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 One.

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. Isaiah 42:1 “I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.” Isaiah 42:3-4 “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.”

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 whereby 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 being done one cries out for justice, because 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. Although our world is filled with many false hopes of redemption there is no one else but the Lord who can bring redemption. Isaiah 43:1 “Fear not, for I have redeemed you.” (verse 11) “I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.”  (verse 13) “No one can deliver out of my hand.” (verse 25) “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.” (Isaiah 44:22) “I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.”

It is obvious from these verses here in Isaiah that God and He 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 to make a fire and keep warm, cook his food and what is left over – make 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 as depicted in Isaiah 44, but we still do the same thing. How do we use and look at money, for example? We use some 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 and what He says He will do. We will begin to see afresh that Christ is the answer to all the world’s sin and troubles. We need only to look to Him and no other. Hebrews 12:2 “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.”

Recognizing the Supremacy of Christ’s redemption will also give us a sense of urgency that this salvation message is the only hope for the salvation of the world. It will not come through our major religions either, or through any government that we so often hope in, but through the Lord Jesus Christ.  ONLY CHRIST SAVES.

One of the problems that we face today is that we have an inadequate view of who God is. Most, if not all of our problems, can be traced to the lack of knowledge of who God is.

It is interesting to note that neither the prophets nor the apostles tried to prove the existence of God. Everywhere in the Bible the existence of God is assumed as a fact. Whether man knows God or not – depends upon man’s moral state. The problem that we are faced with is not one of not knowing whether there is a God, but that of not wanting to be ruled over.  However, history shows us that we will either be ruled by our God or we will be ruled by tyrants.

Reformation will bring us back into this right knowledge of who God is. In Isaiah 40 we see something of the same format being laid down in Matthew 3. John the Baptist is the voice of one crying in the wilderness, then comes reformation – Jesus Christ is revealed and walks among people.

In Isaiah 40 we have the same thing. First we have the voice in the wilderness, then reformation comes: “And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (40:5)

One of the first miracles that Jesus did was to take water and turn it into wine. John 2:11 “This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.” What did Jesus do? He took something ordinary (water) and made something extra-ordinary out of it (wine). In so doing He showed us His glory. Isn’t this what we find today. He takes us and makes something extra-ordinary out of us by having a plan and purpose for our lives. When we look around we see an abundance of the glory of the Lord in our midst. For example: the miracle of the little baby just born with all of her/his faculties, and the sunset and sunrise with all of the different colors changing as the sun gets higher, and even man going about his daily activities.

However, what we find first of all is the supremacy in God’s attributes. One of the things that Isaiah is trying to do is build confidence in the hearts and mind of God’s children. They have just come through a horrible time and now they need comforting, they need restoring, they need reformation.

So Isaiah starts with God. This is where we all should start. Like I said at the beginning, most if not all of our problems stem from a wrong view point of who God is.

Isaiah is trying to bring home to the Children of Israel how great God is. He does this by taking what we would call great in this world and comparing it to God and showing that there is no comparison at all.

“Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance?”  Isaiah 40:12

Take the oceans of this world with all of their power and unending waves that crash upon the beaches of the world. God holds them in the palm of His hand. It is interesting to note that He holds the water in His hands, but He gathers us in His arms. “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” (Isaiah 40: 11) There is more strength in the arms then in the hands and God has us in His arms.

Another aspect that Isaiah brings out is the ‘mind of the Lord.’ Who does God consult? Who taught Him? Who is His counselor? Who shows Him the path of understanding. No One. He is the fount of all wisdom, knowledge and understanding.  “For the LORD gives wisdom, and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.” Proverbs 2:6

In verse 15 Isaiah compares God to the great nations of the world. The Children of Israel have just come out of the great nation Babylon, but compared to God he states: “Nations are like a drop in a bucket. (vs.17)  “Before him all the nations are as nothing; they are regarded by him as worthless and less than nothing.” The conclusion that Isaiah comes to is verse 18: “To whom, then, will you compare God?”

Later in the same chapter Isaiah tries to compare God to great men. Nebuchadnezzar, Napoleon, Mao se Tung, and others of our day who hold sway over large numbers of people, but when compared to God they are nothing. God only needs to speak and they cease to exist.

In verse 26 of chapter 40, Isaiah tries to compare God to the vastness of the heavens. “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens: Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one, and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” Scientists now say that in the galaxy of the Milky Way, there are two hundred billion stars, but in the universe,  there are more than two hundred billion galaxies.

