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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Nevertheless, there will be no more
gloom for those who were in distress. In the past, He humbled the land of
Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future He will honor Galilee of
the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan—The people walking in
darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness
a light has dawned.
Isaiah 9:1-2
This ends this
reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Isaiah
Chapter 8 closes with some foreboding words from the prophet the book is named
after. Namely, anyone who chooses to turn from God and seek their wisdom and
guidance from worldly sources (the prophet specifically mentions mediums and
spiritists) will find themselves out of the light found in His word and instead
in the darkness where there would be great distress and gloom and famine.
Of
course, he is speaking about none other than the Israelites, the chosen people
of God who chose to worship other gods outside of Him, violating the main order
He provided through Moses at Mount Sinai:
“You shall have no other gods before Me.”
Exodus 20:2
As a result of their disobedience,
God was sending judgment on His people in the form of attacks from two mighty
empires, first the Assyrians and then the Babylonians. The end result would be just
what Isaiah was prophesying with the Israelites thrust into a period of dark
times as the northern kingdom of Israel and southern kingdom of Judah would be
laid to waste and the people hauled away into exile. Not exactly words that
would put anyone at ease but the people of Israel brought it on themselves.
If the story would end here, it
would be a story of tragedy born out of sinfulness and rejection of God, a
stern warning against others going down that same path. But there is so much
more to this story and God than that as we see in the opening verses of Isaiah,
Chapter 9, some of the most encouraging words in the entire Bible. Today, we’ll
just look at these first two verses as we carefully move through these
incredible words of hope:
Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in
distress. In the past, He humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali,
but in the future He will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea,
beyond the Jordan—The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on
those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. Isaiah 9:1-2
Yes, Isaiah Chapter 8 ends with a
warning and that warning is critical to all believers who might be tempted to
turn their attention away from God toward worshipping anything else the world
might offer. But just as important as knowing and understanding that God is a
God of justice and judgment, correcting His people as need be to turn them from
sin to righteousness, is to know and understand that God is a God of love and
forgiveness and mercy and hope, a God who has delivered and continues to
deliver His people from darkness into light.
Yesterday, we looked at how God is
light and how anyone who seeks and carries out His will and way will be His
light to the world, bearing fruits of goodness, righteousness, and truth
(Ephesians 5:9). When people go down the wrong path in life, the path of
darkness paved by wickedness and transgression, God doesn’t abandon them but
rather continues to shine His light with the hope that people living in the
dark might return to Him one day. Indeed, we see no greater illustration of
this truth than in Jesus’ parable of the prodigal son:
There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, “Father,
give me my share of the estate.” So he divided his property between them.
Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off
for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he
had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he
began to be in need. So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that
country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. He longed to fill his stomach
with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired
servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out
and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven
and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one
of your hired servants.” So he got up and went to his father.
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was
filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him
and kissed him.
The son said to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and against
you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”
“But the father said to his servants, “Quick! Bring the best robe and
put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the
fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of
mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” So they began to
celebrate.
Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house,
he heard music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what
was going on. “Your brother has come,” he replied, “and your father has killed
the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.”
The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went
out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, “Look! All these years
I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave
me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of
yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill
the fattened calf for him!”
“My son,” the father said, “you are always with me, and everything I
have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of
yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.” Luke 15:11-32
In the parable, the youngest son
chose to turn from his father and walk into the darkness of the world where he
fell into great hardship, so much so that he decided to return home, confess
his wrongs, and seek the father’s mercy and forgiveness. Surely expecting
condemnation from his father upon returning, the young man received nothing but
love and rejoicing celebration for once lost, he was now found. In other words,
when he walked out being lost in the darkness and toward the light, he found
himself rescued, rediscovered, loved, and redeemed.
The people of Israel, like the lost
son, had chose to walk away from God and would fall on their own period of
hardship, a period that would have them turn back to the only One who could save
them, the only One who could bring them hope, the only One who could rescue,
rediscover, love, and redeem them once they walked out of the darkness and
toward the light. As our scriptures affirm today, there would be a time when
there would be no more gloom for those who were in distress for the people will
see a great light that will pierce through the deep darkness they had been in
for such a long time.
And if that weren’t enough good
news, it gets better. Because the emerging light that would dawn in the midst
of darkness for the people of Israel came to deliver all of mankind and is
still delivering them today. That light is none other than Jesus Christ, God’s
only Son, the Savior of the world, the Light of the world (John 8:12).
This world we live in is the domain
of Satan (2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT) and thus people who live for the world and its
ways are walking in the sin and wickedness that the evil one brings. Indeed,
many are walking in transgression today, heading down the wide, dark path of
destruction and death without hope (Matthew 7:13-14). But Jesus defeated Satan
and death (Hebrews 2:14 HCSB) through His own death and resurrection, piercing
the darkness of hopelessness and shining a light of salvation and deliverance
for all to see, a light that when followed leads one from death to life, not
just in the here and now but forever.
Yes, all of God’s people who have
walked, are walking, or will come to walk in darkness have seen, are seeing, or
will see a great light that dawns in the deepest nights of sin, bringing the
lost to the place where they are found, the place where they find the greatest
expression of God’s love in Jesus, the One He sent to save.
Question: Have you found Jesus, the
light that will pierce through your deepest darkness today?
Amen.
In
Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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