human experience and so holiness is something that is truly foreign to our experience. Holiness is other worldliness and as such is difficult to comprehend. I believe that when we see God, there will be a kind of compulsion from the depths of our souls to bow down and worship God. The cause of the compulsion is the holiness of God.

The elect

9/5/2012

9 And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah an inheritor of my mountains: and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there (Isaiah 65:9).

As we have seen that Isaiah is full of messianic prophecies. Christ was to be a descendent of Jacob and Judah. There are some key words and themes from this verse, as well: elect, inherit, and servants. God chooses His servants. We are not chosen by merit, rather we are chosen by grace. This is the essence of the Gospel-that God acts towards as a gracious gift.

The Potter

9/4/2012

6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. 7 And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. 8 But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand (Isaiah 64:6-8).

The Old and New Testaments are an integrated whole. In many respects the Old Testament serves as a diagnosis and the New Testament as a treatment. As Isaiah states, we are utterly unable on our own accord to be righteous or serve God. But God created us; in the image of God, we were created. So there remains in the fallen creature a remnant/glimpse of the Creator. It is therefore wholly logical and consistent that the Maker (potter) must be the one that acts to make His creatures righteous. This righteousness is literally imparted to us; a gift from our Creator, God.

To set free

9/3/2012

61 The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound; 2 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn; 3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified (Isaiah 61:1-3).

These words of prophecy from Isaiah describe the Messiah. Christ is the fulfillment of this prophecy. Isaiah wrote these words over 700 years before Christ. Prophecy fulfillment is undeniable evidence for a sovereign God. In addition to providing evidence for sovereignty, God is describing in very vivid detail the work of Christ. In these verses we see words like good tidings, liberty, comfort, righteousness and glorified. These words frame the mission of Christ. That mission is to save and to set free-for the glory of God.

Serve God

9/2/2012

12 For the nation and kingdom that will not serve thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly wasted (Isaiah 60:12).

The prophet Isaiah doesn’t mince his words. In the end, nations and people either serve God or they do not. Service toward God is something that in these days seems to have been replaced by service to self. When we are self-serving we are serving a counterfeit god. Be that god ourselves, money or power, the counterfeit god is without ability to save. We are of course commanded to serve others, but we do this service for God. So in all things, service towards God is the goal not merely the side effect. In order for any nation to experience a permanent and positive change or renewal a turn towards God and away from self is required. The beginning of national renewal then is revival. Revival is focused towards the God that creates, and the God that saves.

The Redeemer

9/1/2012

20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord. 21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever (Isaiah 59:20-21).

The verses leading up to verses 20 and 21 speak of the need of Man to have a savior. We simply fall short and by our own accord we always will fall short of God’s standards. But God in infinite love and patience provides a redeemer. We know that the redeemer lives and is Christ Jesus. God through the person and work of Christ sends the Holy Spirit that proceeds from both the Father and the Son to keep all God’s people in faith. The words of God literally are a permanent part of our being as a result of the presence and actions of the Holy Spirit. We are sealed and kept forever. This is the good news of the Gospel, that while we were and are sinners, God sends a redeemer to restore us to the proper relationship to Himself.

Created Through Him