"I AM Your God"

Isaiah 41:1-29

Introduction

When I get asked to address the UN or NATO this is the passage I’m going to read :)

Passages like today’s are helpful perspective for believers in Jesus

Isaiah’s message (& name) is that the Lord Saves

It is about salvation

Through this we see God working out His purpose of salvation in every part of creation

That is, God’s plan is worked out through His work in creation, individuals & nations

If we look at the world & history this way we won’t be confused or distressed by the events going on around us

Rather, we will be encouraged and strengthened as we recognise God bringing the fullness of redemption

Isaiah wrote these words more than 150 years before they would find fulfilment

Written to give God’s people hope and courage as they faced disaster

Written for God’s people who would experience their fulfilment to find strength in God

This is a passage of God’s sovereign reign over all

READ Isaiah 41:1-29

1 of wonderful things about this chapter is how familiar, how NT it sounds

What makes God Israel’s hope is the same as what makes God our hope

He is the same yesterday, today & forever

He is Sovereign

Isaiah 41:1-7

He Rules the Nations

Isaiah 41:1-3

He Calls to Judgment

We’re brought into the courtroom of God

Isa. 41:1-7 & 21-29 are scenes in this courtroom

Coastlands = beyond the seas

Call to all the nations

Called to a solemn & serious moment - to give account before God

“renew their strength” is same phrase as Isa. 40:31 but apparently with a different source

Their strength doesn’t come from God

They’re called to summon up all thier own strength

Strength they have relied on

Called to judgment

He Moves the Nations

God states His case in a series of questions

These directly oppose the nations beliefs in themselves

They believe they’re mighty & in control

They build & conquer & grow

Can they really prove they are as powerful as they believe?

God makes His case by pointing out one from the east

Later his identity will become clearer but for now its vague

Jews & early Christians believed this spoke of Abraham

Or Abraham’s descendants who conquered under Joshua

Though you can’t build the case on this passage it is clearly in support of Israel being given the land

It seems clear from later prophecies that Cyrus, king of Persia, could also be seen as object of this prophecy

In ~150 yrs Cyrus will conquer much of the world, including Babylon

Whether Abraham or Cyrus one thing to be noted is that this passage clearly shows lands don’t belong to people or nations but to God

God, ultimately, determines who & when have possession of a land

It also can be escaped from that this passage re-iterates God has chosen Israel to be a conduit of His blessing & cursing in this world

He Does It

Who conquered these lands?

Did Abraham or Joshua do this?

Did Cyrus, in all his might, conquer the world?

No, none of them did this - God gave it to them

God sovereignly moves people and nations to accomplish His purpose in this world

Nebuchadnezzar learned this to be true

Daniel 4:17 “17 ‘This decision is by the decree of the watchers, And the sentence by the word of the holy ones, In order that the living may know That the Most High rules in the kingdom of men, Gives it to whomever He will, And sets over it the lowest of men.’”

God is sovereign

What do we mean by that?

God rules with absolute authority over all things and all people

That He exercises that rule in perfect wisdom, justice and mercy

This is why Paul can say that God “works all things according to the counsel of His will,” (Eph. 1:11)

He is the First and the Last

Isaiah 41:4

He Is

How can God make such a claim credibly?

He is Yahweh: I am, the one who is, the one who depends on no-one and nothing to exist

He is the first in existence and preeminence

In existence because He is the giver of existence having existence in Himself

In preeminence because He is the reason all things exist

Wonderful reference to God’s work in this phrase

I...am the first; and with the last

In the beginning He alone lives

In the end He will be with the last - that is, He will save some

This is the personal name by which He was known to Israel

He can move nations because He rules the nations

He can give & take away lands because He created them

Jesus Is

What does this mean for us today?

John 18:5–6 “5 They answered Him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am He.” And Judas, who betrayed Him, also stood with them. 6 Now when He said to them, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.”

