SUPREMACY IN REDEMPTION
When we think about God, who He is and what He has done, we must give some thought to the Supremacy of His redemption. In reading through Isaiah chapters 42-45 one sees the number of times the Lord shares who He is and how He is the only God.
One of the first things He brings out in Isaiah 42 is that He will bring justice to the nations. Several times this is mentioned. “I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.” Isaiah 42:1 “In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth. In his law the islands will put their hope.” Isaiah 42:3-4
To me an aspect of this redemption is bringing justice to the nations. It is a two-fold act that will achieve this. First, we have the first coming of the Lord where the Gospel is preached and people are given a chance to respond. Secondly, we have His second coming whereby “the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power.” 1 Corinthians 15:24
When I think of all of the unjust things that have been done and are being done – one cries out for justice, but there is no justice. However, one of the things that reformation brings around is an awareness of who God is and that He will not relax until justice is brought forth to the nations. He will not falter or be discouraged till He establishes justice on earth.
Another very important aspect of His Supremacy in redemption is that He is the only One. There is no one else like Him or above Him. Although our world is filled with many false hopes of redemption there is no one else that will accomplish it.
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you.” Isaiah 43:1 “I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no Savior.” (43:11) “No one can deliver out of my hand.” (43:13) “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” (43:25) “I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.” Isaiah 44:22
It is obvious from these verses here in Isaiah that God only and God alone is our Redeemer. This is important because we do see from Isaiah 44 how a man will take a block of wood and use part of it to make a fire and keep warm, cook his food and then with what is left over he makes an idol to worship and say: “Save me; you are my god.” Isaiah 44:17
In our Western culture we might be a little more refined than this man depicted in Isaiah 44, but we still do the same thing. How do we use and look at money, for example. We use some money to give us heat in the winter, to cook our food over our stoves and we store it up so that when a rainy day comes, or problems come, we can say to the money that we have put away: “Save me; you are my god.”
Reformation brings us back to who God is and what He has done. We will begin to see afresh that Christ is the answer. We will again look to Him and no other. “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.” Hebrews 12:2
Recognizing the Supremacy of His redemption will also give us a sense of urgency that this message is the only hope in this world for salvation. It will not come through our major religions, or from our governments that we so often hope in, but through the Lord Jesus Christ alone and always. ONLY CHRIST SAVES!!!