ISAIAH 55 - "GOD'S LOVE"

"The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:29-31) We must realize that the Lord our God is a jealous God; but not in a evil way like Satan is. God is jealous towards us; in other words, He longs for us to love Him back and pours His love out towards us, that we should do just that. He does not demand that we love Him; but His love commands that we do; and when we don't, God is offended by it. Satan on the other hand is jealous of God and he is jealous of us; his jealousy is evil and will be punished, because it has lead to envy against God, and it has lead to causing man to sin. God's jealousy is Holy, True and Righteous; for God's judgements are just and based on the rejection of His love by an uncaring world. These three illustrations which I have been sharing on for the last week, were meant to show that God's perfect will for our lives is based on loving Him. This is the most important thing for our lives; that we love God, with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. Do I believe that a Christian can walk in opposition to God's perfect will? You bet I do; I know it, because I have lived it. Do I believe God is merciful and able to restore us to a right relationship with Him? You bet I do; I Know it, because I have experienced it. All three of the illustrations that we looked at, (Israel desiring a king, Hezekiah, and adultery), are present elsewhere in the Bible; first they were present at the fall of man; the pride of life, the lust of the eyes, and the lust of the flesh; but they are also present in the book of Revelation in chapters 2 and 3, where Jesus is addressing the seven churches. This we will look at as we get into Isaiah 55, and as I try to show that this chapter is a little more than we might otherwise think. As I have stated before, and I will state again; I believe that this chapter is speaking to the believer; I believe that this chapter is trying to instruct us, as believers to walk in victory, and in the newness we have in Christ. Much the same way that the Apostle Paul was doing throughout the book of Ephesians, Isaiah is also making a proclamation within this chapter that there are two different types of believers; there are those who are victorious and there are those who are not. This might sound harsh, or even to some it may seem judgemental; but I can tell you from experience that it is so. Let me give you a little taste of what I am talking about: When we as Christians are struggling with the flesh, we are not positioned right in Christ, because we are not living as someone who has become a new creation in Christ. Look at it like this; if you are seated in Christ and walking in Christ, then when you are faced with a trial or temptation, you will be able to stand in Christ. The battle in which you wage daily is not with the flesh, but a spiritual battle; your flesh will still want to battle with the Spirit, and will continue to until the flesh is no more; but the flesh does not have dominion anymore over your Eternal Soul, and over the Spirit of the Living God; these two now have dominion over the flesh. On the other hand; when we are struggling with the flesh, it is because we are living more for the things of flesh, than for the things of God. Our focus is not in the Life we have in Christ, the Place that He has prepared for us, and the Position we have in Him; which basically means, our lives will be ineffective and our battle against the flesh will become more prominent. When we are walking in God's perfect will, our focus is on loving Him with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. I know some of this is a little hard to fully receive or understand, especially if you are under the opinion that because God is not a respecter of persons, that there is no difference in one believer or the other; but God does not change, we do...and must!