Would you contend that the title above is actually a false statement? Then read on.
It may well be that someday in the heavenlies a group of angels will be talking about the mercies of God, how far reaching and stupendous they are, and as I pass by they will point to me and say, “There is the proof that our Great Creator God is indeed a God of tremendous, inexplicable mercy.” I spent almost the entirety of the previous day in one single chapter of Isaiah, the 43rd chapter. I felt led to return to that chapter one more time, and, oh, what a blessing it was to muse on the pages of Holy Writ from the prophet Isaiah’s writings one more time.
Remember that the writing apostles reveal quite plainly that all true converts are and comprise spiritual “Israel.” Also, consider that Jacob’s name was changed by God to that of Israel. Therefore when reading Isaiah and he uses statements like “the Lord has created you, O Jacob, and He…formed you, O Israel,” then Jacob means he is speaking of fleshly Israel and “Israel” means he is speaking of spiritual Israel – the true sons and daughters of God of this present age as fleshly Israel (Jacob), for the most part, has been cut off from God. Only a remnant remains in fellowship with Him through acceptance of Jesus Christ. Paul teaches this great truth in Romans 9 -11. Jacob is God’s CREATED nation. Israel is God’s FORMED nation, a nation formed through process of time, not created by fiat. Believers are formed and fashioned by the Master Potter through a lifetime of learning, growing, overcoming, developing godly character and godly responses to any and all stimuli. In the concluding verses of that 43rd chapter of Isaiah God says this: “I, even I, am he that blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember your sins!” (verse 25). Our God and Creator has perfect mind control. He can blot from His mind and memory anything He chooses, and He has chosen to do just that with our sins. That’s WHY God could say of King David, “my servant David…kept my commandments, and…followed me with all his heart, to do that ONLY which was right in mine eyes” (See I Kings 14:8). Wait a minute! What about King David’s murdering Uriah the Hittite and committing adultery with Bathsheba!!! God had blotted out of His mind ALL of David’s past sins. He remembered them no more. When God speaks of us, we who are in Christ Jesus, He says the same thing: “my servant Donald has kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart to do that ONLY which was right in mine eyes!” Who wouldn’t get up at 3:00 a.m. to have His Creator speak of him in such a manner???!! It is this knowledge that gives POWER to my prayers, for I know God cannot lie. When I go before His throne in prayer I can have complete confidence that He is listening intently to every word I utter. He hears me as quickly and as surely as He heard David, or Isaiah, or Paul, or, yes, Jesus Christ, His firstborn Son. That’s WHY I have no anxiety about tomorrow, come what may I am in the loving, caring hands of One who says of me, “Donald has kept my commandments and followed me with all his heart to do that ONLY which was right in mine eyes!” I am now eighty-two years old and look forward to several more years of serving our Lord and His people.
Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley