Isaiah 49:1-7 God’s Desire for the Sanctity of My Life

Isaiah 49:1-7 God’s Desire for the Sanctity of My Life January 18, 2014

Isaiah 49:1-7 God’s Desire for the Sanctity of My Life

Isaiah 49:1-7 God’s Desire for the Sanctity of My Life is a sermon on the sanctity of life. The sermon gives seven ways in which God shows me the preciousness of my life.

Today is “Sanctity of Life” Sunday. This is traditionally the Sunday in which you would hear from the pulpit the importance of life. In most churches today, you will hear about the need for life, the evils of abortion, and the value God places on life in a godless society.

While I could spend some time sharing with you statistics about how corrupt society has become because we do not value life, I want to turn this principle of the sanctity or the holiness or the preciousness of life in a personal direction. I want to impress upon you seven specific ways in which God show you and me how precious my life is.

Here are the reasons I want to do this. You and I need better weapons if we are going to share the idea of life and living it to the max with people around us. The old arguments of “I hate you because you are a baby-killer” won’t appeal to people around you today. First, it puts up an automatic barrier. It becomes a us-versus-them argument to the people who need to change their outlook on life. It also creates the false belief about God that he condemns people who make these difficult decisions about life.

It is easy to condemn someone when they say they want to kill a baby. It is easy to quote Jesus and say that He wants all children to come to Him. It is much harder to condemn someone close to you when they are experiencing the pain about a decision to end someone else’s life. You abortion is not the only life decision which can go wrong. Euthanasia is a choice for adults with their parents. Some families choose to end their parents’ life because of the suffering they see. What difference is this compared to abortion? How consistent are we going to be about the preciousness of life?

I read a couple of articles this week that illustrated this exact dilemma. In New Mexico, doctors have been authorized to help terminal patients die.

This makes the fourth state in the United States where it is legal for a doctor to assist a patient to commit suicide. Another disturbing article I read comes from Belgium. In that country, they have approved a measure which would allow children (without parental consent) to end their own life. There is a “euthanasia kit” which doctors can buy in which they can go to the child’s home to help a child end their life.

This is particularly disturbing because in this case, the government is “approving the destruction of vulnerable people.”

If you are against abortion, then you are also not in favor of euthanasia, no matter how old the patient is. Am I saying that a person sinned if they turned off the machine to end their parent’s life? No. I am only saying that before you and I start complaining about the condition of the world we live in with the godless abortionists, we need to take this Sunday and look at life from God’s point of view. We need to personalize the holiness of life in our own walks. Instead of demonizing other people, we need to elevate our own conviction about how precious life is. As disturbing as these ideas are, we aren’t going to change minds by spouting off hatred toward the people who make these decisions.

Now that I have set the stage, let me share with you ways in which God shows you and me, not the godless folks – but you and I – the preciousness of life. Because when I can personalize how precious life is to me, it becomes a better tool to share eternal life with people who need it.

Isaiah 49 is one of the “servant” passages in Isaiah. Scholars debate about who is being addressed in this passage. Many scholars think that these words refer to Jesus Christ. However, not all scholars agree that Isaiah is writing about the Messiah in the person of Jesus Christ.

Instead, this passage could be referring to Jesus, to the nation of Israel as the corporate people of God, or to someone else. As one theologian wrote:

“The reality is that God used both the people of Israel collectively and Jesus specifically to fulfill divine purposes. And as followers of Christ, we are also called to the role of divine servants.”

So it is not too much of a stretch to say that we can apply these verses to our lives in a personal way. God has given us principles and promises about life which we can cling to and share with other when they need comfort or when they need guidance. If anything, this passage should strengthen our resolve and conviction personally about God and His view about my life.

SEVEN WAYS IN WHICH GOD SHOWS ME THE PRECIOUSNESS OF MY LIFE

I will compare these seven ways to the stages we go through in life. The reason is because I believe that the progression in these verses. Whether this passage is talking about Jesus Christ, or the individual members of His church, there is a logical progression in this section that follows the stages of life.

BABY: God reveals His CALL on my life

Coastlands, listen to me; distant peoples, pay attention. The Lord called me before I was born. He named me while I was in my mother’s womb.” (Isaiah 49:1, HCSB)

In the beginning, even before I was physically born, God calls me. He placed a name for me before my parents did. That means that He knew me. The Creator of my life personally knew who I was before I knew that I existed. This passage talks about the announcement to the world “coastlands” and “distant peoples” remind of everyone. Just as a natural father will announce the birth of a son or daughter, God spends time before we are born announcing to the world that He has called us.

