This is a beautiful picture of the gospel; a reminder of how an encounter with God can completely transform our lives
I remember when I first encountered the realization of who God is and what He had done for me. I was only a little kid, but having grown up in church my whole life and sitting through hundreds of stories about the love of God, I had assumed that God loved me and never questioned my need for a savior.
It was at a Wednesday night prayer meeting and Bible study. I wasn’t paying attention, but I had my Bible in front of me and was playing with my mother’s highlighter. I couldn’t read, but I knew a few words, and, of course, the first word I learned to spell was my own name.
Starting at the beginning of my Bible I scanned through the text and found my name, “Adam.” So I highlighted it. I kept going and kept finding references to my name. I kept highlighting. I started to think that I was a pretty important person, but then I felt convicted. Did I think I was more important than God? What if He saw me highlighting my own name and got angry? I quickly went back through the text and found every reference to God and highlighted them as well. Then I noticed that where my name had dropped off within the first few pages of my Bible, the name of God kept going.
It’s a silly story, but that was the moment that I realized that God was much greater than me. I felt small, guilty, and ashamed.
That night, I asked my dad to explain the plan of salvation once again. He was always so faithful at making sure I understood what Christ had done for me. This time, I was ready. I prayed and asked God to forgive me, I placed my trust in Jesus Christ’s righteousness, and my burden of sin was lifted.
From then on, I was passionate about sharing my faith. I couldn’t have a sleepover without preaching to my friends. I’d wait until my parents turned off the lights and we were alone and I’d tell my friends that they were sinners and they needed to put their faith in Jesus. Then, I’d come running out of my room and get my parents to lead them through the details I hadn’t quite grasped.
My life had been transformed when I encountered the holiness and grace of God. It was a transformation I couldn’t keep to myself. Although I didn’t really know what I was doing, I couldn’t keep quiet about what had happened to me.
An Encounter with God
The Old Testament prophet Isaiah had an encounter with God that would propel him into a powerful ministry. When being caught up in a vision of the throne room of God, he is made aware of the glory and majesty of the Creator. It says that the presence of God filled the room and, not only that, the whole earth was said to be full of His glory as the seraphim sang praise to God, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.” When God spoke the very foundations quaked.
The reality of God’s glory is made evident to Isaiah. He is overwhelmed and the only thing he can think to do is repent, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
True joy and exhilaration in worship is always preceded by an overwhelming realization of the distance between God and man. There is no way that we could draw near to God in our own righteousness, yet it is God who bridges the gap and meets us where we are.
Isaiah confesses that his lips are unclean pointing out that we are not even worthy to join with the angels in declaring the holiness of God. How then could we ever tell anyone else about His glory? We are unclean and even our best attempts to articulate the majesty of God fall short of His glory.
Yet, an angel takes a coal from the altar and searing the lips of Isaiah, declares, “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” Notice that the guilt and sin was not removed without payment and price. This altar represents the work of Christ whose death bore the wrath of God and atoned for our sin.
This is a beautiful picture of the gospel; a reminder of how an encounter with God can completely transform our lives; a transformation that leads to a passionate devotion to serve God.
A Passion to Witness
God makes a request: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Now, Isaiah had just declared that He couldn’t even join in with the seraphim in declaring the holiness of God. He must have felt small in comparison to these angelic creatures. He probably looked around and thought, “I’m pretty sure if an angel with six wings showed up in Israel and started prophesying, people would listen and repent.” Yet, that’s not how he responds. After having a life completely transformed by His encounter with God, Isaiah declares,“Here I am! Send me.”
This isn’t the expression of an arrogant know-it-all who thinks that if God would just let him have control he would set everything right. Isaiah had just confessed that he could never compare to the witness of the seraphim, but his response reflects his humble change of heart. Instead of making excuses or avoiding responsibility, Isaiah declares his willingness to be used by God.
A life transformed by the gospel, one who has truly understood the weight of sin that had been lifted from their shoulders, realizes that they are no longer their own and their agenda is futile and pointless in the presence of the One whose glory fills the heavens and earth.
A Difficult Message
Isaiah’s commission is probably not what he was hoping for. God’s message to Israel was not good news. Isaiah is told to declare that judgment is coming. This is a prophecy of Israel’s coming exile and captivity in Babylon.
Yet, Isaiah, gripped with compassion, cries out in a way that reflects the heart of many psalmists during the exile, “How long, O LORD?” He had just declared that he himself was unworthy of God’s glory. His lips were unclean and he came from a people of unclean lips. He identifies with the people he is being called to reach. Why couldn’t the grace of God extend to the people of Israel as it had been extended to him?
Even after experiencing the judgment of God, the people would not repent. After the first wave of destruction, those who remained would still rebel against God. Another wave of judgment would come until there was no one left in the land God had promised to His people.
Notice, however, that in the very end of this prophecy of doom and gloom, there is a glimmer of hope. God declares that while Israel will be cut down like a tree until all that remains is a stump, Isaiah adds that in this stump there is a holy seed. This seed is the promise of a redeemer. In the next chapter of Isaiah, he declares that this seed will be born of a virgin and His name will be called Emmanuel, God with us.
What’s Stopping Us?
After hearing the message that Isaiah was called to preach, I could almost understand why people would be anxious or intimidated about sharing their faith. Can you imagine standing on the street corner declaring that God has had enough with the world’s unrighteousness and destruction was on its way? Thank the Lord we haven’t been given the same commission. His message was hard and difficult, but the seed inside the stump has flourished, Emmanuel has come. We have been called to go into all of the world and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ.
Maybe we think that if only we could have an experience like Isaiah, we too could have a profound impact for the Kingdom of God. But we have encountered the glory of God and our lives have been transformed. We are filled with the power and glory of God and join with the angels in declaring His holiness. We have been redeemed. Let the redeemed of the Lord say so! Let us be a witness of the goodness of God that we have experienced. Let us testify to the love of God expressed through the work of Christ. Then, let us give thanks to the God who saves us so that others might see our good works, and join with us in giving glory to our Father in heaven.