THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION

Isaiah: Jahweh Is Salvation

Part LXII: God's Greatness Seen In Providing His Servant, The Messiah, Worldwide Spiritual Success

(Isaiah 42:5-9)

I. Introduction

A. According to the prophet Isaiah's view in which the Church era was not yet known, after Israel returned to her land from the Babylonian Captivity, the Messianic Kingdom would occur, 1 Peter 1:10-12; Ephesians 3:1-11.

B. Thus, as God planned to restore Israel to the Land, Israel anticipated the coming of the Messiah, and Isaiah 42:1-4 launches into the first of Isaiah's "Servant Songs" on Him, Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 1095.

C. That passage starts to present Christ's first advent where He began to do and to teach in His earthly ministry what He continued to do through His people in the Church era (Acts 1:1-2), what ministry is spiritual, and it produces worldwide success in the unfathomable wisdom and plan of God according to Isaiah 42:5-9.

D. Christ's first advent sets the stage for the Church era, so we view that Isaiah 42:5-9 passage for our insight:

II. God's Greatness Seen In Providing His Servant, The Messiah, Worldwide Spiritual Success, Isa. 42:5-9.

A. Having introduced the Messiah in His first advent in Isaiah 42:1-4, Isaiah shared God's message to Messiah, that He is the Creator of the heavens, He Who stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and what comes up from it by way of created life, the One Who gives life to the people on earth and spirit to those who walk in it, Isaiah 42:5. This infinitely Great Creator God, unmatched by any false Gentiles god or idol (cf. Isaiah 41:28-29) was able to make His Servant, the Messiah, successful in His earthly ministry!

B. That infinitely Great, Incomparable Creator states in Isaiah 42:6a that He is the Lord Who called Messiah into His ministry in righteousness, that He would take Him by the hand to guide and preserve Him that He might fulfill His calling, Isaiah 42:6b; J. A. Alexander, Commentary on the Prophecies of Isaiah, 1974, p. 135.

C. The infinitely Great, Incomparable Creator promised to make His Servant Messiah a covenant for the people of Israel as well as a Light for the Gentiles, Isaiah 42:6c; Bible Know. Com., O. T., p. 1095. This is a remarkable prediction in that Christ's ministry of fulfilling God's promises to Israel is yet to occur in the Messianic Kingdom (Ibid.) though right now the Lord is making Him a Light to the world's nations through the worldwide outreach of the Church, cf. Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 1:8.

D. However, that ministry of worldwide outreach would be spiritual in nature as described in Isaiah 42:7-9:

1. Isaiah's claim that Messiah would open the eyes of the blind and bring prisoners out of the dungeon of darkness (Isa. 42:7) in the context of the Gentiles alludes to the spiritual ministry of Messiah through the Church in discipling the nations out of the darkness of sin and its bondage into God's glorious liberty and insight of truth, Ibid.; John 8:12, 32; Colossians 1:13-14; Isaiah 9:1-2.

2. Though the Gentiles trusted in false gods (cf. Isaiah 41:28-29), God would not give His glory to another god, so He was intent that the Gentile nations might come to know Him as the true Creator that they might shift their allegiance from false gods and idols to Israel's true God, the Creator of the universe, Isaiah 42:8.

3. Referring to the earlier theme in which God contrasted the inability of the Gentile false gods and idols to be able to predict the future, the Lord added that He was not declaring new things before they had come into existence that they might know He was the true God of the universe, Isaiah 42:9 with Isaiah 41:21-26.

E. Applied to us, we know that we believers in the Church are instruments of Messiah to disciple the nations of the world today (Matt. 28:20b), so we have the following blessed assurances of success from our Creator God:

1. God the infinitely Sovereign Creator of the universe has called us into our ministries for Him, so He it is Who guides and preserves us so we can accomplish His assignments, Isa. 42:6a,b; 2 Tim. 1:8-12.

2. The Lord promises thus to use us as He used Messiah Jesus to bring people out of the darkness and bondage of sin into the glorious liberty of the righteousness of God, Isa.42:6c-7; 2 Cor. 2:14-17 with 3:4-5.

3. God wills that the world's nations come to glorify Him as opposed to their current false gods, and He assures us of success as we serve our Lord Jesus in discipling the nations, Isa. 42:8-9; Matt. 28:19-20.

Lesson: Just as the infinitely great Creator God called the Messiah Jesus to His ministry and He guided and preserved Him to be able to accomplish His ministry, so we His people who are under our Lord and who are being led and helped by Him to disciple the nations can be confident God will help us succeed in our efforts for Him.

Application: May we rest in the assurances of success our infinitely great God has given us that He will make us successful and so abound in the work of the Lord, knowing that our labor is not in vain in Him, 1 Cor. 15:58.