We read in Genesis that when Abraham and his nephew Lot separated, Lot lifted up his eyes and saw Sodom, then he became a friend of the world. Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the stars, and became a friend of God.

Reformation brings us back to the Supremacy of God in this universe.

The third thing that we need to ask ourselves in regards to our culture:  Is the church making an impact in our culture today? Who is in control in our culture? Is it God or is it Satan? When we turn on TV what do we see: programs that honor God or Satan? When we listen to modern music what do we hear: music that honors God or Satan? When we look at art, films, etc. what are we confronted with: something that honors God or Satan?

Chuck Colson was speaking to a group of pastors about engaging our current culture. He said that one of the pastors came up and asked a question: “But won’t engaging the culture this way interfere with fulfilling the Great Commission? Isn’t our job to win people to Christ?”
Chuck’s response to this was: “Of course we’re called to fulfill the Great Commission, but we are also called to fulfill the cultural commission.” Christians are agents of God’s saving grace – bringing others to Christ, but we are also agents of His common grace: We are to sustain and renew His creation, defend the created institutions of family and society, and critique false worldviews.”
I was reading a book on the Nazi conscience. I was wondering how could a nation that had such a Christian heritage turn in such a way that millions would be killed.

We all have a conscience, but the question is: What is the conscience set on? For example, I think of some of the different religions in the world, Hinduism for example. They have what is known as Sati (wife burning). When the husband dies they throw the wife (alive) on the burning pyre so that she might be with him in the next life in reincarnation. Their conscience does not seem to bother them. My conscience would. What makes the difference?  It depends on what their conscience is set on.

For me it is set on the Bible – I have a biblical worldview. This makes a difference. The Hindu has a Hindu worldview. It is a difference of belief. So it would seem that what we believe is very important.  What is remarkable to me is how a nation that supposedly is a Christian nation (nominally) can have a Christian belief and still do what they did during the war? How was a nation’s conscience cauterized to allow something like that to happen? Also where was the church in the midst of it all?

Then I think of the USA with over fifty million of our babies that have been aborted. Where is the church? What happened to bring us to this point? Where is the church in the midst of it all?

While reading this book several things stood out for me. First, we see that it was a time of lax moral codes in the country. It seems that everything was okay to do. No morals, no truth. It was a time when the moral people (probably the churched people) felt that something needed to be done. But what and by whom? It seemed that there was a sense of impotence. It was at this time that a man – Hitler – rose who seemed at first to be a man of morals giving voice to what many felt. He was a good speaker and a charismatic character. He was sharing what many people felt and through his charisma many fell for his propaganda.

Next we find that Hitler had a tremendous propaganda mill and through this he began to pour out the poison. In one sense what he was doing through his propaganda mill was to engage the major issues of the day and give an answer. What the preachers should have been doing we find Hitler doing. We now know the rest of the story. Biblical preaching is engaging the major issues of the day and giving a Biblical response.

Through the constant barrage of propaganda, people’s thinking and belief began to change – which in turn affected their conscience and setting the barriers for their conscience. Once that happened it was easy to lead them to other things as well. This is what we see today in our own culture.

Later when Hitler took more and more power then it was even more difficult for any opposition to be raised. It seemed that he also used thugs to help bring about his message by fomenting fear in the hearts of anyone who did not agree with the propaganda.

What do we encounter today when we speak out against a homosexual lifestyle? So where was the church when they were “coming out” as they say? Did the church see? Did they understand the dynamics that were taking place? Perhaps some did and they did speak out to their own detriment. I think of Bonhoeffer who was eventually put into prison and later hanged.

Looking at our culture in the West today makes me want to CRY OUT for reformation!

 Background of Isaiah the Prophet

It was said that Isaiah’s ministry lasted for about sixty years and that he supposedly died under the terrible reign of Manasseh. Jewish tradition says that he was brutally martyred by being placed in a hollowed trunk of a tree and then “sawed in two.”

Reading through the book of Isaiah one is impressed with his vivid sense of the majesty of God. When we look into Isaiah chapter 40 we will see that he compares God to how we think in terms of greatness, and then he says that there is no comparison.

One of the main things that Isaiah is speaking against is the outward forms of religion with no inward reality. Reading through Isaiah one is impressed with qualities like “boldness, patriotism, tenderness, broad sympathy, stormy indignation at hypocrisy, with deep spirituality and a profound sense of the Divine majesty.” Isn’t this something missing today in our churches and meetings together? Are not these the things of character that should be more in our preaching today?

