January 8, 2025

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer who formed you from the womb: ‘I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who by Myself spread out the earth.’” (Isaiah 44.24)

REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

We know the voice of Isaiah’s prophecies move rhythmically through the past, present and future tenses. Through him God speaks to what was, what is and what will be. Not only does God declare what will be, for better and worse, He speaks of what can be. In this we are able to see the expressions of the fulfillment of His promise to redeem Israel (Judah and Israel; north and south.) It would seem that the greatest battles we all face are those internal ones. The powerful conflicts between right and wrong that use our conscience, our heart and our mind as battlegrounds. The intent of the enemy who is against both us and God is to defeat us. The enemy knows he cannot defeat God. If we were truly in tune with God, we would know the enemy cannot truly defeat us. Our greatest weapon is our faith in God regardless of the circumstances. Our faith allows us to rebuke the enemy knowing he will flee.

Jesus did that in the wilderness following His baptismal anointing in the Jordan River. When He entered the waters to confront His cousin John the Baptizer, John immediately wanted to defer. He recognized Jesus not just as his cousin but as “the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sins of the world.” He suggested that it should be Jesus who baptized him and all others. It was Jesus who deferred to John saying, “It is fitting that we do this to fulfill all righteousness.” Have you ever read or listened to this dialogue between Jesus and John and heard the spiritual conflict being waged? There was John, six months older than Jesus, born to be last prophet of the Old Testament. His purpose was to prepare the people to meet Jesus and welcome in the Messianic Kingdom He would institute. There was Jesus, the Son of Man and the Son of God, whose Kingdom would know no end. We do not know if they had truly met before beyond that moment of quickening when John leapt for joy in his mother’s womb when Mary approached. Did John have a similar experience standing there in the “waters of life,” the Jordan River? Perhaps. What we do know is that a conflict arose between them. It was no rowdy brawl nor fierce conversation which happened there in the eddying pool of the Jordan River. John resisted. Jesus persisted. John relented. Jesus proceeded. From that moment forward, the person of Jesus was solidified. The voice of that twelve-year-old boy on the steps of the Temple teaching the elders and His parents would echo across the whole nation of Israel and beyond. He said then, “Did you not know I would be in My Father’s House tending His business?” (Luke 2.49) His course was now accepted to complete His Father’s work. All others would decrease and He would increase.

As I read and consider Isaiah 44, I hear the word of God being spoken in anticipation of Jesus’ choice to pursue the cross to fulfill all righteousness. Perhaps verses 24-28 were what Jesus remembered when He was in the Garden that night preparing for Judas of Kerioth’s arrival with the Temple Guard and Roman soldiers. We know in the Garden, He prayed in that moment of conflict between moving away from the cross and moving toward it. He uttered, “Father, if it is possible, take this cup away from Me and let it pass.” Jesus was not being cowardly. Jesus was feeling the weight of the hour in His own soul. His human heart and mind were being stretched to the limits. His Spirit was willing but the flesh was weak. There had to be an answer, a word of encouragement, to Jesus’ request and query. Was it these verses from Isaiah, a prophetic writing Jesus referred to often, which ministered to Him? In them, can’t we see the melding of the past which spoke of the future which had become “that day.” Before it happened, God had already made a way.

Mighty ones of God, God has made a way for us as well. Before we were who we are, God formed us in the womb. From another prophet, Jeremiah, we hear such an affirmation, “Before you were born, I knew you in the womb. I have called you and set you apart to be prophetic.” (Jeremiah 1.5) David had the same sense of the matter when he sang “I praise You because I am wonderfully and fearfully made; Your works are marvelous, I know that full well.” (Psalm 139.14) There is purpose and meaning in our lives. We confront those fierce conversations in our soul as well. Do we surrender? Do we press forward? Do we immerse ourselves in the promises of God’s Word? Do we forsake them and wander in the desert of life hungering and thirsting for the very thing we deny ourselves? If not for the example of Jesus who has gone before us, then we would certainly be lost. We would be prey of the enemy and easily consumed. Our worldly strength and sense of being is a limited resource. We can run, but we cannot hide. We can boast, but we cannot prevail. It is through Christ alone that all things are possible for us to live life to its fullest. That fullness we know in part in this world on earth. That fullness we yearn for will come when we, as did Jesus in the Garden, proclaim, “Not My will but Yours be done.” In Christ we become a new creation. The words given through Isaiah declare, “...who says of Cyrus, ‘My shepherd will fulfill all that I desire,’ who says of Jerusalem, ‘She will be rebuilt,’ and of the temple, ‘Let its foundation be laid.’” That foundation, and ours, is Christ alone, the solid rock on which we stand by faith. God’s promise is true for Him and for us.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, before we were conceived in the womb, You had already formed us in Your love and by Your Spirit brought us into being. Each one of us is blessed with the opportunity of doing right, being good and producing the fruit of the Spirit in order that others be fed the truth of that same love so that the two will become one. It is our soul’s sincere desire to embrace the oneness You have in mind so we would know we are Your people and You are our God. Lead us in that discovery of the truth and the manifestation of that love for us all. In Jesus’ name, we pray. AMEN.