Isaiah 45:17 says, But Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: ye shall not be ashamed nor confounded world without end. God said that the people of Israel, those who had truly put their faith in God and not just those born into the kingdom of Israel, would be saved and not ashamed or confused. We who have put our faith in Jesus Christ are a part of that kingdom, and we should never be ashamed or confused about who we are. Through our faith in Jesus Christ, we are a part of that world without end, God’s coming kingdom.
Verse eighteen adds, For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else. Isaiah said that God said He was the Creator of the earth, and He created it to be inhabited and that He didn’t do so in vain. God will inhabit His earth with those who put their faith in Jesus Christ, and the earth will be restored to what He created it to be.
Verse nineteen continues, I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the Lord speak righteousness, I declare things that are right. God then added that He had not worked in secret but declared Himself to the seed of Jacob. It is not that they alone were to be able to know God, but that He was going to work through them to reveal Himself to the whole world. As Christians. God has revealed Himself plainly to us, and He then expects us to proclaim His gospel to the whole world.
Verse twenty states, Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save. Isaiah invited the people who had escaped from captivity to assemble together and to acknowledge that the idols that had been worshipped had no power to deliver them. Only God did then and only He does now. If we have accepted Jesus Christ as our personal Savior and Lord, we have been set free from sin’s power, and we can walk calmly in the world without having to run in fear.
Verse twenty-one adds, Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the Lord? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. What they were to declare when they did assemble together was that from the beginning, there had been but one God. People had declared this in the past under His authority, and they were to declare it again. He was not only the Creator, but He was a just God and the only Savior of mankind. This is never going to change, and when we assemble together in His name, we need to make sure that this is what we are proclaiming today. There is only one God and one Savior.
Verse twenty-two continues, Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else. God called on people from the ends of the earth to look to Him and be saved because He was the only God and therefore the only One Who can save them. This is just a true now as it was then. God never called the people of Israel into a covenant relationship with Him because they were the only ones He intended to save. He called them into a covenant relationship with Him so He could work through them to save anyone and everyone who would put their faith in Him, and that is still true for Christians today. We are just as unworthy of salvation as anyone else, but when we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we are redeemed from the penalty of sin, and our purpose becomes to reach out to other people with the gospel and not to sit back feeling superior to them.
Verse twenty-three says, I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. God said that He had proclaimed that one day every knee would bow and ever tongue would confess that He alone is God. He is the only way to righteousness. The question is, will we do that in this lifetime and accept His gift of salvation or will we wait until Jesus Christ returns in judgment and proclaim it after being forever separated from God’s forgiveness.
Verse twenty-four adds, "Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed." God said that anyone who said that they had righteous with God would have men coming to him to find out about this righteousness. We as followers of Christ know that our righteousness does not come from our own goodness, but it comes from our relationship with Jesus Christ once we put our faith in Him as our Savior and Lord, and we should then live our lives in such a way that people will be called to Him by our witness.
Verse twenty-five continues, In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory. All the seed of Israel were those who had remained true to the covenant that they had made with God and not everyone who was born into the nation of Israel. This was true because God was going to send the Messiah, Jesus Christ, to die for their sins and they had put their faith in His coming to do so. We today, no matter where we were born, become a part of the people of God if we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord, and that is the only way we can be justified, and we then should always give all the glory to God.
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