I am quite sure that we have all heard the phrase, if not spoken the words, “God loves the sinner, but hates the sin.” Well, I hate to break it to you, but according to King David in Psalm five not only does God hate the sin, He also hates the sinner. If that is the case, that God hates the sin and the sinner, then how can we say that God loves us? God loves us because He does not live in time as we do, so when He sees us, He sees that Jesus has already paid the price for our sins, and so He does not see us as sinners, but He sees us as righteous, holy and having salvation.
Our text for this morning is God’s “command,” if you will, to give thanks to the Lord, not that we would think that we would need a “command” to give thanks to the Lord.. I want to briefly run through our text and then tie our text in with our life today. So, we begin at verse one, “1You will say in that day: ‘I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me’” (v. 1). This first verse reminds us of God’s righteous anger. God has every right to be angry with Israel because of her sin and likewise, God has every right to be angry with us because of our sin. This anger is then indeed righteous anger. However, our text tells us that God’s righteous anger has been turned away and instead the Lord has turned to comfort us. How can this be that God’s righteous anger has turned to comfort? We move on to verse two.
In verse two we read, “2Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation” (v. 2). Now remember, Isaiah is writing some seven hundred years before Jesus’ birth, but what God is telling Israel, and us, through Isaiah is that God is our salvation through Jesus’ blood. In other words, it is Jesus’ blood, Jesus’ death on the cross, in the future, that bought and brought Israel’s salvation here in the past. It is also Jesus’ blood and Jesus’ death, in the past, that still pays for our sins and gives us salvation today.
Continuing on with verse three, “3With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (v. 3). God’s promise through Isaiah to Israel and even to us today is that as the Lord provided water in the wilderness for Israel so He provides living water in heaven for Israel. As the Lord provides us with water even today, so He will provide for us living water in heaven.
Continuing on with verse four, our response is, “4And you will say in that day: ‘Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted’” (v. 4). God does it all. God gives His Son Jesus to pay the price for our sins. God gives us life at conception. God gives us new life, even eternal life and faith through the waters of Holy Baptism. God gives us forgiveness of sins in Holy Absolution. God strengthens and keeps us in faith through His Word and His Holy Meal. And He stirs in us a response of faith. So we give thanks and proclaim His name alone as the name through which salvation comes.
And verse five, “5Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth” (v. 5). Our continuing response of faith is that we sing praises so the whole world knows all that our Lord has done, does and will do for us.
Finally, verse six reads, “6Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel” (v. 6). We shout and proclaim that God is the greatest and He is in our midst and will be forever.
Again, these words of God through the prophet Isaiah were spoken and written some seven hundred years before Jesus’ birth. How do we relate, or what do these words say and mean to us today? In order to answer that question we need to make sure we understand that God does not live in time as you and I do. God created time for us. God lives in the eternal present, which means for Him there is no yesterday and no tomorrow, only the forever today, the eternal now. Thus, we have to think in terms of God’s perspective of the eternal present.
Thinking in terms of the eternal present we understand that even before God began creating the world He chose us. Before God began creating the world, He already knew how things would turn out. Maybe you have heard the understanding that God has given us the Old Testament in light of the New Testament. Yes, we do have the Old Testament and normally we read the Old Testament before the New Testament, but because God is not bound by time like you and I, He has given us the Old Testament knowing what would happen in the New Testament. Now, I used this illustration before and since I have not come up with or heard a better illustration I will use it here. It is kind of like when Steven Spielberg completed the Star Wars series at least the series of the first six movies. When the sixth movie which was actually the third movie in the series came out we already knew what had happened in the last three movies, number four, five and six. We already knew what had happened in the first two movies. The last movie he made tied together movies two and four, so as we watched we watched with eager anticipation for the completion of the story. We watched as he filled in the blanks from the second movie knowing what would happen in the fourth movie. For us Christians, we understand that God knew what was going to happen in the New Testament. God knew He would be sending Jesus. So, in order to get to the sending of Jesus, He worked out the events of the Old Testament, always pointing to the New Testament. Thus, again, even before God began creation, He knew us. He had us in mind and our salvation.
