Commissioned by God

Commissioned by God

Isaiah 49:5-7 NLT

⁵ And now the Lord speaks—
    the one who formed me in my mother’s womb to be his servant,
    who commissioned me to bring Israel back to him.
The Lord has honored me,
    and my God has given me strength.
⁶ He says, “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me.
    I will make you a light to the Gentiles,
    and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.”

⁷ The Lord, the Redeemer
    and Holy One of Israel,
says to the one who is despised and rejected by the nations,
    to the one who is the servant of rulers:
“Kings will stand at attention when you pass by.
    Princes will also bow low
because of the Lord, the faithful one,
    the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

In Isaiah 49, the first seven verses is titled in the NLT “The Lord’s Servant Commissioned. In verses 5 – 6 there are three purposes for the Lord’s Servant. The first is to reconcile the Jews to God. The second is to bring the gospel to all nations. The third is to be the servant of rulers.

The first one, to reconcile the Jews to God, now seems like a given since we know that God had chosen the Jewish people to be His. Still, for one to bring an entire people group back to God is a huge task, a task that we now know only Jesus could do. For us to think that we could bring an entire people back to God is crazy. We cannot even get everyone to agree on something as simple as what to have for dinner.

Next is the one that struck me the most. “You will do more than restore the people of Israel to me. I will make you a light to the Gentiles and you will bring my salvation to the ends of the earth.” This is the fulfilment of what God had promised to Abraham in Genesis 12:3, “³ I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.”

I believe that it was God’s original intent for the Jews, His people, to not become an exclusive club but to share God’s message of salvation to all the people on earth. They were to be His messengers. It is almost like what we talk about at Relevant Life, that we are preparing God’s people to go out and share His Word with others. People making relevant relationships with other people and earning the right to speak into their lives. Once we have done that we can speak to the about God’s relevant Word. This will bring others into a relevant relationship with God. Then they can live a relevant life.

Finally in the third purpose we learn is that the servant is truly be a servant. Jesus teaches us this in John 13 when He washes the disciple’s feet. He teaches us to humbly serve each other. This in no way means that we earn God’s acceptance. It is simply evidence of our true faith. James emphasizes this when he says that faith with works isn’t.

This should be our inspiration to act. To get active in your local church. God called us to Himself. He called us to spread His Word. He called us to serve. So what are you waiting for? Let’s get busy!

Father, thank you for Your call on not only my life but all Your children’s lives. Teach us Your Word so that it is written on our hearts. Give us the courage to go out and be involved in other people’s lives. Give us the words that once we have earned the trust and the right to speak truth into other’s lives that we know what to say. Help us to humbly serve others which in turn will show our faith. All praise, honor and glory to You Father. In Jesus name we ask this, amen!