Why did they fall to the ground? They knew what Jesus meant

These words are familiar to us

Revelation 22:13 “13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”” (Also Rev. 1:11 & others)

We don’t need to guess what Jesus means by this because He told us

I Am the bread of life (Jn. 6:35) - He is the one who sustains life

I Am the Light of the World (Jn. 8:12) - Source of & guide to truth

I Am the Door (Jn. 10:9) - He is the way to safety & life & protects those who are His

I Am the Good Shepherd (Jn. 10:11) - He knows & cares for His people

I Am the Resurrection & Life (Jn. 11:25) - Giver of spiritual life

I Am the Way, Truth & Life (Jn. 14:6) - Only way to Father/salvation

I Am the Vine (Jn. 15:1) - Source of life, joy, satisfaction, fruitfulness

To Israel I Am was their deliverer, their saviour

He was the Manna that sustained them

The light to lead them & protect them

The Shepherd to lead them

This is who Jesus is for us - He is our deliverer, our Saviour

These are not empty words because He is the great I Am

John 6:35 “35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”

John 8:12 “12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.””

John 10:9 “9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.”

As God called Judah to believe in Him so He calls us today to believe in Him

We Run Away

Isaiah 41:5-7

We Made Our Own gods

How do the nations respond to God?

Do they acknowledge Him? Do they humble themselves before Him? Do they believe Him?

No, they run from Him to idols

Their rejection of God doesn’t weaken God or change God’s plan

God doesn’t need to respond to their rejection because they didn’t do what He wanted

Whether they submit or not God’s purposes will be done

Instead of coming to the Almighty God they make thier own gods that please them

They help each other & encourage each other in their idolatry

Modern man is no different

We’ve made a whole bunch of gods more suitable to our tastes

We carve our idols & put them in our houses & gardens

We run from the idea of sovereign God in fear just like they did

I don’t like God’s rules

e.g. Shiny Happy People Season 2 documentary - bad things happened in the name of God but the problems people had were they didn’t like what God called sin

We dislike the idea that God would not just allow but actually command the destruction of nations

That disgust comes from a misunderstanding of God Himself

For many they can’t imagine a God who wouldn’t accept people as they are & love all people no matter what they do

We argue with God because we don’t want to believe a good God would allow bad circumstances to happen

We idolise our idea of free will, our idea of love, our idea of god

So, we choose to craft our own gods

We Know They Can’t Stand

As we craft our gods we know they can’t stand, can be easily knocked over

Instead of acknowledging the truth we start hammering in pegs to keep them up

Trying to bolster up our idols

Constantly adding to them and new gods because none of them satisfy

This is what Jesus spoke of to the Samaritan woman at the well

John 4:13–14 “13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.””

Conclusion 1

The US & G7 nations with the UN & NATO will all act like they rule the world

Russia & Ukraine will play games with peoples lives over land that doesn’t belong to either of them

Palestine will continue trying to convince the world their innocent while Israel, in unbelief, will proclaim their righteousness

Australia will run around after them all pretending we matter

While they pretend their powerful we will worship the God who is truly powerful

Yahweh isn’t just a name - it’s who He is

It is how He has chosen for His people to know Him

It is the name by which He bound Himself in covenant

The God who rules the nations is the same God who gave Himself to soldiers that fell down at the mention of His name

The one who submitted Himself to death on the cross to pay for our sin

The one who rose from the dead in glory & power to give us eternal life

So that, the God who existed alone in the beginning will have a people with Him at the last

He is Faithful

Isaiah 41:8-20

He Keeps His Promises

Isaiah 41:8-9, 20

Remember Who You Are

Remember Why God Chooses

He Strengthens with His Presence

Isaiah 41:10, 14, 17

Don’t Fear

You May Feel Like a Worm

God Will Help You

He Provides for His People

Isaiah 41:17-19

God Gives Abundantly

God Provides for Every Need

He is God

Isaiah 41:21-29

He Puts All gods to the Test

Isaiah 41:21-24

Why Do You Trust Your gods?

Your gods are Worthless

He Proves He is the Only God

Isaiah 41:25-29

He Raises Kings

He Gives Good News to His People

Conclusion