By: Pastor Bill
“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises up in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,” says the Lord.” Isaiah 54:17
When you hear the word “righteousness” what comes to mind? Have you accepted Christ’s righteousness or are you still trying to earn your own?
During the building of the Golden Gate Bridge over San Francisco Bay, construction fell badly behind schedule because several workers had accidentally fallen from the scaffolding to their deaths. Engineers and administrators could find no solution to the costly delays. Finally, someone suggested a gigantic net be hung under the bridge to catch any who fell. Finally in spite of the enormous cost, the engineers opted for the net. After it was installed, progress was hardly interrupted. A worker or two fell into the net but were saved. Ultimately, all the time lost to fear was regained by replacing fear with faith in the net.
We paid nothing for God’s eternal love and nothing for the Son of His love, and nothing for His Spirit and our grace and faith, and nothing for our eternal rest…
Isaiah 54 is a chapter, where the prophet is telling Israel, those “governed by God”, about the Lord’s Continual Covenant Of Peace that God was making with His people. Now, for you bible students, you know that Isaiah 52 and 53 are classic prophetic scriptures pointing to Jesus as the Lamb Messiah who came to save us.
Now in Isaiah 54 He tells Israel how He will bring PEACE… REAL PEACE into their lives.
What is peace? In Hebrew, the word is “shalom.” PEACE meaning “completeness, soundness, health spiritually, and tranquility. The Lord is saying to Israel and He is saying to you, that if you receive the righteousness of the Lamb Messiah Jesus Christ… and allow him to take the primary seat in your life, you will watch as He brings peace and quiets down any tongue and any voice that would come against you.
Martin Luther writes, “Although out of pure grace God does not impute our sins to us, He nonetheless did not want to do this until complete and ample satisfaction of His law and His righteousness had been made. Since this was impossible for us, God ordained for us, in our place, One who took upon Himself all the punishment we deserve. He fulfilled the law for us. He averted the judgment of God from us and appeased God’s wrath. Grace, therefore, costs us nothing, but it cost Another much to get it for us. Grace was purchased with an incalculable, infinite treasure, the Son of God Himself.”
By His Spirit,
Pastor Bill