Understanding Isaiah (Lesson 10: The Sovereign Grace of God [Chapters 43-45])

Introduction:

Our last lesson, taken from Isaiah chapters forty through forty-two, emphasized, first, the incomparable greatness of God; and second, the work of redemption to be carried out by the coming Servant of the Lord as the ultimate display of God’s incomparable greatness. As the text moves into our next portion for study, chapters forty-three through forty-five, Isaiah continues this theme of the coming redemption which will be wrought by Christ. As we look into these chapters, we must be immediately struck with the greatness of salvation; but if that is all we come away with, we are missing the whole point of the text. Isaiah’s explicit reason for exulting in the great salvation of our God is that, in an unmatchable way, it reveals much about God himself. The basic reason for calling to mind God’s great salvation is that it serves to confirm God’s testimony of himself – “I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me, there is no savior” (Isaiah 43:11). God’s greatest act, the salvation of his people, as well as every other work he has performed, was done “for [his] glory” (Isaiah 43:7). When we consider the nature of this great salvation, and meditate on the character of the great God it reveals, we must be overwhelmed, as was Isaiah who penned this text, with God’s almighty power, and God’s unfailing grace. In other words, as this text makes clear, salvation is, above all, the display of the sovereign grace of God.

The Promise of Salvation for Israel (Isaiah 43:1-44:9)

Chapter forty-three begins with an amazing prophecy of comfort and hope to Israel, the people of God: in spite of every conceivable difficulty and obstacle, they will not be destroyed, for God himself will be with them, sustaining, preserving, and helping them (cf. Romans 8:31-39). This would be a remarkable promise under any circumstances; but in the light of Isaiah’s previous scathing denunciations of Israel’s corruption, it is staggering. Immediately after revealing this great, saving power of God, lest anyone should suppose that it was something inherently desirable in Israel’s nature that moved God to save them, the prophet makes clear God’s reason for effecting this deliverance: his holy nature and free, elective grace. Because God is the holy LORD, he rejected many nations and chose to become the God of Israel. Because he chose to set his love upon Israel, she has been honorable, and many peoples have been rejected for her sake. As God made clear from the beginning, it was his elective grace alone, not anything good in Israel, that moved him to set his love upon her (cf. Deuteronomy 7:7-9). Isaiah then speaks more exactly of the nature of this coming salvation: it will not be as when God redeemed his people out of Egypt; but instead, it will entail a restoration of a remnant of grace from an exiled people. God’s power and grace will be seen more clearly in this restoration even than when he first called out his chosen people. And the purpose of this new, mightier salvation, would be nothing but the display of God’s glory.

Isaiah then moves into a recounting of the blessings that this redemption would entail for God’s people: healing, justification, and ultimately the knowledge of God. However, after this brief description of salvation’s benefits, he begins again to declare the reason for it all: to display God’s sovereign power. Our God is the only savior. His power cannot be contested. He has shown his sovereign power in his redemptive acts throughout world history, and he will show it even more fully in the time to come; ultimately, in the mightiest act of all – bringing true praise from the hearts of a rebellious people.

At this point, Isaiah establishes quite certainly the overwhelming need for this great salvation: Israel has been utterly corrupt. However, even this wickedness cannot frustrate God’s saving power; for God will justify his people, overcoming their sinfulness and vindicating the power of his grace. This salvation will be applied through faith alone, as God’s people acknowledge their guilt and inherited depravity, and the resultant judgment of God. Finally, as we move into chapter forty-four, Isaiah again declares that, instead of deserved judgment, Israel will be given salvation, when all true Israel is regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Exclusivity of God’s Salvation: Idols Powerless to Deliver (Isaiah 44:9-20)

Just as we have noted several times before, immediately after Isaiah describes the greatness of God’s coming salvation, he takes the opportunity to declare what we may learn of God himself from the fact of his mighty redemption. Here, we see again that the Lord is the only God mighty to save. God is the first and the last, and beside him there is no god. All the idols of the earth, that men put their trust in, are vain and impotent. With the Lord alone is the strength to redeem, deliver, and save his people.

True Salvation Examined (Isaiah 44:21-28)

As the text moves again into a description of the salvation of the Lord, we are immediately instructed that its subjects are ultimately determined by the grace of God alone. In contrast with idolaters, who have been blinded (cf. Isaiah 44:18), God’s true Israel has been formed and chosen by God. The end results of the salvation they will experience are the glorification of God, the redemption of his people, and creation-wide joy and singing. But the primary subject of this portion of the prophecy deals with how these blessed results come about. Throughout the rest of the chapter, Isaiah relates how every detail of God’s all-inclusive plan of redemption has been decreed and will be carried out by the word of the sovereign Lord. God created the heavens and the earth, sent foolishness into the hearts of men, caused cities to be inhabited and rivers to be dried up, and even directed the actions of earth’s greatest rulers all for the purpose of accomplishing his eternal plan of salvation. Everything in all of history has taken place for the purpose of accomplishing redemption (cf. Ephesians 3:9-12). What a mighty God we serve!

The Absolute Sovereignty of God Revealed in His Work of Salvation (Isaiah 45)

Isaiah forty-five may be understood as a manifesto of the ways in which salvation displays the absolute sovereignty of God. We see first that God rules over the hearts of earth’s kings in order to accomplish his own gracious purposes (cf. Proverbs 21:1). For the good of his people, he directs the affairs of the world at large (cf. Romans 8:28). And he does these things, ultimately, so that his uniqueness and glory may be known throughout all the earth. The lesson that Isaiah’s prophecies have been intent on teaching throughout these chapters finds its essential distillation in verse seven of chapter forty-five: God is the ultimate cause of everything that happens, whether good or evil. He alone rules, working everything after the counsel of his own will (Ephesians 1:11). He does this all, raising up the wicked for destruction, and his remnant for gracious preservation, for his own glory (cf. Proverbs 16:4). This is the sovereign God of salvation. And as we see in the next verse, salvation is indeed the greatest display of God’s absolute sovereignty.

