Introduction
Who can stand before the righteous God? Isaiah 66:2 perfectly illustrates and answers this question. This is someone who is affiliated to and moulded by Christ through salvation. On this article, several aspects of God are addressed based on Isaiah 66 with a hope of demonstrating that our salvation in vain for what lies ahead of us. On this text then, eternal life to all who have believed, will believe depends on one person, Jesus Christ, God Himself. we shall see, knowledge of this truth causes a radical transformation in the lives of people who would wholly look to God for their keeping.
The Sovereignty of God
{Isaiah 66: 1- 2}
Sovereign means a supreme ruler, possessing ultimate power. He is the ultimate source of authority, power and everything that exists [verse 2]. God is self- existent; He reigns over the earth and heavens {1 Chronicles 16: 31 & Psalms 47: 8}. In Isaiah’s vision of the Lord {Isaiah 6}, he describes the majesty of God, his revealed glory and holiness, the seraphim cover themselves at His presence proclaiming “Holy holy is the Lord of host”. This aspect of God being revealed to us from the Holy Scriptures calls us to submission to Him as our king and a father as well. In his sovereignty, He chose us to himself and for himself when we were fallen for, he cannot dwell in sin. He is HOLY. He rules in love and desires the best for us {Romans 8: 28}. If only we come to the knowledge of his sovereignty, we’ll continue dwelling and walking in our sinful nature and what awaits is his wrath unless we desire to repent and have that humble and contrite spirit within us; He promises to look up to that person.
The Mercy of God
Such a broad topic, the Mercy of God. As we look and reflect on the sovereignty of God (psalms 29:10 The Lord sat over the flood; the Lord sat as King forever), I want to begin by referring to how God described himself in the scriptures (Exodus 34: 6-8) And He passes in front of Moses, proclaiming,” The LORD, The Lord the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished; He punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”
We have heard in James 2: 13 where the word says,”…Mercy triumphs over judgement”, and this is true also with how God is to us. God is a Just God, as we shall see later on, but He proclaims that His mercy comes before judgement, His love before punishment to those who call upon in repentance for forgiveness, and that is why Christ came before the day of Wrath comes. This mercy and love is clearly shown by Christ by Him taking up the punishment on our behalf on the cross that we are to be made right with God forever. Such a great hope we have! (John 3:16)
When we look at Christ and see what he did for us joining that together with our theme this semester (Isaiah 66:2) we see that God shows us His mercy and love so that we may see the consequence of our sin and become broken before Him, which is essentially the point of salvation and the point we now encounter Christ and God’s saving Grace. A broken heart over sin is able to fellowship and commune in a deeper way with God, and God can begin to change our hearts and draw us near to Him, when we understand that we cannot add anything to God that He doesn’t already have, we are able to recognize a deep need for Him. So I call upon us to ponder and become mesmerized at the great mercy of God.
God’s Wrath
Often times we Christians can be narrow-minded enough to ignore that God extends His wrath to all unrighteousness. Admittedly it may sound so weird to reconcile between the merciful God and the God of wrath. The current generation inclines towards the slogan ‘truth is relative’ and so is the wrath of God perceived. The most outstanding features about God’s wrath in the Bible can be summarized as: God’s wrath is just, fearful, and consistent. It is an extension of God’s love in action to sin yet it is fully satisfied in Christ. These features point us to the fact that Christ can do what we can’t by ourselves- rescuing us from God’s wrath. In simple sense, Christ holds us fast. Colossians 3:5-8 allows us to see what sin in the broader perspective is and urges us to put to death all that is sin-related lest we face the wrath of God. Let’s now examine our ways; are we right before the righteous God through Christ? Or we are we the children of wrath?
Hope
One of the main thesis in God’s word is hope. God’s assurance to us to always hold us fast is extensively buttressed in the scriptures. As the master, Jesus Christ, clearly stated it while speaking to the Jews, he said, “my sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch the out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand”(John 10:27-29).
This is comforting at the very least. He has promised to hold us fast. Nothing can take us from his ever watchful eyes. Even in our failures and weaknesses, he has promised to hold us fast. In spite of the many uncertainties ahead of us, we have the firm assurance that he is ever so close to us. Through the waters he will be with us. In the fires the flames will not set us ablaze. Christ is our safety citadel. Refuse to worry. Refuse to fear. “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope that we profess, for he who promised is faithful”(Hebrews 10:23).
These promises are still as fresh as tomorrow. Let them comfort you and fortify your faith. As Christians, many are the times when we have feared for our faith. In our struggling, ups and downs we nullify the weakness before us as human beings, fearing that this faith will fail us. We mostly feel that we are unable to hold on to our Christian journey. In our striving and enduring, we grow so weak in our laboring. It is not that we choose to be in this space but we, Christians, made of flesh, at times get to these points. It is important to remember that, our perseverance and faith isn’t left to us only. Christ will hold us fast. Christ has made us his own- Philippians 3:2.
Though we might fear that our faith may fail, he will firmly stick to us. Hebrews 6:9- sure and steadfast anchor. To Him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious present without fault and with great joy- Jude 24. All these gives us fresh comfort and hope. Hope that surpasses our weakness, because He delights in keeping His people.2 Thessalonians 3:3- for He his faithful and not only strengthen us, but also keep us from the evil one. A sweet truth into our deep souls, HE WILL HOLD US FAST.
Author
JKUAT CU Library