For He shall grow
up before Him
as a tender plant
and as a root
out of dry ground.
He has no form
or comeliness;
and when we see Him,
There is no beauty that
we should desire Him.
Isaiah 53:2
A portion of the prophecy given above by the prophet Isaiah regarding the messiah as the whole chapter 53 points towards, and as experience has determined, that Jesus Christ met all that the prophecy or promise of God held. God in Providence controls what He has created, and what He has promised effectuating the end desired. Isaiah wrote some 700 years before Christ and as verse 12 finalizes our understanding that Jesus Christ met this prophecy it is good to read it again: :Therefore I (Jehovah God) will divide Him (Jesus Christ) a portion with the great, and He (Jesus Christ) shall divide the spoil with the strong, because He (Jesus Christ) poured out His soul unto death (At His crucifixion), and He was numbered with the transgressors (Condemned by Pontius Pilate, and the Jewish religious leaders), and He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors" (Isaiah 53:12; Parenthesis my addition). The writer of the Book of Hebrews give to us the fulfillment of that prophecy: "Therefore He (Jesus Christ) is also able to save to the uttermost (how far is the uttermost?) those who come to God through Him (Only by coming to Jesus in belief and faith that He is the Savior can one be saved and that by being enabled and drawn to Him by God: John 14:10-12, 25; John 6:44,65) sin He (Jesus Christ) always (the uttermost) lives to make intercession for them (the transgressors)" (Hebrews 7:25).
These promises and predictions as well as threatening are not mere declarations, declarations of possibility, nor are they the consequences of natural occurrences now and for the future; the future that cannot be secured unless there is absolute control over the events, the means causing the end. God must if He be Sovereign have that absolute control over the natural and the moral causes and agents. The promises, predictions, and threatening suppose a universal providence, control over all God's creatures and over all their actions. Throughout the Word of God we find those promises, predictions and threatening, that if a person recognizes the benefits by adhering their life to God's commands and listening to the possibility of calamity by not following and doing all that God commands, demands that there be a God Who is in control of all events. It is by the very dispensation or economy of God that He Who has determined the desired end will oversee, will inspect, will secure that the facts of life will accomplish that end. It is evident that the Doctrine of Providence underlies all religion, both natural and revealed.
We sing that song often in Church "You Are God Alone" (B. and C. Foote); "You are God God and that's just the way it is." Yes, that is the way it is, God alone determined all that He desired and in that determination controls all things, that is what we are singing and admitting when we sing that song, further we say, "Unchangeable, unshakable, unstoppable, that's what You are." Too often a song is sung so much that the emphasis, the truths of the song become so commonplace that we forget that God is Sovereign. We do not sing a song just because it has a nice tune and is easy to sing and follow, we sing to the Lord and in that song we are saying: "I believe in You in all that You are and for all that You have done, so I sing unto You as a worship to Your Sovereignty, Your Providence, to The Savior. You gave me song, You gifted Jubal with the ability to make and play musical instruments, therefore music is pleasurable to You and I sing with my heart to the God who is present with me, who is in control even when events in this life are troublesome. This can only be true if Jesus Christ is Lord of your life, and that He is Your Savior, no doubts, absolute confidence in Him.
From Psalm 118:26
Hosanna!
Blessed is He
who comes in the
name of the LORD!
The King of Israel!
John 12:13
Today, Make Your Election and Call Sure
Richard L. Crumb
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