God is Our Redeemer
Isaiah 44:21-26
SS Lesson for 01/02/11
Devotional Scripture: Eph 1:3-14
The concept of the outline of the lesson came from the Bible Expositor and Illuminator. This week's lesson reviews how God is our Redeemer. The study's aim is to see that when we sin, the Redeemer does all He can to get us back. The study's application is to accept that God, the Redeemer, draws us back to Himself and that we are to be grateful as a response to His effort and call.
I’ve Been Forgotten
A common, nagging fear is that we have forgotten something important. We use pocket calendars, computer schedulers, and cell phone beeps to tell us what our next appointment or event will be. Even with all this technology, we still forget things. We distrust our memories. Did I turn the stove off? Have I mailed that bill? When is my friend coming to visit? What was the name of that new person I met at church? Perhaps a deeper fear, though, is that we ourselves will be forgotten. I once visited a very elderly woman in a care facility who told me that no friends or family ever came to see her. “I’ve been forgotten,” she said sadly. What a depressing feeling! We want to be remembered and remembered well. Yet our world is increasingly impersonal and fragmented. We remember the names of celebrities, but forget the names of our nieces and nephews. Families often are separated, with members living in different cities. Travel is difficult. Time is scarce. To remember each other takes effort. A wonderful characteristic of God is that He does not forget us. It is beyond our comprehension how God manages this, with billions of people populating the earth. How can he remember each one? But he does, and he spreads his blessings to each of us from the inexhaustible source of his love. Today’s lesson concerns how circumstances might have caused the people of Israel to think they were forgotten.
Lesson Background
A unique feature of the religion of ancient Israel was their belief in a singular God; this outlook is called monotheism. While this orientation is found throughout the Old Testament, Isaiah’s writings are among the clearest and most uncompromising in this regard. Isaiah demands that the people of Israel understand that their God, the Lord, is also the God who controls the destiny of their enemies. It is erroneous to think that international conflicts are paralleled by heavenly conflicts between rival deities. This is not the case. There is only one God over all the nations. Even so, most people in the ancient world understood the heavenly realm to be populated by a multitude of gods. There was a god or goddess in control of each of the important natural processes of the world. These included a weather god, an ocean god, a sun god, a moon god, and many others. Ancient myths told the stories of the conflicts between these gods and how such fights affected the realm of humans. These people were correct in their intuition that there was a reality beyond the perception of human senses, but incorrect in supposing a division of labor and power in the supernatural world. They were especially wrong in believing that each nation had its own set of gods that was loyal to that nation alone. By contrast, several times in Isaiah we find something like a census of deities in Heaven that always tallies up to exactly one. Isaiah pictures God standing in Heaven alone, unique and unchallenged in his supremacy. The census count is fixed at one eternally. The Lord alone is uncreated, and all the other inhabitants of Heaven and earth are created by him. God says, “There is none like me” (Isaiah 46:9). He is the “God of all the earth” (54:5). This one-God orientation is important as we try to understand Isaiah’s prophecies about the restoration of Jerusalem. The prophet speaks of Cyrus, who is a future (from Isaiah’s perspective) monarch of the Persians. He will allow the people of Israel to return to Jerusalem and rebuild their temple. History calls him Cyrus the Great in recognition of his military and political skills. Yet even this person, undoubtedly the most powerful man on earth in his day, was subject to the plans and control of the Lord God of Israel. The Lord is the only God, so it could be no other way. It may trouble us that God would use a pagan ruler, an unbeliever, to accomplish his purposes. (It also troubled the prophet Habakkuk!) It makes more sense if we recognize that there is only one God, and this one true God is the Almighty for all men and women. Pagan religions have gone off the tracks horribly in trying to understand the world of the gods. God, however, has no issue in understanding that he is God alone, and everyone is subject to him.
In Isaiah 44:9-20, part of the background to this week's lesson text, the futility of idolatry is vividly described. The prophet portrayed a man going to the forest to find wood to make an idol. Isaiah noted that part of the wood was used for warmth, part for baking bread, and part to make a graven image. This man-made god could not think, see, or hear; yet people were willing to bow down and worship it. Even a superficial understanding of Israel's history during the Old Testament period quickly reveals idolatry as their besetting sin. Everything from their worship of the golden calf in the wilderness (Exod. 32) to their eventual deportation to Babylon testifies to this sad fact. When the gospel began to be preached in the first-century world, the early church also had to confront pervasive idolatry. The Jews had learned their lesson, but the rest of the world was steeped in paganism. While the gospel has reached many over the centuries, delivering the deceived from false worship, there are still many places where idolatry prevails. Though more sophisticated, idolatry is alive and well in many so-called Christian nations too. The concept of a redeemer is seen all through the Bible. In our lesson this week, Isaiah the prophet brings that concept back into focus by showing us how much our God loves erring Israel and through them how much He loves us today. He is willing to do anything and everything to bring us home again. Here is another thought that is interesting. Many other religions do not have such a concept of God pursuing His people with unfailing love. This amazing love can attract a hungry soul. A redeemer buys back something that was once his own. A person normally should not have to buy back something that belongs to himself, especially if he was its creator. Redemption involves a price tag. The redeemer pays that price because he really wants the redeemed object back. He loves that item so much that he is willing to pursue it until he wins it back.
