Of The True God

Open your bibles to Isaiah 43 verse 8…

This morning we will recount only half of our statement under the heading of “Of The True God”. However, as you turn to Isaiah 43 I want to put the statment on the screen and read it to you.

We believe that there is one, and only one living and true God, an infinite intelligent Spirit, whose name is Jehovah, the Maker and supreme Ruler of heaven and earth; inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all possible honor, confidence and love; that in the unity of the Godhead there are three persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; equal in every divine perfection and executing distinct but harmonious offices in the great work of redemption.

and lets stand for the reading of God’s word.

Isaiah 43:8–28 LSB

8 Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes, And the deaf, even though they have ears. 9 All the nations have gathered together So that the peoples may be assembled. Who among them can declare this And make us hear the former things? Let them present their witnesses that they may be justified, Or let them hear and say, “It is true.” 10 “You are My witnesses,” declares Yahweh, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me there was no god formed, And there will be none after Me. 11 “I, even I, am Yahweh, And there is no savior besides Me. 12 “It is I who have declared and saved and caused it to be heard, And there was no strange god among you; So you are My witnesses,” declares Yahweh, “And I am God. 13 “Even from eternity I am He, And there is none who can deliver out of My hand; I act and who can reverse it?” 14 Thus says Yahweh your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, “For your sake I have sent to Babylon, And will bring down those who fled—all of them, Even the Chaldeans—into the ships in which they shouted for joy. 15 “I am Yahweh, your Holy One, The Creator of Israel, your King.” 16 Thus says Yahweh, Who makes a way through the sea And a path through the mighty waters, 17 Who brings forth the chariot and the horse, The military force and the mighty man; They will lie down together and not rise again; They have been extinguished and quenched like a wick: 18 “Do not remember the former things, Nor carefully consider things of the past. 19 “Behold, I will do something new; Now it will spring forth; Will you not know it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the wasteland. 20 “The beasts of the field will glorify Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I have given waters in the wilderness And rivers in the wasteland, To give drink to My chosen people. 21 “The people whom I formed for Myself Will recount My praise. 22 “Yet you have not called on Me, O Jacob; But you have become weary of Me, O Israel. 23 “You have not brought to Me the sheep of your burnt offerings, Nor have you glorified Me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, Nor wearied you with frankincense. 24 “You have not bought Me sweet cane with money, Nor have you satisfied Me with the fat of your sacrifices; Rather you have burdened Me with your sins; You have wearied Me with your iniquities. 25 “I, even I, am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake, And I will not remember your sins. 26 “Bring Me to remembrance, let us enter into judgment together; Recount your cause, that you may be proved right. 27 “Your first father sinned, And your spokesmen have transgressed against Me. 28 “So I will profane the princes of the sanctuary, And I will give Jacob to be devoted to destruction and Israel to revilement.

In Isaiah 43 you have God bearing witness about himself, because at this point in history God has looked on the one he has chosen to bear witness of Him and they have failed. He is talking about Israel. Though he has called them, though he has saved them from Egypt, though he has spoken to them and done good to them, they have turned aside to idols. He called them blind and deaf not because they don’t have eyes and ears, but because they don’t see the goodness of the one True God and worship Him. He has even gathered together all of the nations, and calls on them to present a witness that can preach the good news and cause them to see the truth. The reality is, there is no one in all of Israel or the nations at this point in time that can. It will take an act of God. 

The beginning of verse ten says, he chose them as his servant so that they would know that “I am he”… he who? Look back at verse 3… that I am Yahweh your God… what does Yahweh mean? If you remember back to the burning bush Moses asks the bush, if they ask the name of the god who sent me, what do I tell them? God replies, tell them that I am sent you. Literally, Yahweh means He will be… which is a testimony that the true God defines himself. I am Yahweh, I am who I am, the Holy one of Israel, your savior. But there is no witness in Israel that can testify that what he says is true… They know about him but they don’t know him. As he says, they are so blind and deaf that they have had so many ways in which they could walk with him and know him and they can’t see it. Which is a good question for you to ask yourself this morning… Do you know about God or do you know Him?

So, with no witness, God testifies about himself! I want to show you seven things the Lord says about himself here in verse 8-28.

