We began our time in Isaiah yesterday in part bemoaning the inadequacy of the English language; namely the fact that we can speak of our love of hot dogs in the same way we speak of our love for our spouse etc.  This inadequacy is not limited to the word love however but also finds evidence in the casual way we use the word “Awesome”.  Aside from the misuse of love, there is probably no more abused word than Awesome.  “Man, did you see that game?…it was Awesome!”  “Dude, these enchiladas are Awesome!”  “‘God is Awesome!”  Which one of these is not like the other?

If there ever were a word only to be used in relationship to God it would be “Awesome”.  Yet, in our casual culture, familiarity, in addition to breeding contempt, also breeds lack of awe, a lack of recognition of what is really really great.  This is where Isaiah is of utmost help.  In the midst of would be heroes and one night saviors, Isaiah presents a unified vision of a God to the nation of Israel that is anything but common or ordinary.  Simply put, Isaiah’s picture of God truly is Great, truly is Awesome!

In Isaiah 40-42, the author relays the greatness of our God by reminding us of what we already know to be true.

We have a Great God (Isaiah 40)

He has a Great Plan (Isaiah 41)

Jesus is a Great Savior (Isaiah 42)

Admittedly, we took a rather broad look at all of these chapters, much like climbing to the top of a water tower or small hill to see the surrounding area.  While with a view like this we are unable to be intimately acquainted with ever nook and cranny of our area, we are however able to get the overall lay of the land we find ourselves in.  So it is with our look here.

God’s Greatness is on full display in Chapter 40 of Isaiah as we are reminded of some aspects of His character.  First, Isaiah reminds us He has not abandoned us (40:1-6).  This is staggering when you consider that even when we don’t act like His people, He still chooses to identify with us.  In reality, this is part of the scandal of the cross is it not?  The fact that radical grace and radical forgiveness is offered to us who are the enemies of God is not something we think on enough.  What Christ accomplished on the cross, bearing our sin and shame through the outpouring of God’s wrath so that we might be reconcilled to Him, is the equivalent of adopting the man who murdered your son into your family, sharing meals with you, sleeping in your house, giving him an inheritance.  That is scandalous!

Secondly, Isaiah reminds us we serve a God who’s Word is sure (40:7-8).  In a world where we often question who in fact we can trust, Isaiah reminds us that it is the Word of God that remains forever.

Jesus is the Only fixed point in a world full of variables.

Next, Isaiah calls our attention to the reality that God is absolutely in control of everything (40:9-26).  There is no power stronger than Him, He asks permission or seeks counsel from no one and he is the One who will exercise all authority.

Finally, Isaiah reminds us that God is the One who strengthens those without hope (40:27-31).  While life disappoints, relationships disappoint, God never disappoints.  All of the trials we face, relationally, economically or occupationally serve the dual purpose of conforming us more into the image of Christ and making us long for a time when suffering and trial will cease.

Since this is running a tad long, we will continue our examination of God’s greatness through the mouth of Isaiah later this week.

Yesterday we celebrated the first Sunday in Advent.  Advent is a time of expectant waiting, as we celebrate both the nativity or birth of Christ and look longingly forward to the eminent day of His return.  We continued our trek through the book of Isaiah and were confronted with Three overlapping truths in chapters 24-27.

1. This world is broken and will never satisfy (Isaiah 24)
2. There is a place at God’s table for everyone (Isaiah 25)
3. Our only hope is in the One who’s victory is sure (Isaiah 26)

Much like the season of Advent itself, these truths from Isaiah cause us to both sorrow and rejoice. We sorrow over the brokenness and sin of our world and the staggering reality that we are to blame.  One oft overlooked reality is that when sin entered the world, not only did humanity fall, but creation did as well.  As a result, we along with creation groan awaiting our redemption as Paul explains in Romans 8.  We struggle with the first truth because we live in a culture and time that tells us we can be satisfied by things money can buy and with position and possession of our own creation.

The Gospel stands over and against the lie that this world and its trappings are all there is. The truth is the Kingdom of God puts this temporary dwelling to shame, and while we are called to work at Redemption in the here and now (see 2 Corinthians 5 and 6) we miss out on what God has for us in the future if we expend all our energy on things that aren’t built to last.

More later…

Yesterday we began our look at the book of Isaiah, our final stop in our year spent in the Old Testament. In the final few weeks of 2009 we will piece our way through this incredibly difficult yet beautiful book.  Isaiah was written during a pivotal time in the history of Israel, the closing decades of the 8th Century B.C.  While things were good, they wouldn’t be that way for long and Israel was at a point when they must decide who their collective God was going to be, and furthermore answer the question of if He could be trusted.

