February 25
“‘You are My witnesses,’ says the Lord, ‘and My servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe Me, and understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no Savior,’” Isaiah 43:11.
The children of Israel were God’s chosen people through whom He would fulfill His promise to send a Savior into the world. They were to be witnesses for the one true God to all the nations in the world. Repeatedly, they needed to be reminded. In the text above, God said, “Understand that I am He. Before Me there was no God formed, nor shall there be after Me. I, even I, am the Lord, and besides Me there is no Savior.”
In the chapters following the text above, the Lord spoke through the prophet Isaiah, “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel, and His Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: ‘I am the First and I am the Last: besides Me there is no God . . . You are My witnesses. Is there a God besides Me? Indeed there is no other Rock; I know not one,’” Isaiah 44:6, 8. “I am the Lord, and there is no other,” Isaiah 45:18.
In the New Testament, Jesus said, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God, the Lord is one,’” Mark 12:29. In his First Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul wrote, “There is no other God but one,” 1 Corinthians 8:4. In Ephesians, he wrote, “There is . . . one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all,” Ephesians 4:6. To Timothy, he wrote, “There is one God, and one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,” 1 Timothy 2:5. The apostle John wrote, “There are three that bear witness in heaven: The Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one,” 1 John 5:7.
The one true God is the God who sent us a Savior. God the Father so loved us that He sent His only begotten Son to redeem us. God promised to send a Savior when Adam and Eve sinned and disobeyed Him in the Garden of Eden. That promise was repeated to one generation after another. God-fearing Israelites and others were anxiously waiting for the promise to be fulfilled. Of course, God works according to His own calendar. People had to wait.
The exact number of years from the time that God gave His first promise until the day when Jesus was born is unknown to us. And that is of no consequence. However, the apostle Paul wrote, “When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’” Galatians 4:4-6.
Now, we believe in Jesus as God’s Son and our Savior, who suffered and died to take away our sins, and who rose from the grave to conquer death and the devil. As believers, we are His witnesses to get this Good News throughout the world. Let us never hesitate to witness for the one and only God who loves us and assures us of forgiveness through Christ Jesus!
O Spirit of the Lord, prepare, A sinful world their God to meet;
Breathe Thou abroad like morning air, Till hearts of stone begin to beat.
Baptize the nations; far and nigh, The triumphs of the Cross record;
The name of Jesus glorify, Till every kindred call Him Lord. Amen.