Recognizing the Ugly Selfie

“On holy mission” - Isaiah, at the end of this passage, will evidently have been called and sent by God on a holy mission; but first Isaiah must see the Lord. He sees the Lord as Holy: (1) separate from sin (2) devoted to his own glory.

We also want to remember how this glorious God has revealed himself to mankind in the Person of Jesus Christ. This glory was robed in flesh. Glimpses of this glory were shown through the miracles (, ).

The next in this sequence of events is that Isaiah now realizes some things about himself. The vision/revelation of the LORD has caused Isaiah to do some self-examination.

Illustration 276

Illustration 276

Why Everything Hurts

Why Everything Hurts

Topics: Consequences; Discernment; Disease; Pain; Self-examination; Sickness; Spiritual Perception

References: ; ;

A man went to his doctor in an acute state of anxiety. “Doctor, you have to help me; I’m dying,” he said. “Everything I touch hurts. I touch my head and it hurts. I touch my leg and it hurts. I touch my stomach and it hurts. I touch my chest and it hurts. You have to help me, Doc; everything hurts.”

The doctor gave him a complete examination. “I have good news and bad news for you,” he said. “The good news is you are not dying. The bad news is you have a broken finger.”

—David Holdaway, Kincardineshire, Scotland

Larson, C. B., & Ten Elshof, P. (2008). 1001 illustrations that connect (p. 157). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

Proposition: It is imperative that we have a true view of God that results in a true view of self.

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Illustration: The selfie stick was designed to give you the ability to take a better, broader picture of yourself without your arm showing you were taking it. Could you imagine if we had a selfie stick that was as high as God? Could you imagine if the lens of our camera were so powerful that it could see the real me?

Proposition: It is imperative that we have a true view of God that results in a true view of self.

Allow the holiness of God to help you discern how you see yourself (v. 5)

He is ruined

He is silent

He is unclean - the state of being ceremonially unfit; it's what the leper declared (a state of being); tainted with impurities (especially in the eyes of God)

His unclean lips = His unclean heart -

Thus the lips seem to represent the expressions of a sinful heart that is not pure. provides a detailed list of prerequisites before a person can enter God’s presence to worship. Among those requirements is that one must “speak the truth from his heart” ().

Application:

Don't fix your self-esteem or self-valuation upon the selfie you post (-the grade you acquire; -the number of points you get in a video game; -the money you save). These are mirrors that are blury, at best and do not give the right perspective.

The real you is what God sees.

The real you is what is revealed when you stand before a holy God.

Illustration:

The Skinny Mirror - A woman pitches an idea of a mirror on Shark Tank that is designed to help you with your self-esteem.

Allow the holiness of God to help you discern the valuation of others (v. 5)

He was not so selfish that his concern was for merely himself.

Isaiah recognized the accountability of all people before this great holiness that he’d witnessed.

Isaiah also did not wrongly esteem others.

Application:

Be careful not to evaluate the worthiness of others by things our culture uses for evaluation: money, house size, talent, physical ability...These are foolish, temporal comparisons that melt before the holiness of the Lord.

(2) Be careful not to evaluate the worthiness of others by things our culture uses for evaluation: money, house size, talent, physical ability...These are foolish, temporal comparisons that melt before the holiness of the Lord.

Are you burdened for others around you because of what you know about the LORD?

Allow the grace of God to be the only thing that you believe can sufficiently fix the ugly selfie and others too. (v. 6 - 7)

Gospel song by Tye Tribbett (lyrics):

So many times in life before, I tried and tried to do things my way (hey, hey, hey) I thought that I was smart enough,

I thought I knew enough to (handle my self) I didn't realize the problem was, t

he struggle was between my will and Yours So I'm giving up my will for Yours,

I'm totally depending on You (please come through)

I have no other choice but to trust You That's all I can do I have no other choice but to believe

This was an act of God’s grace and not of Isaiah’s doing

These were live coals that burned continually

Two things took place:

Active verb - iniquity is taken away - guilt removed

Passive verb - sin purged - Atonement made

How this points to and is fulfilled in Christ:

Application can certainly be made of initial salvation, but the primary application seems to be to those who are already believers in Christ.

Peter, on the night he denied Christ, appears to be a good human example of this passage. Christ looks upon Peter in denial. Peter had previously been dishonest with himself about himself [, ]. Though, Peter was continually in the presence of the Lord, it was the momentous occasion that caused Peter to see his utter sinfulness.

Thus, in Christ, by looking to Christ we do become aware of our sinfulness; but really the use of the word "atone" points to the fact that Jesus is our Propitiation ().

The initial sacrifice paves the way for ongoing, eternal atonement. Guilt is completely, initially removed and atonement is made; but in Christ we are continually experiencing guaranteed forgiveness, as we repent.

The grace of God does something amazing, when we realize how horrible we are, we are forced to humble ourselves. We then come to God in true humility, and he graciously removes all guilt and pays fully for our sin.

The payment for our sin is so full that any time I come back with sin, no more payment has to be made. He can pull up the full payment that was made and say, “Your covered.” When that happens, I can live the Christian life without the guilt of sin.

Illustration:

I was speaking with my neighbor recently. His wife made a special kind of sweet potato casserole. He was telling me how good it is. He then proceeded to tell me that he works out so he can eat it.

What happens is that he eats so much of it, he gets guilty, so he has to work off the calories which, in turn, eases his conscience.

For the Christian, when we have committed sin again, we don’t have to work it off for our conscience sake. We have to humble ourselves, repent, and when we come back to the Lord, the record of Jesus Christ is pulled back up. Believing this, brings peace to our conscience.

Application:

Don't self-deprecate and don't judge others harshly because you have not taken time to believe the grace of God. When the grace of God is overlooked, these two responses are inevitable.

Questions:

How do you see yourself? Are you seeing yourself in view of God?

How do you see others? Are you burdened for others? Do you care too much of what other’s think?

What are you trusting will fix the ugly selfie? How have you responded to the grace of God?

How are you regularly responding to the grace of God? Is there humility and repentance?