The Messianic promise found in Isaiah 54 belongs not only to Israel, but also to the church of the Lord Jesus.
Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited. . . . For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you, says the Lord, your Redeemer. For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you nor shall My covenant of peace be removed says the Lord, who has mercy on you (Isaiah 54:4-10).
In this passage, the Lord also makes a covenant with us as He likens it to the one He spoke to Noah. The Lord promised to restore Israel to her place among the nations. These promises are not only for Israel, but also for the church. We have received these blessings through faith in Jesus Christ, the Seed of Abraham, who inaugurated them by His death and resurrection. The apostle Paul in Galatians 6:16 says that we are the “Israel of God.” He pronounces the same blessings of peace and mercy upon us as does Isaiah upon ancient Israel.
In times of restoration, the Lord exhorts His people to cooperate with His peace, mercy, and grace that are abundantly poured out upon them. In Isaiah 54, we are told to enlarge the place of our tent. That is, we are encouraged to recognize the hand of God in our lives and to be responsive. The Lord in this Scripture does not make a conditional promise to us, but an unconditional one. He says, “…with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you…” and, “… the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you nor shall My covenant of peace be removed says the Lord, who has mercy on you.”
The Lord has provided an atmosphere in which His church can experience unfettered growth. He has showered us with His peace, mercy, and everlasting kindness. The prophet Isaiah and the apostle Paul confirm that this atmosphere is of Divine origin. I encourage you to cooperate with the Spirit of grace and to experience God’s favor in your life.
1 comments:
What a blessing to be able to cooperate with the Spirit of grace and to experience God's favor in my life. This is awesome! I still have to do something in order to have this existence in my life, and that is to have faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. You know I bet it is a reason why Christ said if we have a mustard seed of faith. He could have said if we have faith the size of an Oak tree. But he didn't. For years I have heard about the mustard seed and have seen a mustard seed. It is small, but some people and I used to be one of them didn't have that amount of faith. Because of doubt, fear amongst other things. Now that my faith has increased I can believe this blog. I expect unconditional promises of God to manifest in my life daily. God loves me, he loved me before I loved his Son. I am so happy and thankful for God's immutable blessings. Hallelujah! They are mine, and I am not being selfish either.
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