Praise the Lord, all nations! Extol Him, all peoples! For great is His steadfast love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord! (Verses 1-2)
Behold, my Servant shall act wisely. He shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at You--His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and His form beyond that of the children of mankind--so shall He sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of Him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. Isaiah 52 Italics, mine
Steadfast love goes back to before our before. When the Godhead saw the void and filled it with galaxies, planets and us. Isaiah wrote Chapter 52 before Jesus was born--way before His birth. His death conceived and sealed before the Spirit brooded over the void. And the plan was for the nations to know Jesus. For the world to be saved (John 3:16-17). Earth was made to look like a lesser heaven with massive green trees, luscious fruit and a pounding river running through the garden. God put man and woman in the midst and spoiled them with the joy of living among the landscape filled with the outcropping of God's divine imagination--plants, animals, seas, valleys, mountains, plains and rivers. And God, Who created them in love, walked with them in the cool of the day. For the joy of it. To be with His son and daughter.
But They foresaw the cross. God told Isaiah what to expect. A martyr. Bloodied like the bull of Leviticus 4. Jesus was His own high priest and sacrifice. And the blood sprinkled onto the swirling sand beneath His nail-pierced feet as the earth shook and sky went black was for the nations. For the whole world. The Far East, the Middle East, Europe, South America, America, the Arctic. All of it. Because walking with us on our own turf wasn't enough to save us. Oblivious to Who He really was when Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead, we finally cried out for His death. What kind of love does that? Hangs mutilated on a wooden death machine, nailed to its crossbeams for all of mankind? The ones who hiss His name or spit at His shame. The ones who go on television nightly and ridicule His sacrifice. The ones who don't give Him even that much thought. Why does He still choose to love us?
I know God loves me because I've been sprinkled. The blood that hit the ground on Calvary has been splashed upon my head by grace. Healed my sinful, messed up soul and washed away my dirty deeds. God steadfastly loves me because the splatterings of His Son's precious blood makes me precious, too. When the Father and Son conspired to save us through the mystery of the cross, long before we existed in any dimension but His great mind, they also purposed to love us. Always. Forever. And ever.
I compare that to the thin, puny strain of loves of which I'm capable. Use the word for some pretty mundane things. I love fried chicken. (I do, I really do.) I love to go to Disneyland. (Not so much, but you get the drift.) Watered down and used for everything. But love, real love, is costly. And endures. Rides out the good and the bad, the ups and downs. Never fails. And God has been steadfast with me. With all of us. And is, also, with the nations for which Christ died. I rarely think globally except to pray and be thankful for the missionaries who go into all the world to preach the gospel. But Jesus saw all of us when He said, "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they are doing." And the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus on the altar of the earth He made drenched the nations in forgiveness. Entire people groups. And a gift was given to all mankind. That which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. Knowledge of the Most High, intimate and indwelling. Christ in us, the hope of glory. The hope of nations.
When Jesus comes again, it will be to the nations. Every knee bowing, every tongue confessing. It will be so obvious then. The clouds parted, the armies of heaven descending, the One on a white steed rushing down to Earth to judge what we did with His love. Some professing will do so under duress. No choice but to say, "It was true. All of it." His light so bright many will hide under rocks, crying out to be saved by them. In the centuries He's waited, patiently, lovingly, for us to bend a willful knee, Jesus has been merciful. Those of us washed clean by His blood also have the Spirit sent as the earnest, the down payment, on our future with God. We understand the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2) because He lives in us. Teaching us things we couldn't possibly understand before. A possibility open to every human being on the face of the earth! The divine plan to draw all people everywhere together as a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a chosen race and a people of His own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (I Peter 2).
Oh, heart of mine, do away with shallow love that seeks only what is good for me. Throw off the desire to love only those who love me in return. Jesus help me to purpose, as You did, to love intentionally those who need to know the constancy of Christ-like steadfastness. Forgiving, for I've been forgiven so much. Embracing the whole world without prejudice, for Your love is global when mine often doesn't creep past my neighborhood.