(Scriptural Text from the New King James Version; cross-references from the NIV)
21 "Remember these, O Jacob, And Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me!
22 I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you."
6 "Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter — when you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. "If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. 11 The Lord will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.
14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.
19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land;
15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." 14 He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit.
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.
16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.
4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions — it is by grace you have been saved.
23 Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it! Shout, you lower parts of the earth; Break forth into singing, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it! For the Lord has redeemed Jacob, And glorified Himself in Israel.
11 Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
4 For everything God created is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,
19 The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
4 One generation will commend your works to another; they will tell of your mighty acts. 5 They will speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty, and I will meditate on your wonderful works. 6 They will tell of the power of your awesome works, and I will proclaim your great deeds.
5 But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.
16 But may all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; may those who love your salvation always say, "The Lord be exalted!"
6 Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?
15 Blessed are those who have learned to acclaim you, who walk in the light of your presence, O Lord. 16 They rejoice in your name all day long; they exult in your righteousness.
24 This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!
16 Be joyful always; 17 pray continually; 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: "I am the Lord, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;
25 Who frustrates the signs of the babblers, And drives diviners mad; Who turns wise men backward, And makes their knowledge foolishness;
26 Who confirms the word of His servant, And performs the counsel of His messengers; Who says to Jerusalem, 'You shall be inhabited,' To the cities of Judah, 'You shall be built,' And I will raise up her waste places;
3 Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
6 "Your right hand, O Lord, was majestic in power. Your right hand, O Lord, shattered the enemy. 7 In the greatness of your majesty you threw down those who opposed you. You unleashed your burning anger; it consumed them like stubble.
21 Do not be terrified by them, for the Lord your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God.
24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God."
11 One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, 12 and that you, O Lord, are loving. Surely you will reward each person according to what he has done.
3 Say to God, "How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.
27 For the Lord Almighty has purposed, and who can thwart him? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back?
10 All you have made will praise you, O Lord; your saints will extol you. 11 They will tell of the glory of your kingdom and speak of your might, 12 so that all men may know of your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. 13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.
4 They will say, "Where is this 'coming' he promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation." 5 But they deliberately forget that long ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities — his eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
13 When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, 14 saying, "I will surely bless you and give you many descendants." 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. 16 Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,
6 For who in the skies above can compare with the Lord? Who is like the Lord among the heavenly beings? 7 In the council of the holy ones God is greatly feared; he is more awesome than all who surround him. 8 O Lord God Almighty, who is like you? You are mighty, O Lord, and your faithfulness surrounds you.
140 Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.
Jerusalem may have more recorded history attached to it than any city on earth. We encounter the city initially in the Bible through its mysterious priest-king Melchizedek. He is the “king of Salem,” a reference to the city’s earliest name (Genesis 14:18). It was conquered by King David to become his capital around 1000 BC. It was the site of the temple of the Lord, built by Solomon. This temple was rebuilt by Zerubbabel in the sixth century BC and lavishly expanded by Herod the Great. Jerusalem was where the Lord Jesus was crucified, buried, and raised from the dead. The temple was destroyed by the Romans in ad 70, and the city itself was destroyed by the Romans during the Bar Kochba Revolt in ad 135. At this time, the Roman Emperor Hadrian placed a ban on Jews entering the city. This ban was in effect until the fourth century. Modern Jerusalem continues to be a focal point of regional unrest. As important as Jerusalem’s history is, the New Testament authors look beyond the earthly city of Jerusalem to a new and greater city for the future. Jerusalem’s spiritual role had been as the city of the temple. The temple was the house of the Lord. It was seen as the place where God and people met, “the connecting place” if you will. The book of Revelation pictures a new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:2). It comes down from Heaven fully built, without need for restoration. It is glorious, to be sure, but its architectural wonder is a minor feature compared with the new reality it represents. By coming down, it obliterates the separation between Heaven and earth (Revelation 21:3). This is not simply a vision of the distant future. Paul pictures the people of God collectively as a temple fit together to be God’s dwelling place (Ephesians 2:21, 22). God dwells among us now. He is not far away (Acts 17:27). As he restored ancient Jerusalem, he is able to restore our broken and desolate lives. God’s pattern of restoring in the history of ancient Israel is repeated daily and individually among those who trust in him. He will never forget us. He will never abandon us. He has redeemed us through the blood of his Son, and he will make us whole.
