Knowing
the truth about God secures and prepares us for eternity. In Isaiah
40:21-31 Isaiah can’t believe anyone could
doubt the greatness of God when they see His glorious creation. He sits above all His creation. He brings the princes (political powers) to
nothing and makes judges (legal powers) of the earth useless. His power in not only in His creation, but
over men of the earth. He is master over
the heavens and all creation by the fact that He brings out the stars and calls
them by name. “The
Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his
understanding no one can fathom.” – Isaiah.
40:28b. There is no one like God. He pardons sin and forgives
transgressions. He doesn’t stay angry
with us when we sin; He delights to show us mercy. (Micah
7:18-19)
God
revealed Himself to Israel, Judah and His prophets and He reveals Himself to
us. Many don’t seem to understand the
fact that there is a God of all creation and He makes a difference in everyday
life. Unbelievers need to hear what they
already know: The Lord God is the
Creator of everything. We can clearly
see His invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature. All we have to do is just look around and see
His glorious creation – the sky, the vast oceans, the majestic mountains, or
the miracles of the inter-workings of the human body.
The
fact that God reveals Himself to us is important. The greatest way He has reveals Himself is
through His Word. He reveals Himself to
us through our consciences by convicting us of sin and impressing His law on
our hearts. Within the heart of every
person God has planted a longing to know Him. “God has
made everything beautiful its own time.
He has also planted eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom
what God has done from beginning to end.” – Ecclesiastes
3:11. He
reveals Himself to us through His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the living, breathing human
presentation of God. Many people
acknowledge that there is a God, but God wants us to know Him intimately – to
spend all eternity in close fellowship with Him.
Principles:
We see
Creator God’s invisible qualities by just looking around at His glorious
creation.
Knowing
the truth about God secures and prepares us for eternity.
Jeremiah
4:22 – The people of Israel and Judah persistently
rebelled and rejected God and His ways, but God remained faithful and
compassionate despite their failures.
It’s the same for us today. People are prideful and hard-headed. People rebel and reject Jesus, but God still
shows mercy when we repent and turn to Him.
None of us is perfect. We all
have doubts and battle with sin. But God
is always ready to forgive and forget.
The sacrifice of Jesus should enlarge your gratitude for God’s heart for
sinners. “We
all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and
the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” – Isaiah 53:6.
There
is nothing more important than knowing and walking with God. God created us. We are His offspring. He is the source of our existence; life comes
from Him. Without Him we can do
nothing. (Acts
17:28).
God is
light and in Him there is no darkness. Jesus is the light; sin is the darkness. Believers walk in the light; we have
fellowship with other believers and we experience forgiveness. “But if we walk in
the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the
blood of Jesus , his Son, purifies us from all sin.” - 1
John 1:7.
Israel
and Judah squandered God’s grace and missed out on His blessings. They were stubborn and had rebellious hearts;
they lied; their hearts were full of deceit; they turned away from God; they
did evil deeds; they worshipped idols.
Their sins deprived them of any good. (Jer.
5:23-31; Hosea 11; 2 Chron. 34:23-26)
Does
this remind you of people today? People
are stubborn and rebellious. People do
all the same things today as they did in Jeremiah’s time.
How are
you squandering the blessings of God?
What is
keeping you from God’s blessings?
How are
you tempted to take God’s grace for granted?
God’s
chosen people, Israel failed Him miserably.
They split into two kingdoms, endured a parade of evil kings, they
didn’t seek God but worshipped idols, they felt God’s judgment as they fell to
the Babylonians and were held in captivity.
By God’s grace He preserved David’s royal linage and the promise of
Messiah. God preserved a remnant to
return to their land.
A
greater King was coming – God’s own Son, Jesus the Messiah. The failure of Israel and our own reveal how
much we need a Savior. The good news –
God has provided a Savor – Jesus Christ!
Principle: Human
failure cannot thwart God’s purposes.
God
sent prophets to warn the people of judgment if they didn’t repent, but they
didn’t listen. He is warning us
today. But do we listen? He sends Christians to share the gospel to
the world. Every believer has a message that
someone needs to hear. We are to submit
to God because He alone is worthy of our loyalty, trust, and devotion. Israel’s story is our story; Israel’s Savior
is our Savior.
This
week’s attribute of God is He is Faithful.
He loves us and will do all He has promised. He gives us a purpose for life. That purpose is to know Him, love Him, enjoy
Him, and glorify Him. We belong to God
because He created us. Nothing can
separate God’s people from His love. He
is faithful to His Word and we can trust Him.
I hope you have enjoyed this
study of Kingdom Divided. Next
time we will be on Final Reflections of our study. -- I encourage you to trust in Jesus.
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