Fourth Sunday of Easter (2023)

Isaiah 40:25-31

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ, this morning in our Old Testament we have the passage that the prophet Isaiah spoke to a people that had strayed from God and were abandoning the ways of the Lord. They had been worshipping other gods, and were coming under God’s judgment for they knew better than the Lord, and He had warned them that this is what would happen, but they ignored him.

No Other God

There have been many religions in the world.

You find them in every corner of the globe for God has put his natural law into our hearts, and recognize that there is something greater than us, that there is some more to us than just this mortal life.

Many of these religions have found ways to coexist.

In the ancient world each region had its own gods, and they were limited to a specific place, the egyptians, the greeks, the babylonians and they were thought to have more power closer to their followers and the land from which they came. So you could have many different religions and honor each god in their appropriate territory.

Christianity makes the claim that it is the only religion.

The Bible makes the claim that God is not just the God of Israel, but of the entire earth and over all of creation. That He is separate from the creation. This is why the Scriptures ask?

Who shall you compare to God?

Creator of All Things

As the Creator of all things, God is therefore uncreated.

That means He has neither beginning nor end, that is outside and over all things. Most folks if you were to ask which has more in common and are more similar Mankind and Angels, or Angels and God. He is the creator and we are all creatures.

As we look at the order of the universe, we see God’s power.

This is why I love science and why if you look at the history of science prior to the 1900s you will find that many were scientists were christians, and Christianity paved the way for science as the pagan religions had tied their gods to the creation. But Christianity said no they are different.

God is still active in the creation.

He didn’t just wind up the world like a watch and then walk away to leave us on our own, the reason that the stars come out is that God calls them forth, the Psalms tell us that He knits us together while we are in our mother’s womb. For He has command and authority over all of Creation as its creator.

Why all the religions?

Right before this, God condemns idols.

For they were tripping up the Israelites and they had been doing so for many years, but God says that they shouldn’t be worshiping other gods, and condemns idols.

Where do they come from?

If there is only one god, this is a good question how on earth did people start to worship and follow other gods? Especially if there is only one deity. This has to do with the sinful nature that we have, which does not want to recognize or honor the true God.

People are worshiping the work of their hands.

Now this a double meaning. The first being quite literal that they are fashioning pieces of wood, metal, stone or whatever it is that they might have something to bow down, but what you will take part of the wood to burn for the warmth and the other part you will bow down and worship just because you put a knife to it and shaped it??

We also tend to worship what it is that we want and hope to accomplish. The true God doesn’t praise us for doing what is wrong, but people want that praise, and so they needed to fashion something or someone who would give them what they wanted to glorify.

We are worshipping creation.

That’s the tragedy, we exchange the glory that is meant for God alone and give it instead to something that is like us, created, and is passing away. We put our hope and trust into something that is either like us or in the case of a lump of metal, wood, or stone worse than us! For at least we can see, hear, and speak but the stone feels nothing.

The Everlasting God

Creation is passing away, but the Creator endures.

This is why we want to approach him in world that continues to be given over to decay and change, to have that which is eternal, that which endures and that which lasts above all other things. For the world is wearing out, and the only that that won’t is the one who existed before the creation.

God, our Creator, gives to us strength and life.

This makes sense if you consider it for a moment where did life and strength come from to begin with? Creation received everything from its creator, and so if we are tired, worn down, and fainting, then

God is the one who sustains and renews you.

He is the one that gives to us life and breath, and everything that we need. Folks try to rely on other things within the creation, but they grow tired and weary, and they find that other people like them only have so much before they tire out too. This is why we are to learn to rely on Him in our hour of need. For He does not tire, but continues to watch over us ands works for the healing of the nation.

How God Restores All Things

God created all things through the Word.

That was the means by which He brought into existence the sun, the moon, and stars. It was out of nothing that He created all things, and it was through the Word. It was all created Good, that is without flaw or imperfection, but when it became corrupted God did not abandon His creation.

To save the world, God sent His Son.

He sent that very same Word through which all things were created good to make all things new. To restore a creation that was perishing to its creator. That’s why it was only Jesus who could do this for He is that Word made flesh.

Jesus gives us strength by taking on our weakness.

For what condemned the world was sin, and so the took upon Himself our sins, he became weak, and gave up His Spirit in death in order that He might lift us up with wings like eagles. For He will not abandon even those who die, but restore them that they might walk out of their graves.

The New Creation

We look ahead to a new heavens and earth.

The Scriptures make this clear the creation is wearing out, it should be no surprise for we come from the dust of the earth and it was cursed on account of Adam’s sin. That’s why we see all the natural disasters and problems that are arising.

It’s ok that the world is wearing out.

For God has not abandon his creation, he has not forgotten about our need. If there was no creator and everything depended on us, it would be a reason to panic and anxiety would fly through the roof. But our creator has not abandon us.

For the one who made all things, will make all things new.

Now that doesn’t mean we should speed up the chaos and dissolution of this world, we can’t really do that, because God has set that day already. But it gives us hope that there is something better that is coming. So we don’t have to despair if fixing this world is outside of our power.

My Brothers and Sisters if we lose focus on God our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier then there is every reason to panic and be in distress for all we have is the work of our hands to maintain our life, our creation, our family, and the list goes on. But we have a creator from whom we receive all strength and life and so we go about the work that He has prepared for us in advance to do and when we do grow tired and don’t know how we might be able to go on, we can find our rest in Him. For He is one watching over all things and bringing it to its end, when He will make all things new. There we will run and not be weary, but instead enjoy what we long for in this life. In Jesus name. Amen.