That only God can forgive sins was a firmly established doctrine among the Jews of Jesus' day. In fact, when Jesus told a man that his sins had been forgiven, He was accused of blasphemy (cf. Matt. 9:2-3; Mark 2:5-7; Luke 5:20-21). This may sound strange today, for we are used to forgiving and being forgiven as two sides of the same virtue. Since the earliest years of the church, Christian clerics have assured people that their sins were forgiven on the basis of their faith in Jesus. Today we take for granted the ability of every true Christian to say that someone's sins are forgiven based on the atoning work of Christ and that person's corresponding faith in Him. This assurance is based on Jesus' own commission to His disciples (cf. Matt. 16:19; 18:18). Thus, the free and confident pronouncement of forgiveness for sins has become one hallmark of life under the new covenant, as inaugurated by Christ Himself, in contrast to the cautious and miserly concept of forgiveness as taught by the Pharisees and Sadducees. For our text this week, God's pronouncement of Israel's forgiveness from their sins and His call for them to return to abiding by their former covenant relationship with Him occur in the context of His proclamation of Himself as their sovereign Redeemer. Because of the greatness of Israel's redemption, the Lord called upon heaven and earth to celebrate and rejoice. He called upon the mountains and forests to sing joyfully. Forgiveness and salvation are ultimately the sovereign acts of almighty God, not man. When God redeems His people and forgives their sin, it is no mere legal fiction. Nor does God merely make it possible for man to save himself. No, God saves whom He saves to the uttermost. Their sins are actually gone. Christ has earned their pardon, and nothing can separate them from His love (cf. John 1:13; Heb. 7:25; Rom. 8:38-39)! Once purified from their sins by Him, the people of God are called to return to Him and reestablish their relationship with Him. But what sort of relationship shall it be? Will God hold them at arm's length in a tentative position, their association still tainted by the sore remembrance of past enmity? Shall God's forgiven servant be content merely that he did not suffer the ultimate wrath of God, which he so richly deserved, and leave it at that? Some would understand salvation in this way. They feel safer spending their Christian lives cowering, continually cautious, as if God might change His mind about their salvation. They do this perhaps in an effort to keep themselves from overconfidence or laxity toward religion. This outlook is, in reality, full of the most inappropriate hubris. As illustrated in Jesus' parable of the prodigal son, the heavenly Father runs to meet the repentant sinner with open arms and heart! The son's request to be merely installed as a lowly servant is good-naturedly laughed at. The robe and ring are donned; the feast begins!
1. Secure is the child of God who remembers that the Lord will not forget him (Isa. 44:21)
2. As our Redeemer, God has not only forgiven our sins but also taken them away (vs. 22)
3. Joy is always a proper response to God's glory revealed in His people (vs. 23)
4. Look about you and see the awesome omnipotence of your Creator and Redeemer (vs. 24)
5. True wisdom begins with and finds culmination in God alone (vs. 25)
6. We can trust fully a God who needs only to declare something and it is done (vs. 26)
"Tom carried his new boat to the edge of the river. He carefully placed it in the water and slowly let out the string. How smoothly the boat sailed! Suddenly a strong current caught the boat. Tom tried to pull it back to shore, but the string broke. The little boat raced downstream. "A few days later, on the way home from school, Tom spotted a boat just like his in a store window. 'Sir, that's my boat in your window! I made it!' "'Sorry, son, but someone else brought it in this morning. If you want it, you'll have to buy it for one dollar.' "Tom ran home and counted all his money. Exactly one dollar! When he reached the store, he rushed to the counter. 'Here's the money for my boat.' As he left the store, Tom hugged his boat and said, 'Now you're twice mine. First, I made you and now I bought you'" (www.sermonillustra-tions.com). The heart of this week's lesson text conveys exactly the same idea. First, God created His people, Israel. Second, God bought them, or redeemed them, wiping their sin slate perfectly clean!
God wanted His people to remember that they owed their existence to Him. He would never forget His people. In fact, even in their deepest rebellion, God forgave their sin and spoke of how much He wanted them to return to Him. These vital truths of Israel's origin and redemption were so magnificent that God commanded the created universe to acknowledge them with songs of praise. The heavens and the earth— specifically, the mountains and forests —were to proclaim that God had redeemed Israel, through whom He would universally display His redemptive glory. God the Father takes eternal pride in His children. He has gone and will continue to go to great lengths to showcase His most prized possession. When a child knows that his parent is proud of him and wants everyone to know it, he will mature in dignity and experience awesome comfort.
God repeated the great truths of Israel's origin and redemption, adding an emphasis on His unique creative activity. In light of God's actions, any individuals who attempted to claim religious power through illegitimate actions needed to be exposed as the charlatans they were. God's grace in restoring His people exposed the magicians and fortunetellers as ridiculous fools. His acts of grace also exposed the frivolous silliness of the so-called knowledge of the self-proclaimed experts. God's intervention confirmed the veracity of His servant messengers. Because He is the Creator-God, He had the authority to command Israel to be inhabited, rebuilt, and restored. In this day, it would be foolish not to apply the Old Testament word pictures of redemption, forgiveness, and restoration to the believer in Jesus Christ. Let us who have placed our faith in the Person of His Son thank our God for His miraculous, redemptive, restorative regeneration and also for His purifying forgiveness that permits us to experience purpose and joy on this earth. Truly the Lord is our magnificent, personal Redeemer!