Isaiah now takes some time to apply this principles he has been proving. If God is truly sovereign, then woe to him who strives against the Almighty Lord! Woe to the potsherd that should dare to call its Potter into account. Man’s only right is to submit, obey, and praise his Creator. Proceeding, we find that the fact of God’s sovereignty over all of his creation, throughout all of history, is certainly proved; and the ultimate example of this sovereignty is Christ’s bringing redemption to his people (see verse 13) . In Christ, God’s sovereign rule is summed up. We see, furthermore, that God hides himself from some and reveals himself to others as he pleases; that he has a determinate purpose for everything he does, and that his ultimate purpose is to extend his salvation, and thereby display his glory, to the ends of the earth. Ultimately, the purpose of God in salvation is to cause every knee to bow to Christ and every tongue to confess his name (Isaiah 45:23; cf. Philippians 2:5-11). Finally, we are reminded that righteousness is found in Christ alone. All the elect will be justified in him, and he will be their only ground of boasting (cf. Galatians 6:14).

Conclusion:

God’s redeeming his chosen people through Christ Jesus our Lord is his greatest display of grace and power throughout all of history. It is, in fact, the very reason that the world was created. All eternity will not be enough to exhaust the riches of God’s mercy, purchased for us by Christ on the cross. Oh, let us tremble and bow down before the Lord God Almighty, our Maker and Redeemer!

Great is Your faithfulness, oh God
You wrestle with the sinner’s heart
You lead us by still waters into mercy
And nothing can keep us apart

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise, oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

Great is Your love and justice, God
You use the weak to lead the strong
You lead us in the song of Your salvation
And all Your people sing along

Your grace is enough
Heaven reaching down to us
Your grace is enough for me
God, I see Your grace is enough
I’m covered in Your love
Your grace is enough for me
For me

– Written by Matt Maher. Additional lyrics by Chris Tomlin. Performed by Chris Tomlin in his album, “Arriving”.

Textual Analysis of Isaiah 43-45

The Promise of Salvation for Israel (Isaiah 43:1-44:9)

  • Salvation certain in spite of every difficulty (43:1-2 – cf. Romans 8:31-39)

  • The reason for salvation: God’s holy nature and free, elective grace (43:3-4)

  • The mode of salvation: coming restoration from exile (43:5-6)

  • The ultimate purpose of salvation: God’s glory (43:7)

  • The results of salvation: physical healing and knowledge of God (43:8-10)

  • The display of salvation: God’s sovereign power (43:11-21)

    • Our sovereign God is the only Savior! (43:11)
    • God’s power is boundless; therefore, his salvation cannot be stopped (43:12-13)
    • God’s power to save his elect is seen in his historical acts of deliverance – from Egypt and Babylon (43:14-17)
    • God’s power to save will be displayed in even more mighty acts of restoration in the future – culminating in the mighty act of bringing true praise from a rebellious people! (43:18-21)

  • The need for this mighty display of God’s sovereign and unstoppable saving grace: the corruption of his people (43:22-24)

  • The triumph of grace over rebellion: justification for the sinner, vindication of God (43:25 – cf. Romans 3:24-26)

  • The way of salvation: faith and repentance (43:26)

  • The need for faith and repentance: inherited guilt and resultant judgment (43:27-28)

  • Instead of judgment, salvation again promised for Israel – all (true) Israel to be regenerated by the Holy Spirit (44:1-8)

The Exclusivity of God’s Salvation: Idols Powerless to Deliver (Isaiah 44:9-20)

True Salvation Examined (Isaiah 44:21-28)

  • Its subjects are determined by God’s elective grace (44:21 – cf. vs. 18)

  • Its results are God’s glorification, his people’s redemption, and creation-wide joy and singing (44:22)

  • Its every detail has been decreed and carried out by the sovereign word of God (44:23-28)

The Absolute Sovereignty of God Revealed in his Work of Salvation (Isaiah 45)

  • God directs the hearts and actions of earth’s rulers (45:1-3 – cf. Proverbs 21:1)

  • God directs the affairs of the world to bring about the good of his people (45:4 – cf. Romans 8:28)

  • God does these things so that his glory might be seen (45:5-6)

  • The Key Point: God is the ultimate cause of all things, good and evil; and he does all things for his own glory (45:7)

  • Salvation is God’s ultimate display of glory (45:8)

  • God’s sovereignty applied: woe to rebellious potsherds! (45:9-10)

  • God’s sovereign reign over all of his creation, through all of its history, is established (45:11-12)

  • God’s sovereign reign summed up in Christ bringing free redemption to his people (45:13)

  • God hides himself from some and reveals himself to others as he pleases (45:14-17)

  • God has a determinate purpose for everything that he does: his ultimate purpose is to extend his salvation (hence, his glory) to the ends of the earth (45:18-22)

  • The ultimate purpose of this worldwide salvation is so that every knee will bow to Christ (45:23 – cf. Philippians 2:5-11)

  • Righteousness is found in Christ alone! All the elect will be justified in him; he will be their only grounds for boasting (45:24-25 – cf. Galatians 6:14)

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