Isaiah
64 reminds me of the inner desire so many of us have to make Dad
proud. From the billionaire that grew up poor to the athlete winning
the MVP; many work to succeed to prove something to their father.
Moms seem to be more willing to accept and encourage, but I think
many of us are driven to show ourselves worthy to our dad. In
today’s chapter, Isaiah speaks in terms of worthiness before God.
Most religions stress the path of ascension to righteousness; rack up
enough accomplishments and get a bigger chunk of God’s favor.
Isaiah blurts out in frustration, “Oh,
that You would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains
would tremble before You!”
The prophet has learned that he cannot climb the mountain to
perfection, but he fears the result of God coming down to man. Who
can stand before the righteousness of the Almighty? “As
when fire sets twigs ablaze and causes water to boil, come down to
make Your Name known to your enemies“.
Many then as today have a god of their own creation, convenient and
accommodating. Isaiah is says, “No
one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides
You“.
Isaiah
describes the characteristics of select few that are looking forward
to God visiting man, “those who
gladly do right, who remember Your ways“.
That means they honor God in their actions with joy. Neither
religious obligation, nor religious study alone can make us right
before God. Isaiah adds, “When
we continued
to sin against them, You were angry“.
Do you publicly stand for those that honor God? Isaiah asked the
question of the ages, “How then
can we be saved?” Isaiah
makes a statement that should shake us to the core, “all
our righteous acts are like filthy rags“.
God is perfect in righteousness, and in comparison, every good deed
or act of spiritual devotion is disgusting to God. Too often our
efforts simply make us feel superior to our struggling brethren.
Isaiah cries out from his failure, “You
have hidden Your face from us
and have given us over to our
sins“. Is God hidden from
you?
Isaiah
closes the chapter with the realization that none of us can reach
God’s impossible standards. Listen to the new attitude, “Yet
You, Lord, are our Father. We are clay, You are the potter; we are
works in Your hand“. Knowing
he cannot earn God’s love, he comes to God in humility, “Lord;
do not remember our sins forever… look on us, we pray“.
Isaiah surveys his life and his nation, “Your
sacred cities have become a wasteland… Jerusalem a desolation…
Our holy and glorious temple… has been burned with fire, and all
that we treasured lies in ruins“.
Friend, have you come to a place where you know that you are unable
to earn God’s love? It is to this fallen and broken world that
Jesus Christ came to do the impossible. In humility He took the
punishment for our sin and died in our place. Romans 5:8 declares,
“God demonstrates his own love
for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us“.
The apostle Paul knew our struggle, as he talked about his body and
spirit at war. “What a
wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject
to death?” Listen to his
answer, “Thanks be to God, who
delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
(Romans 7:25).
The apostle concluded that because of the faith of Christ in us,
nothing “will be able to
separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord”
(Romans 8:39). Do you want to make Daddy proud? Receive the gift of
Salvation through Christ. “May
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him,
so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit”
(Romans 15:13).