In the Garden of Eden, immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, God promised to send a Savior. This promise was given before there was a Jew and a Gentile, when there was only Adam and Eve, and thus, this promise was to all people. As time went on, God chose Abraham, and God chose Israel to be the nation through which the Savior would be born. This Savior was not simply a Savior of one nation or group of people, but was the Savior of all. God did not make two covenants, only one for all people.
As we read through the Old Testament we read of the prophecies and promises to be fulfilled in the New Testament. We see how the events foreshadow the events of the New Testament. As God delivered Israel from bondage of slavery in Egypt, so He delivers us from bondage of sin in this world. And as God brought Israel into the promised land, so ultimately God brings us into the promised land of heaven.
Because God created time for us and because we live in time, we look back, we look to the future and we live in the present. At the end of the great chapter of Love, First Corinthians chapter thirteen, we are told, “13So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love” (1 Cor. 13:13) With that in mind, we understand that faith pertains to the past, as we have faith in the events that have taken place. Hope looks to the future, as we hope for certain things to happen and indeed our Christian hope is a certain in our eternal salvation, and love lives in the present. So, looking back in faith we see what God has promised. In the Garden God promised to send a Savior. Throughout the Old Testament God reiterated His promise to send a Savior.
Also, as we look back and we see what God has done, we see how Jesus fulfilled all of God’s laws, perfectly, for us in our place because we cannot. We see how Jesus fulfilled all God’s promises concerning the coming Messiah, the Savior, showing Himself to be that promised One.
We look back in faith and we look forward with hope. We look forward to the day that we will see Jesus in heaven. And again as Christians we understand that when we speak of hope, we are not speaking of an iffy, maybe, hope, but when we, as Christians speak of hope we are speaking of a certainty, something we know will happen. We know, by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus and His death and resurrection, for us, in our place, we have the certainty of seeing Him again.
Thus, not only do we look forward to eternity in heaven, we understand that heaven is our now, at this time. When we are given faith, either through the waters of Holy Baptism and God putting His name on us, or through the means of His Holy Word, at that very moment heaven is ours. Certainly we will not move in until our own passing or until the Lord returns, but heaven is ours now.
We look back in faith. We look forward in hope and we look to today and live each day in love. But let us not misunderstand this love. As one reads through the love chapter, the love Paul is speaking about is the agape love that only God can have for us. Certainly we cannot love as God loves us, but, with His help we can strive to emulate His love as we love one another. In love, as God first loves us and as He motivates us and works in and through us, today we give thanks to the Lord for all His benefits to us. We give thanks to the Lord for living in the eternal present, for seeing our need for a Savior, for providing us with Jesus, who freely gave His life for ours.
In love, as God first loves us and as He motivates us and works in and through us, today we give praise to the Lord. We praise the Lord for faith, forgiveness and life, even eternal life in heaven. We praise the Lord for He is good and His mercy endures forever.
In love, as God first loves us and as He motivates us and works in and through us, today we make His name known among the nations. As we live out our lives, as we live in our vocation, we live our lives in such a way that others see the faith that we have and as we have opportunity, as others ask, so we give an answer, we give a defense of our faith in Jesus.
God’s word to Israel through Isaiah, are not simply His word to Israel. They are not words that are stuck in a particular time or place, rather His Words to Isaiah are His Word to us even today. Listen again to God’s Word through Isaiah to the children of Israel and know that by faith in Jesus, you are a child of Abraham and a part of God’s chosen people, you are a part of the new Israel. Listen to God’s Word and give thanks as He speaks to you. “1You will say in that day: “I will give thanks to you, O Lord, for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me. 2“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” 3With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4And you will say in that day: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted. 5“Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth. 6Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.” To God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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