Behold, my Servant shall act wisely. He shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at You--His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and His form beyond that of the children of mankind--so shall He sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of Him, for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. Isaiah 52 Italics, mine
Steadfast love goes back to before our before. When the Godhead saw the void and filled it with galaxies, planets and us. Isaiah wrote Chapter 52 before Jesus was born--way before His birth. His death conceived and sealed before the Spirit brooded over the void. And the plan was for the nations to know Jesus. For the world to be saved (John 3:16-17). Earth was made to look like a lesser heaven with massive green trees, luscious fruit and a pounding river running through the garden. God put man and woman in the midst and spoiled them with the joy of living among the landscape filled with the outcropping of God's divine imagination--plants, animals, seas, valleys, mountains, plains and rivers. And God, Who created them in love, walked with them in the cool of the day. For the joy of it. To be with His son and daughter.
But They foresaw the cross. God told Isaiah what to expect. A martyr. Bloodied like the bull of Leviticus 4. Jesus was His own high priest and sacrifice. And the blood sprinkled onto the swirling sand beneath His nail-pierced feet as the earth shook and sky went black was for the nations. For the whole world. The Far East, the Middle East, Europe, South America, America, the Arctic. All of it. Because walking with us on our own turf wasn't enough to save us. Oblivious to Who He really was when Jesus healed the sick and raised the dead, we finally cried out for His death. What kind of love does that? Hangs mutilated on a wooden death machine, nailed to its crossbeams for all of mankind? The ones who hiss His name or spit at His shame. The ones who go on television nightly and ridicule His sacrifice. The ones who don't give Him even that much thought. Why does He still choose to love us?
I know God loves me because I've been sprinkled. The blood that hit the ground on Calvary has been splashed upon my head by grace. Healed my sinful, messed up soul and washed away my dirty deeds. God steadfastly loves me because the splatterings of His Son's precious blood makes me precious, too. When the Father and Son conspired to save us through the mystery of the cross, long before we existed in any dimension but His great mind, they also purposed to love us. Always. Forever. And ever.
I compare that to the thin, puny strain of loves of which I'm capable. Use the word for some pretty mundane things. I love fried chicken. (I do, I really do.) I love to go to Disneyland. (Not so much, but you get the drift.) Watered down and used for everything. But love, real love, is costly. And endures. Rides out the good and the bad, the ups and downs. Never fails. And God has been steadfast with me. With all of us. And is, also, with the nations for which Christ died. I rarely think globally except to pray and be thankful for the missionaries who go into all the world to preach the gospel. But Jesus saw all of us when He said, "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they are doing." And the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus on the altar of the earth He made drenched the nations in forgiveness. Entire people groups. And a gift was given to all mankind. That which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand. Knowledge of the Most High, intimate and indwelling. Christ in us, the hope of glory. The hope of nations.
When Jesus comes again, it will be to the nations. Every knee bowing, every tongue confessing. It will be so obvious then. The clouds parted, the armies of heaven descending, the One on a white steed rushing down to Earth to judge what we did with His love. Some professing will do so under duress. No choice but to say, "It was true. All of it." His light so bright many will hide under rocks, crying out to be saved by them. In the centuries He's waited, patiently, lovingly, for us to bend a willful knee, Jesus has been merciful. Those of us washed clean by His blood also have the Spirit sent as the earnest, the down payment, on our future with God. We understand the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2) because He lives in us. Teaching us things we couldn't possibly understand before. A possibility open to every human being on the face of the earth! The divine plan to draw all people everywhere together as a holy nation, a royal priesthood, a chosen race and a people of His own possession that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light (I Peter 2).
Oh, heart of mine, do away with shallow love that seeks only what is good for me. Throw off the desire to love only those who love me in return. Jesus help me to purpose, as You did, to love intentionally those who need to know the constancy of Christ-like steadfastness. Forgiving, for I've been forgiven so much. Embracing the whole world without prejudice, for Your love is global when mine often doesn't creep past my neighborhood.
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