““Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’” Isaiah 45:22-23 ESV
Reflection: why are not more people turning to God?
“If you are there God, save me!” has been uttered by many at some point in their lives. Whether from spiritual or physical desperation, the call out for help to an invisible God is often a last resort. It is a point of complete surrender, of being powerless in self. That there are no other answers. And, when you think about this logically, why would anyone turn to someone they cannot see nor hear, in particular those who might claim otherwise that they don’t believe in God? But even for all who do believe in God, He is still hidden. In the focus verse today, we read that God calls out to all the earth to turn to Him “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” Isaiah 45:22 ESV. At the same time, He is a hidden God, “Truly, you are a God who hides himself, O God of Israel, the Savior.” Isaiah 45:15 ESV.
How can He ask us to turn to Him, yet He hides Himself?
We can of course see His works all around us, in creation. We can also notice His presence in many ways, if we expect Him, if we look for Him. Why would He not just show Himself in all His glory and majesty, so that all of mankind would see Him and therefore turn to Him? Well, He did. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 ESV. “He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”Colossians 1:15-20 ESV. God revealed Himself through Jesus Christ. If we have a difficult time not being able to “see” the living God, to know His character, we can therefore look at Jesus. So why are not all people, “all the ends of the earth”, then turning to Jesus? We read in the focus verses from Isaiah today, of God the Savior, and we understand how that was fulfilled through Jesus Christ. His sacrificial atonement in His blood. But, did you notice in v23, another characteristic of God, His Supremacy above all, as He says “To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.” Isaiah 45:23b ESV. This we have not seen; has not happened yet, right?
While Christ Jesus was victorious in His death and resurrection, we know there is a battle going on for the souls of man. The enemies of God will be defeated, as we read “But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.” Hebrews 10:12-13 ESV. A footstool, nonetheless. This battle, is reflected perhaps best in the book of Revelation, and it describes Christ return as the victorious King of kings.
Bible commentator Ellicott wrote about this passage of Isaiah “The nations are exhorted to draw near to Jehovah. None besides is able to help; he is the Saviour, who can save without the assistance of any, but without whom none can save. If the heart is brought into the obedience of Christ, the knee will cheerfully obey his commands. To Christ men shall come from every nation for blessings; all that hate his cause shall be put to shame, and all believers shall rejoice in him as their Friend and Portion. All must come to him: may we now come to him as the Lord our Righteousness, walking according to his commandments.”
The King of kings will return. And when He appears, in all His glory, and this time also in all His majesty as the Sovereign Lord, there will not be a choice but to bow down before Him. “Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”Philippians 2:9-11 ESV