Isaiah answers both questions forthrightly just by showing up, for His name literally means “The God who saves”.  Throughout His ministry Isaiah repeatedly calls the nations of Israel and Judah back to the worship of the One true God and challenges them to trust, not in themselves, or other nations, but in their God Yahweh and Him alone.

The book of Isaiah stands as one of the most theologically rich and spiritually significant books of all the Old Testament.  In Isaiah we have themes of God’s Righteous goodness, His earnest desire for the good of His people, His judgment of sin and ultimately of our need and His provision of a Savior.

Isaiah calls our attention to our own sin, our own propensity to trust in things other than God and most importantly shows us how Jesus is the One who we’ve been waiting for.

It has been said in many times and many ways, “Merry Christmas!”, while that is in fact true, and probably what you thought was coming, what I was really thinking was, “Everything rises and falls with leadership.” Rather cliche I know, and a thought definitely not original to me, but makes the point rather well.  This is no more clear than in the book of 1 Samuel, where we encounter 3 different types of leaders; Samuel, Saul, and David.

Over the next couple weeks we will take a look at each of these men individually, and what characterized their leadership.  Up front, it must be said that I am heavily indebted to Mark Dever and his helpful one volume opus on the Old Testament Promises Made: The Message of the Old Testament for guiding my thinking related to these three individuals.

On Sunday we first considered Samuel, the last judge prior to the successive monarchies that take us nearly to the pages of the New Testament.  While much can be said about Samuel, we highlighted that Samuel’s life and leadership can largely be characterized by being a Disciple.  Plainly, Samuel’s life was marked by being one who, Heard, Obeyed and Spoke the Word of God.  As such, Samuel modeled for us what life as a Disciple looks like.

Often we struggle with hearing the Word of God because so many other voices occupy the space that only God’s voice should occupy.  Materialism, Anxiousness, Career, Activity, even our Family can begin to crowd out the voice of God if left unchecked.  The remedy for our oversaturation is to make an effort to declutter.  We declutter by saturating our lives with the Word of God, through Prayer, Bible Reading, Worship and Service and surrounding ourselves with other believers.  These disciplines create an environment in which we can more easily hear and respond to God’s voice.

What are the things that easily clutter your life and make it difficult to hear God’s voice?

How can you begin to declutter?

If there is anything we learn from Judges, one thing that is clear is that when we live a lifestyle of saying NO to God, disastrous consequences result.  First and foremost, when we say NO to God, we end up doing what is right in our own eyes.  One overarching theme in Judges is best summarized by the last verse in the book, “In those days there was no king in Israel, everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” Our desire is always to wrestle control from God and do things are own way, and when this occurs we end up doing things horrifically wrong! Instead of obeying God, conquering their enemies and destroying the idols in the land, the people of Israel inner married and took the false gods of the people for their own.

When we say NO to God and do what is right in our own eyes, we incur God’s righteous judgment.  Often we need to be reminded that God is not playing around when it comes to sin.  He doesn’t find it cute, treat it as no big deal or realize, or look the other way.  Rather, He justly punishes for sin.

If God did not punish, He wouldn’t be Holy, Righteous or Just, not to mention Mighty to Save!  Far from being unloving, this is the most loving thing God can do, for in His Righteousness and Justice, God sent Christ to bear our sin and the sin of the world as the one and only perfect Sacrifice, so that we may have new life in a relationship with Him!

Part of the beauty of Judges is that even though we say NO to God, He still saves, and save to the fullest.  While all of the deliverers God raises up in Judges are able to save momentarily and provide peace, inevitably their ministry is flawed, temporary and passing.  Conversely, in Christ we have a Judge who saves perfectly, eternally, and forever!

In what ways do we often say NO to God?  How can we begin to say YES more?

Throughout the course of 2009 one of our main goals in spending an entire year in the Old Testament is to see evidences of the Gospel lived out in those we encounter.  There is possibly no clearer place than in the story of Rahab in Joshua.

It is in the story of Rahab we see the beauty of the Gospel on full display.  We witness in captivating form the mercy and grace of God extended to one who is far away.

What makes the story of Rahab so compelling for us to consider, is not only how she came into relationship with the Creator God of Israel, but also what happened in her life as a result.

In Rahab we see evidence of the truth that we preach a simple Gospel with profound consequences.  All that was required of Rahab is that she believed according to what she had heard, and place faith in that in which she believed.  In Joshua 2, we read of Rahab’s admission she had heard how the LORD moved in various ways on behalf of Israel, and she feared for her life and those of her family.  Her repentance consisted of a spurning of an old way of life and a willingness to lay everything on the line for the sake of Israel and their God.  Her faith was accompanied by obedience in action.