When Isaiah began his preaching career several things were happening in Israel. The ten tribes (Israel) were nearing destruction by Assyria whose capital was Nineveh.  They were desperate times.

Israel joined with Syria under the leadership of Damascus. Judah would not join so Israel and Syria invaded Judah to coerce Ahaz, the king of Judah, to join the confederacy. So we find Ahaz making a treaty with Assyria and marching forth to overthrow Syria and Israel. So Judah then became dependent on Assyria.

Later Hezekiah rebelled against the King of Assyria. Isaiah was always advocating that Judah’s dependence should be upon Jehovah and not some earthly monarch. However, the king of Assyria came to lay low Judah and since Egypt failed to respond to help, Judah had to buy off the King of Assyria with gold, etc. and so again became dependent upon Assyria.

Later when Assyria was coming to attack Judah and Jerusalem Hezekiah heeded Isaiah’s advice and trusted in the Lord to deliver them from this ‘present danger’ coming upon them in the form of Assyrian army. The result was that God sent His angel and a great disaster fell upon the army, and from which King Sennacherib never recovered.

Judah was freed from the threat of invasion and enjoyed a season of peace.

When we come to Isaiah 40 we see that there is turn in God’s approach to His people. They have repented and now are turning back to God and so we read in Isaiah 40:1-2: “‘Comfort, comfort my people,’ says your God.  ‘Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.’”

Later we have the words: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God.’” Isaiah 40:3

The same words are repeated in Matthew 3:3 “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him,’” referring to John Baptist prior to the first coming of the Lord.

In reading through Isaiah 40 one sees what ‘reformation’ will do and what is needed today. 

1 Timothy 3:15 “If I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God’s household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth.”

We guard the gospel in the way we live. This to me is very important. I read that those inside the churches and outside the churches have 65 common values. So what is it that should define the Body of Christ so that it is seen, known and even feared as the Body of Christ? For this is the power of the gospel of the kingdom of Jesus Christ.  As it is, there is NO bold difference today between those who are in the churches and those who are outside.

When I think of this there are two things that come to my mind. First, the local fellowship should be autonomously controlled and not centrally control. Baxter said: “It is a significant fact that although the New Testament gives counsels and directions as to the organizing of local Christian assemblies or ‘churches’ (1 Corinthians, 1 and 2 Timothy, Titus), it nowhere even hints at any central board of administration such as those which have since developed and which exist with such wide powers today.”

This is one of the main problems with denominations today. Often it is more centrally controlled than we might like to admit. If we are honest, one of the reasons for this is finance. It is amazing how finance moves the work of God rather than the Holy Spirit moving the work of God. Yes, finances are important, but I think what Hudson Taylor said is the key: “God’s work God’s way will never lack God’s supply.” This is how God’s work spread in his days when he was penetrating China with the gospel through the “China Inland Mission.”

Secondly, our conduct as Christians is very important. Titus 2:10 says, “So that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.” Paul, was laying out how the Body of Christ should conduct themselves so that our teaching about Christ will be attractive, or influential and convincing. This is the bottom line. Our lives should be a sweet fragrance wherever we go and in whatever we do whether in our work, at school, in play, and most important – in our homes. Jesus tells us:

“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16) The first place mentioned is the home, how we live with each other there because this is where we are really ourselves.

Another aspect of reformation will be seen in preaching. Isn’t it interesting that when Jesus started His ministry the first thing that He preached was ‘repentance.’ When He sent out His 12 disciples, and later the 72 – He told them to go and preach ‘repentance.’ When I read the letters that John wrote to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3, to all but two, to the majority of His people – His message to them was to repent. Often the preaching that we have today is how to feel better about ourselves, how to build successful relationships, how to enjoy a marriage, etc. I am not against all this, but all the problems we have is simply rooted in our sinful nature and the need we have is to acknowledge when we sin, and then to repent of our sin; turn away from it with God’s help.

Paul said to Titus: “At his appointed season he brought his word to light through the preaching entrusted to me by the command of God our Savior.” (Titus 1:3) I thought that this was interesting because it was through preaching that the Word of God comes to light. So often the preaching today is to read a Scripture verse and then carry on with our own ideas and philosophies.

We need ‘practical’ preaching that takes us back to the realism and expediency of the Word of God. Reformation will bring our preaching under the scope of God’s Word for all the issues of today.