CHILD: God spends time for His PREPARATION of my life

He made my words like a sharp sword; He hid me in the shadow of His hand. He made me like a sharpened arrow; He hid me in His quiver.” (Isaiah 49:2, HCSB)

Just as arrows in a quiver, so are the children in a home – the Bible says. Your time as a child is a time of preparation. Children are prepared by Godly parents for the rest of their lives. God uses this time to prepare a child for physical and spiritual growth.

ADOLESCENCE: God states His GOAL for my life

He said to me, “You are My Servant, Israel; I will be glorified in him.”” (Isaiah 49:3, HCSB)

As John Piper has said: God is most glorified when I am most satisfied in Him. The best time to learn this is during adolescence. Being a teenager can be very difficult. However, God wants to take this time to shape a person, to show a person the goal that God has in their lives. Many teenagers take this time to formulate a career path. God takes this time to clarify His goal for each and every person – especially if they have come to Christ at an early age.

YOUNG ADULT: God gives me His STRENGTH for my life

But I myself said: I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and futility; yet my vindication is with the Lord, and my reward is with my God.” (Isaiah 49:4, HCSB)

During the young adult years, you need strength. Strength to make it through school, to build a family, to begin a career. You labor and you spend your strength trying to accomplish things in life. You need God to help you during this time.

ADULT: God becomes the SOURCE of my life

And now, says the Lord, who formed me from the womb to be His Servant, to bring Jacob back to Him so that Israel might be gathered to Him; for I am honored in the sight of the Lord, and my God is my strength” (Isaiah 49:5, HCSB)

Again, we have this reminder of the preciousness of life. As an adult, we spend tim re-evaluating life’s path. We need a reminder sometimes that God has been and will be the source of my life. He was there with me in the womb and He will be with me when I reach the tomb. He is not just my strength, but He continues to be my source for what I do in life.

MIDDLE AGE: God intends a PURPOSE for my life

He says, “It is not enough for you to be My Servant raising up the tribes of Jacob and restoring the protected ones of Israel. I will also make you a light for the nations, to be My salvation to the ends of the earth.”” (Isaiah 49:6, HCSB)

When you are at middle age, you learn that you want to make your life count. You want it to be significant. God reveals that when He describes His purpose for my life. He wants to use you and me to share His message of hope for the world. We are called to reflect God’s life and light to the world. This is the Great Commission in the Old Testament – “to make you a light for the nations.” Jesus said that we are called to share this light. This is the ultimate purpose in my life – to share the positive eternal life with people who don’t yet have it.

ELDERLY ADULT: God is the COMFORT in my life

This is what the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, says to one who is despised, to one abhorred by people, to a servant of rulers: “Kings will see and stand up, and princes will bow down, because of the Lord, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel —and He has chosen you.”” (Isaiah 49:7, HCSB)

As you grow older, you will grow wiser. You will come to a point where you understand that you can’t do everything you want to do. You learn that your body aches, your mind slips, your abilities change. What you learn is that even if your life changes, God is still faithful. He is still dependable. You can find comfort in Him during the final stage of life. This is important because as this life ends, we need to take comfort in the fact that eternal life is just beginning. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said when he was executed by the Nazis: “This is not the end of life…this is just the beginning.”

Life, no matter what stage you are in, is just beginning. It is precious and we need to savor every moment.

1 Lateef Mungin, “New Mexico doctors can help terminally ill patients die, judge says.” http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/14/justice/new-mexico-assisted-suicide/index.html?sr=fb011414assitedsuicide11a Accessed on 16 January 2014.

2 http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j_z8FatNLBSMHbCTeptM3OElgnCQ?docId=02efa177-787a-4688-955e-81b423b399bf Accessed on 8 January 2014.

3 John Knight, “Shouldn’t They Know Better?” DesiringGod.org http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/shouldn-t-they-know-better Accessed on 8 January 2014.

4 David McKenna and Lloyd J. Ogilvie, Isaiah 40–66, vol. 18, The Preacher’s Commentary Series (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc, 1994), 121.

5 http://www.ministrymatters.com/all/article/entry/4603/sermon-options-january-19-2014 Accessed on 16 January 2014.


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