This is what the Lord says about himself… 

I. I am the only living God (v10)… before me there was no god formed. Oh every pagan god has an origin story. They were created somehow. Yet Yahweh says, I always have been. And there will be no god formed after him… why? Because those gods who have been made by man aren’t real. They are dead. Isaiah 46:7, Yahweh says this about idols, ““They carry it upon the shoulder and bear it; They set it in its place, and it stands there. It does not move from its place. Though one may cry to it, it cannot answer; It cannot save him from his distress.”Isaiah‬ ‭46‬:‭7‬… Yahweh cannot be compared to any idol even made of gold… nor can he be compared to any deity that man has dreamed up. He is not like you and me. Who apart from him are as dead as the idols we form. God is the only one who is living and cause life. 

II. I am the only salvation (v11-12). It is Gods common practice to take his people back to their salvation event. Meaning, he recalls their rescue from Egypt often. Why? Because he orchestrated it.. he showed signs and wonders so that when they were delivered they would remember the miracles and believe Yahweh is who he says he is. he told them who he was, and what he would do, and told them what to do… and then wiped out their enemies. This was no foreign god of the pagan nations because there is no salvation apart from the one true living God. 

III. I am eternally sovereign  (v13)… he was not created. God had no beginning. If you think on that too much you might hurt your head. But the answer to creation is eternality. Something had to be eternal. And YAWEH is telling us, he is eternal. He has revealed himself to us, and declares, I always have been and I always will be. The first and the last. The alpha and the omega. The beginning and the end. Essentially he is saying, he is the supreme creator and sustainer of life. He set it al into motion and upholds it with his righteous right hand. 

IV. I am the Holy King (14-15)… he repeats a number of titles he has already mentioned, but he adds one. I am your king. What does a king do? He rules and reigns. He is not a passive god. He is not impersonal. He interacts with his creation and commands them where to go and what to do. He is their master and lord. There is no place his gaze does not reach… he declares to them that he has already sent to Babylon. Their greatest enemy at this point. It is already in his eternal decree that he will wipe them out. “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of Yahweh; He turns it wherever He pleases.” He is the redeemer. The one who saves and restores. The one who sets up kings and tears them down. 

‭‭V. I will be praised (v16-21)… while his servant now is blind and deaf, God is not done working. Even though he rhetorically asks his servant, don’t you see what I’m about to do??  He says that he is going to do something new. He is going to make a road in the wilderness. He is going to bring rivers into the wasteland. Meaning, he is going to lead another exodus. He is preparing another way to show off his salvation. Yet this time, all of his chosen people will praise him. All of creation will praise him for what he has done. God has already delayed just one chapter previous in 42:8… that his glory will not be given to another. YAWEH will have his glory. The glory he deserves but we are too blind to see. 

VI. I am aware of your great sin (v22-24)… although Israel can’t see God, God sees them. And what has he found? Apathetic hearts… he tells them they have not sacrificed, and satisfied him with their burnt offerings. Nor offered their money in worship. But they had been doing that. They hadn’t ceased doing that. But what’s the key here? Verse 22… you have become weary of me… they have been going through the motions. Worshiping God out of habit or obligation… Their hearts are not glorifying the Lord. Their hearts are dead, are asleep, are aloof. They have not satisfied him with sacrifices, they have burdened him with their sin. Rather than remembering the freedom they had to walk with God and be known and loved by him, they tried to keep the law. They worshipped God as a computer… trying to do what they were told to do out of sheer mechanicalism, while disregarding the one who loves them and made the covenant with them in the first place. 

VII. I will forgive your sin through judgment (v25-28)… even though God sees their great sin, our gos is merciful because he tells them he will forgive them. It’s gonna hurt, but forgiveness and redemption will come. The relationship between the people he chooses and himself will be reconciled. For his own glory! Does this bother you that God saved you not because he loved you, or was cornered about your glory, but is concerned with his glory. He is concerned with being known as who he truly is… the only savior. Verse 26 says “bring me to remembrance, let us enter into judgment together”… He is concerned with being called upon now and into his eternal judgment, and being worshipped and adored and honored, and told of for who he really is…  not what we simply think he is like. So, do you know him? For who he really is?

Let me show you one more thing that will bleed over into next week as we talk about the Trinity. Come with me to John chapter 8… in John 8 we see Jesus talking to some Pharisees and Jews. The context is self proclaimed righteous… They are pharisees, religious leaders. And they were Jews, God’s chosen people! They believed they knew who God was. They thought they knew him perfectly and kept the law perfectly and were living righteously… which is the first sign they didn’t really know the true God. 

