“Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!’ Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and His arm rules for Him; behold, His reward is with Him, and His recompense before Him. He will tend His flock like a shepherd; He will gather the lambs in His arms; He will carry them in His bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.” Isaiah 40:9-11
Devotional Thought For The Day
This prophetic section from Isaiah 40, which speaks of the blessings of the coming of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, begins with the command: “Comfort, comfort ye My people, says your God.” Anyone even slightly familiar with Isaiah knows that much of his message to Israel was of judgment and condemnation for their sins. The Assyrians were coming to decimate the Northern Kingdom. They would even besiege Jerusalem, and if not for an astonishing miracle of God they would have taken the Southern Kingdom as well. Interspersed amongst the dire pronouncements of God’s righteous wrath over the immorality, idolatry, impenitence, and unbelief of Israel and other nations are these beautiful promises of the Messiah and the salvation of God. Because of our sin God’s Word always calls for repentance, sorrow over our sin and a change of heart and mind regarding our sinful thoughts, desires, words, and deeds. Yet the final Word of God, the message which enables and compels such repentance and faith is this “good news,” the message of God’s gracious mercy and forgiveness, His ongoing love and compassion for all people, and His promise to tend, gather, carry, and gently lead us to eternal life and salvation.
To the unbelieving and spiritually ignorant, Isaiah must appear to be completely contradictory and insane. And even Christians have had difficulty keeping the message straight. One temptation is to think that the good news is only for those who are sinless, that God’s reward and recompense is merit based, a positive judgment on our behavior. This presses desperate people to utter delusion about themselves and ultimately confirms people in their sins – the belief that we can and are earning God’s favor by being what we are, that we are righteous just as we are. It negates repentance and faith in God’s gracious mercy and forgiveness – there is no need for forgiveness or change. The other temptation is to think that the good news applies to us regardless of what we do, that God only feigns indignation at human sin, but that ultimately He is soft on sin and doesn’t really require anyone to repent – that His gracious mercy and forgiveness are license to continue on in whatever we want to do. This also negates repentance – and ultimately faith in His forgiveness and mercy, for if our sins are not really all that bad then there is no need to repent or for God to forgive us. Both of these delusions of the devil and our sinful nature continue to dominate human thinking, religion, philosophy, and spirituality – especially outside of the church, but sadly, they are also found within the church. And our own sinful nature inclines us to the same.
Proper comprehension of the true good news, its real nature and how it is extraordinarily good news, requires the context of reality, an understanding of the depth of our degradation in sin [see Gen. 6:5 or Jer. 17:9]. Without this understanding we cannot grasp or appreciate that the good news is about God’s gracious forgiveness and mercy, His act of redemption in Christ Jesus, and His work of re-birthing and sanctifying us through His love, through faith in His love. And apart from grasping this good news of God’s gracious and merciful love, His will for our salvation and His work to accomplish this, we can only resort to delusion, either about our ability to please God or about the real nature of sin, its wretched evil. Obviously such self-delusion is in no respect salvation or regeneration of our being but rather recalcitrant and incorrigible damnation, an utter immersion in sin and death. That this is not God’s will is expressed repeatedly in Holy Scripture, and to make this plain and clear God sent His prophets and apostles to preach both His law’s condemnation of human sin and the good news of His free gift of salvation in Christ Jesus. To this day this remains the task of God’s true spokesmen, those who are genuine servants of His Word and of His kingdom. All Christians should understand this, especially the servants, and also those whom God has claimed for His own by bringing them to repentance and faith.
But the final Word of God to the humble and contrite, the repentant and believing is “good news” of comfort, peace, and joy. How could we possibly forget this? But the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh are excellent accusers and prosecutors – and we often feel driven to forsake the gracious love of God and to resort back to delusion. So we must repeatedly hear His Word – with crystal clarity, that by His grace and the power of His Spirit we grow in faith in that perfect love which casts out all fear [1 John 4:18]. This is not only the only way of salvation, but also the only way of renewal for “we love because He first loved us.” [1 Jn. 4:19] So as we once again focus on the topic of our text this Christmas season, the birth of our dear Savior, let us also keep our focus on the good news, the glorious grace, mercy, forgiveness, new life and salvation which God has given us in Christ Jesus. Then we will be strengthened in that life of repentance and joyous faith in which God renews His image within us – which is life, eternal life. This is the great gift of Christmas, the wondrous gift of God! To Him be all praise and glory!
Prayer For The Day
Dear Lord Jesus, in a world so filled with bad news of sin, misery, wretched immorality, and unbelief, we desperately need good news, that which You have supplied in Your suffering, death, and resurrection for our salvation. Keep us mindful of the darkness of sin in our own lives, that we remain in constant repentance yet filled each day with the joy of Your salvation. Do not allow any temptations to lure us away from Your good news, and away from Your good and gracious will that You are accomplishing in us. Amen.