{"id":25875,"date":"2023-04-10T22:00:05","date_gmt":"2023-04-11T05:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/isaiah-54-copy\/"},"modified":"2023-03-28T23:56:57","modified_gmt":"2023-03-29T06:56:57","slug":"isaiah-55","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/isaiah-55\/","title":{"rendered":"God\u2019s Open Invitation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Isaiah 55\u00a0 \u00a0Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Isaiah 55.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Isaiah 55:1-7 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples.
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.”
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Seek the\u00a0LORD\u00a0while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the\u00a0LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-7:\u00a0 In the book of Isaiah, Isaiah has shown himself capable of empathizing with different perspectives.\u00a0 In Isaiah 54, Isaiah is writing with a woman\u2019s needs in mind, likening God\u2019s people to a woman who longs for security and protection.\u00a0 In contrast, Isaiah 55 is written from a man\u2019s perspective, speaking to the concerns of a man who desperately wants God\u2019s forgiveness.\u00a0 Yet the messages of Isaiah 54 and 55 are one and the same: if we want the security, the protection and the forgiveness that we long for so much, we will not be able to get it ourselves.\u00a0 We need God\u2019s help.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 55 is an invitation to all to come and obtain for free the very thing we could never earn ourselves: God\u2019s mercy, forgiveness and freedom from our captivity to sin (v1).\u00a0 The only reason it\u2019s free is because God\u2019s servant would pay for it with his life (Isaiah 53).<\/p>\n

In verses 4-5 the LORD turns His attention to this servant who would deliver His people from captivity to sin.\u00a0 Having made him a witness, a leader and commander of the peoples (v4), and having endowed His servant with splendour (v5b) the LORD promises that nations that the servant never personally visited will turn to Him (v5).\u00a0 And that is indeed the case.\u00a0 When Jesus walked this earth, he only visited the region of the Middle East (Israel, Samaria, Egypt).\u00a0 But today there are followers of Jesus on every nation on the planet.<\/p>\n

Verse 6 is suggesting that there will come a day when people will not be able to find God no matter how much they try or want to.\u00a0 That day will come shortly after Jesus returns.\u00a0 So while we still have the opportunity, we ought to \u201cseek the Lord while he may be found; call on Him while He is near\u201d (v6).\u00a0 Don\u2019t take for granted the fact that Jesus died to make God\u2019s presence accessible to us today.\u00a0 Make the most of the opportunity and call on His name.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 55 speaks of how God is merciful and will freely pardon when we come to Him and call on Him (v7).<\/p>\n

Isaiah 49 to 55 shows us that God wants to deliver His people from their captivity to sin.\u00a0 Here in Isaiah 55 we see what that deliverance from sin looks like:
\n–\u00a0\u00a0it\u2019s a deliverance that only God can make possible; we can\u2019t earn it ourselves (v1-3);<\/strong>
\n–\u00a0\u00a0it\u2019s a deliverance that truly satisfies (v1-3);<\/strong>
\n–\u00a0\u00a0it\u2019s a deliverance that is centered around God\u2019s servant, the Messiah (v4-5);<\/strong>
\n–\u00a0\u00a0it\u2019s a deliverance that is not always going to be available, so we need to capitalize on the opportunity to have it while we still can (v6);<\/strong>
\n–\u00a0\u00a0it\u2019s a deliverance that is free, though it is not cheap for it was paid for by the blood of Jesus (v7).<\/strong><\/p>\n

Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the\u00a0LORD.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 8-9:\u00a0 There is another thing we learn about this deliverance from sin that God makes possible: it\u2019s not something human beings could think up.\u00a0 Naturally people want to earn their way to God.\u00a0 That is why every other religion, faith and philosophy in this world other than Christianity is about earning God\u2019s forgiveness, being good enough to get into heaven or to become your own god.\u00a0 But God\u2019s thoughts are not our thoughts.<\/p>\n

The message of Isaiah, and the message of the entire Bible is a completely counterintuitive one<\/strong>: it\u2019s that you and I could never earn God\u2019s mercy and forgiveness, and we don\u2019t have to because out of love God gives it to us for free, paid for by the precious blood of Jesus.\u00a0 This is the gospel (good news) message.<\/p>\n

Isaiah 55:10-13 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands.
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Instead of the thornbush will grow the pine tree, and instead of briers the myrtle will grow. This will be for the\u00a0LORD’s renown, for an everlasting sign, which will not be destroyed.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 10-13:\u00a0 God gives this message of the gospel to the world, knowing that His Word will not fail to bear fruit but accomplish its purpose (v10-11).\u00a0 Just as the rain and snow fall on the earth and don\u2019t fail to water it, so God\u2019s gospel is the same.\u00a0 It cannot help but water the earth with something that will bring life.\u00a0 God\u2019s gospel is a joy-producing, peace-producing, fruit-bearing gospel (v12-13).<\/p>\n

Isaiah 55 is both an invitation and a celebration.\u00a0 In Isaiah 55 we are all invited to come and receive the forgiveness, the mercy and the freedom that Jesus makes possible.\u00a0 Isaiah 55 is also a celebration, celebrating the fact that God makes possible for us a deliverance that we could never earn ourselves.<\/p>\n

Thank You Father for making our deliverance possible, and for offering it to us freely through Jesus Christ.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Isaiah 55.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Isaiah 55:1-7 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.
\n4\u00a0\u00a0See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander of the peoples.
\n5\u00a0\u00a0Surely you will summon nations you know not, and nations that do not know you will hasten to you, because of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has endowed you with splendor.”
\n6\u00a0\u00a0Seek the\u00a0LORD\u00a0while he may be found; call on him while he is near.
\n7\u00a0\u00a0Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts. Let him turn to the\u00a0LORD, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will freely pardon.
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses 1-7:\u00a0 In the book of Isaiah, Isaiah has shown himself capable of empathizing with different perspectives.\u00a0 In Isaiah 54, Isaiah is writing with a woman\u2019s needs in mind, likening God\u2019s people to a woman who longs for security and protection.\u00a0 In contrast, Isaiah 55 is written from a man\u2019s perspective, speaking to the concerns of a man who desperately wants God\u2019s forgiveness.\u00a0 Yet the messages of Isaiah 54 and 55 are one and the same: if we want the security, the protection and the forgiveness that we long for so much, we will not be able to get it ourselves.\u00a0 We need God\u2019s help.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25877,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25875"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25878,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25875\/revisions\/25878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}