But watch this, What God declares in Isaiah is declared also through Christ and ultimately fulfilled in Christ. Look at verse 25-30…

John 8:25… They ask him, who are you? Now stop… Why do they ask him that? It there any other reason than that they are blind. He had been with them now for years and had been declaring all these wonderful things and doing many signs and wonders… sound familiar? 

So he says to them, What have I been saying to you from the beginning? 

Verse 26 John 8:26

John 8:26 LSB

26 “I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I am saying to the world.”

Verse 27, John makes a note here that they did not know that He had been speaking to them about the Father. Blindness! So He said,

John 8:28–30 LSB

28 So Jesus said, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, (where have you heard that language before?) and I do nothing from Myself, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me. 29 “And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him.” 30 As He was speaking these things, many believed in Him.

Now Come down just a bit further with me to verse 48…

John 8:48–59 LSB

48 The Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” 49 Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. 50 “But I do not seek My glory; there is One who seeks and judges.(Again, where have you herd that language before?) 51 “Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death—ever.” 52 The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste of death—ever.’ 53 “Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?” (And here is where Christ declares his divinity… There is one God, in three persons. Which we will cover next week. But There is one God who is all the things we have just talked about in Isaiah 43… And Jesus applies all of those things to himself)54 Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; 55 and you have not known Him(Because they are blind), but I know Him (Because he is God incarnate); and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. 56 “Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” pause… (what Day is he talking about??? HE is talking about this day of redemption. The day that God will save his people through the forgiveness of sin… That security through the spirit of God will be brought on to his people and they will never again have to wonder if they are good enough, or clean enough, or pure enough… They will know they are not on their own, but will stake their salvation on Christ alone…. But what Jesus says confuses some of these jews all the more because they still don’t get it…verse 57… 57 So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” 58 Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” 59 Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.

Those words that Jesus utters in verse 58 is a direct reflection of Isaiah 43. Before Abraham was, I am. Before the gods that your fathers and the rest of the nations created… Before the baals that you turned to… before you set yourself up as gods in Israel… I am…

Listen, there is one God. One true God. The living God. My friends, fall on your face today and give him glory. For he created us! And we repaid him by rejecting him and calling everything else, even ourselves god. And now he offers us salvation through Jesus Christ. Don’t miss this… Because the living God that is holding back his wrath with one hand is the same God who is bidding you to come to him and be saved from the sin that condemns you to hell. Because one day your card will be punched and you will walk into the judgment… And He asks you, Who will go with you to the judgment?

Who will answer for your sinfulness and reconcile you to the father so that his wrath isn’t poured out on you? Will all of your good works manifest themselves and become a living person saying, oh I did this and this and this… Aren’t I such a good person? Will your your intelligence vocalize for itself and speak to God on your behalf?? Or do you believe that you will just escape it… Death and then there is nothing. Oh no, God has revealed from the heavens, there is an eternity. He is eternity. The question is, where will you spend it? Accepting the wages for your sin through an eternity in hell? Or inside of the free gift of God which is eternal life in the presence of Christ? There is only one chosen and righteous servant, there is only one that is holy, there is only one who can stand in the judgment of God on his holy hill and give forgivness… It is Christ, who took God’s wrath on the cross. A holy and righteous and eternal and majestic God step out of heaven and manifested himself in a humna body to die the death we needed to die but never could. He made a way in the wildernes and had brought water to all those who will humble themselves and come to him.

It is a gift to see the holiness of God. Because the one who has been forgiven much will adore the one who forgave him much. And oh my friends we have so much that God has forgiven in Christ. Not only that but we have so much offered to us right now. We have a relationship with God, the one true living, eternal, supreme, sovereign, holy, savior God. He has come to us, and extended his hand and desires to walk with you. And my question to you as I close is this… Who do you say he is? Is he worthy of every drop of energy, every dollar, every heart ache of dealing with sin, is he worth leaving your home to serve the nations, is he worth laying down your hobbies and dreams?

I have told you this morning who God is by his own confession… and I have told you what he is worth. I have told you how to respond to him. My friends, run to the father. Waste no time. For who knows what tomorrow holds. God is merciful, and from the beginning he has been showing us that. There is no sin to great for him to forgive. He bids you come, and lean on His son, drink salvation, drink his grace, in faith.