| << | Contents | >> |
Articles 2014-2017
Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord:
Isaiah’s thought was that the key to pursuing righteousness was to seek the Lord; it would only be found in Him. The idea that anyone could gain or even define righteousness apart from Him is foreign to the Scriptures. In fact, one of the names by which God has made himself known is YHWH TSIDKENU – the Lord our righteousness (Jeremiah 23:6). As a result, Paul could declare under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit:
It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God–that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
(1 Corinthians 1:30 NIV)
The good news of the gospel is that God has given us his own presence; we have received the gift of righteousness. It is also true that His work in our lives is to produce the fruit of righteousness (Hebrews 12:11). Righteousness is both a gift and a fruit. The first is instantaneous at our new birth. The second is an increasing reality in our lives as we learn to walk in harmony with Him throughout our lives. Both are the work of God; both are also rooted in our responding properly to Him; both reveal relationship.
Notice Isaiah’s counsel for those pursuing the Lord, their righteousness:
look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you;
While it would certainly be helpful to contemplate the lives of Moses, King David, Elijah the prophet, and other mighty men and women of God, the Scripture insists that we first consider the lives of Abraham and Sarah.
They had nothing going for them; they were pagans living in a Chaldean city. But the Lord called Abraham to follow Him. So he arose and did so without understanding fully where he was going (Hebrews 11:8). And his response revealed genuine faith. As a result, the Lord honored his obedience and declared him to be righteous.
Righteousness is the fruit in us of faith in the Holy One; it can only exist where He dwells. And when people respond to the gospel and welcome Him into their lives, they begin a journey with Him not knowing fully the implications. But surely change will be the order of the day.[40]
God called Abraham to follow Him many years prior to the giving of the Law in Moses’ day. And since all who are in the New Covenant are called children of Abraham (Galatians 3:29), we can study the whole of the Old Testament Scriptures and discover the New Covenant throughout. Thus Paul could instruct Timothy that the Scripture (Genesis through Malachi at that time) had the power to make him wise unto salvation through faith in Christ (2 Timothy 3:15). To study them would be profitable for teaching Christian truth, to correct error, and to train others to live like their father Abraham had – i.e. to train them in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16).
As a result, God empowered the apostles from their study of the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms to preach Christ to Jew and Gentile alike. And New Testament fellowships of believers centered in the Lord Jesus began to spring up all over the Roman Empire through their efforts. The Abrahamic Covenant of which all believers in Christ were partaking had promised multiplication.
for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him.
Of course, God multiplied Abraham through the birth of his son Isaac. But it is also true that today by the Spirit, all believers inherently know that we are called to multiply as well. And just as Isaac’s birth was rooted in impossibility (Sarah was simply too old to bear a child), so also the proliferation of God’s people all across the earth has (in previous years) and will (in the years ahead) require the sovereign intervention of Heaven.
Seeing the impossibility of bearing a son through Sarah, Abraham became intimate with their servant girl Hagar, and Ishmael was born. Then for thirteen years Abraham looked at his son and incorrectly thought he understood God’s promised multiplication. But the Lord had pledged that he and Sarah would have a son. So also today, the Church has tried many good ideas in order to fulfill her call to multiply. And the Lord has blessed many of our efforts. But there is a child of promise coming to birth.
Rooted in impossibility and based on a promise from Heaven (Romans 4:13), the purpose of God is coming to fulfillment all across the earth through Heaven’s daily initiatives in the lives of His people (Isaiah 40:31).
But we must face our barrenness, the impossibility of our calling. We cannot fix the Church; we cannot fix the nations; we cannot even fix ourselves. But our expectation and our hope is in the One who has promised to transform us, to build His house, and to unveil His glory before the eyes of all the earth (Isaiah 52:10; Luke 3:6).
Just as Abraham and Sarah were trained in barrenness, educated by the Lord over many years in their own total inability to bring about what He had promised, so also today He is confronting His people with our absolute need of Him. Too many areas in our midst simply fall short of His glory. But it is to these very waste places that He promises to come.