The story of Rahab also shows us how beautiful the Gospel is in scope.  The Gospel is for everyone.  Rahab had baggage, we all have baggage, yet we see God was mighty to save, regardless of her present state.  When God saves sinners He gets the Glory.  As it was with Rahab, so it is with us.  We enter into relationship with God by His Grace, through Faith in His saving work.

God doesn’t care about our birthright, resume, the opinion of others, how many friends we have on facebook, or whether or not we consider ourselves a “good” person.  Rather He conisders the state of our heart and what we do with His Son, Jesus Christ.

Finally, we see the beauty of the Gospel in the end of Rahab’s story.  Far from being an outcast, or second class citizen in Israel, Rahab is part of the line that produces Jesus.  The writer of Hebrews lifts her up as an example of faith , and James speaks of how her work in hiding the spies was evidence of her faith as well.

How is the beauty of the Gospel displayed in your life?

Celebrating Easter, we began a new three week series entitled “Who do you Say I am?: Uncovering the Real Jesus.”  Over the course of the next couple weeks we will learn a bit more about who Jesus is, what He came to accomplish, and what that means for us.  Last Sunday, we began our look with Jesus: Conqueror of Sin and Death.  Drawing primarily from Mark 15-16, we saw Jesus not only Paid for our Sin, but also is our hope in this life and the next.

Words often fall short in describing the terribly gruesome event that was the crucifixion.  From the scouring with the cat-o-ninetales, to being made to carry the crossbeam of His Cross, to the crucifixion event itself, we can’t imagine, save Mel Gibson’s attempt with The Passion, to understand the horrific physical magnitude of the event.  Yet, the question remains as to why Jesus had to suffer in this way, and what it had to do with us?

This all goes back to the character and nature of God.  While God is all loving, all powerful, ever merciful and kind, He is also all Holy, pure, righteous and just.  In short order, God’s Holiness demands that sin be paid for.  Going back to our first parents, Adam and Eve, when we sin we spit in the face of a Righteous and Holy God.  This Sin separates us from Him and requires payment.  Unfortunately, since we are sinful, fallen, devoid of any good thing and are by nature children under wrath, nothing we could do, or ever hope to do, would be enough to pay the penalty for our sin.  Even if we were to be sent to Hell for eternity it would not be enough to pay for sin, because our sacrifice would be impure.

What was needed was one who could suffer on our behalf, yet be a perfect sacrifice.  This is where Jesus is the hero of the story.  Being the God man, the One who knew no sin (2 Corinthians 5:21), He was able to do what we could not do.  So in one divine, cataclysmic moment, the God of the Universe, turned His back on Jesus and poured all of His wrath for our sin on His broken body, that we might be brought back into right relationship with Him.  Again, words cannot describe the enormity of this.  Jesus stood in our place, becoming our substitutionary sacrifice, He took our sin away, becoming our expiation, and His blood also cleanses us from all unrighteousness, covering not only our own sin, but also the guilt of sins inflicted on us by others.  Incredible

Additionally, not only did Jesus pay for our sin, by defeating death by being resurrected, He gave us hope, not only in the next life, but in this as well.  The resurrection is what guarantees hope beyond hope, allows this world to make sense, and gives our lives in the here and now, value, meaning and purpose.  Regardless of if we are penniless, jobless, addicted and despised, because of what Christ accomplished, by not only paying the penatly for our sin, but by defeating death on our behalf, we have obtained the greater victory!

Join us this coming Sunday as we look at Jesus our Righteous King.

In much the same way that parts of our physical being cannot grow unless exercised, our faith cannot grow unless it is exercised as well.  Unfortunately many people spend their entire lives of faith as spiritual invalids, content with couch potato Christianity awaiting the “some glad morning” when God will take their posterior to glory.

The truth of the matter is, God did not send His Son to be the all sufficient sacrifice for our sins, for us to sit on our couch and eat spiritual bon-bons all day.

Rather, He sent His Son to stand in our place so that we would be reconciled to a Holy God and be involved with Him and His work in bringing a lost and dying world back to Himself.  James reminds us that faith without works is a dead and non-existent faith.  Our faith has not only to talk, but to walk and have meat and substance to it.  It is no wonder people don’t find the message of the cross compelling or life changing, because we aren’t.  We don’t paint a very attractive picture of what it means to follow Jesus, because most often we are doing nothing.

Part of the reason why the faith of Abraham has become the ultimate example is because he held firm in this most extreme of tests and counted it as an act of worship while doing so.  I wonder if we would do the same.