For the Lord comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song.
It is almost as if the Lord is saying that while in the past He brought His people through a wilderness so as to then bring them into a promised inheritance, today He intends to make the very wilderness itself into the fruitful land of promise. We must find Him right where we are and then send our roots down into Him. No more escape theology![41] One of the waste places among us is our relationship with each other. But God intends to arise even in the midst of all the tensions and divisions that exist across His international Church. And He intends to turn this very desert place into the garden of the Lord.
”Give attention to me, my people, and give ear to me, my nation; for a law will go out from me, and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples.
If there is anything that the world longs for it is genuine justice. We see the failures of the various nations and their paradigms to establish it. Communism promised justice and failed badly. Socialism has held out a false hope as well. Wherever it is practiced, injustice can always be found. Here in America, those who are wealthy too often have a better time in the court system than those who are poor. Many African Americans carry a deep sense of injustice as they look at our nation’s history and an abiding fear as they look toward its future.
But there is a dawning light. Isaiah prophesied that God would speak to His people, He would send among them His law, His instruction (Hebrew, TORAH) and He would establish in their midst His justice as a light to the nations. In fact, one of the primary ingredients in the Messiah’s mission would be to establish justice on earth. He would not bring it about through street demonstrations, rousing political rallies, or violent riots. Rather, He would tenderly touch hurting and wounded individuals. And He would reveal God’s heart of love for them.
Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.
So Jesus came to earth bringing to His people the clear instruction of Heaven. And the light began to dawn. If His people would simply treat each other like He had treated them, then would come the promised illumination to the nations. And the world would recognize His true followers.
”A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
If righteousness is a gift from God established in our vertical relationship with Him, then authentic justice among men can be found in the horizontal expression of that relationship. True justice revealed among men is to be one clear manifestation of God’s emerging kingdom on earth. Here is light that will confront the systems of this world.
But when believers divide from each other over doctrinal differences, the light is diminished. When we turn away from brethren because they treated us badly, the light is diminished. However, when we can learn and then express toward one another the kind of mercy, forgiveness, and patience that God has had with us, then will the prophetic words of Isaiah birth in us a new hope for the coming work of God on earth. He will set His justice as a light for the peoples.
Wherever we are in our walk with the Lord, there is a way forward, the next steps God wants us to take. We must listen (as Abraham did) and then respond appropriately.
Many people have been talking and demonstrating in the streets of America concerning injustice in our society. Where do we go from here?
Most of us will remember the tragic events of June, 2015 in Charleston, South Carolina when a young white man went into a primarily African-American Christian church and killed nine of our brothers and sisters. Immediately afterward, by the grace of God, our brethren took the very difficult but godly stand of proclaiming forgiveness toward the murderer. When they did so, God showed to the nation the way forward in its desire for justice. It will not be found through demonstrations and the raising of many voices in the streets. It will be found in expressing on earth the heart and purpose of our Father who is in heaven.
When these brethren responded as they did, certain activists became angry. Forgiveness expressed toward the unworthy simply did not help to facilitate their agenda for greater disturbance and violence.
But God spoke to the nation.
Here is in part what I believe He said. I have shown you the way forward. And many in the black community have heard My voice and are beginning to respond. In coming days and years, you will see an increasing number of My people in the black community begin to proclaim forgiveness to this nation, to the white community, to the police. When they see injustice, whether it is real or perceived, they will become a voice proclaiming My heart and it will reveal My kingdom. And I will begin to arise in the black community with increased blessing and power. And I will speak to the nation and give her direction as I unveil the way forward.
Father, forgive me for how I have not loved as You have loved me. Continue to be patient with me. Be merciful to me. And by Your grace help me to relate to others like You have to me, in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Donald Rumble – December 2016
Search Comments
This page has been visited 0059 times.
| << | Contents | >> |
10 per page