By Pastor John Culbertson

We’re going through Isaiah 54 and seeing Jesus’ impact on the non-Jewish world.  We’re at verse 8.

“’With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,’ says the Lord, your Redeemer.”

Grace is getting what you don’t deserve; mercy is not getting what you deserve.

“For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you.  For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall my covenant of peace be removed…”

God has never been angry with you.  You’ve heard people say, “God was on my case about something; He was so disappointed with me…”  That’s a lie.  God sees you as His bride and His covenant shall not be removed; it’s an eternal covenant.

NOT YOUR TYPICAL COVENANT

In a typical covenant, two people share what they have to make each other stronger.  But if you look at the covenant God made with Noah, it’s more one-sided.  God said He’d never cover the earth with water again.  Nowhere did Noah say, “And I’ll give you” something else.  God said, “You don’t need to do anything except to believe Me.”

Let’s skip down to verse 13 and look at a promise made:

“All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.”

How is this possible?  Look at verse 14.

“In righteousness you shall be established…”

If you don’t see peace in your life or in your children’s lives, you and they don’t understand that in God’s eyes, you are righteous.

Your life must be established on a foundation of righteousness for everything else to come into effect.  If you’re born-again, you won’t be more or less righteous now than you will be in 1,000 years in Heaven; you will have the exact same righteousness.

Everything else extends from that root of righteousness.  When we have the mindset of knowing who we are, we can then bear fruit because we believe what God believes about us.

Abraham believed, “You are the father of many nations.”  This was before he had a single child.  He believed, and the Bible says it was accounted to him as righteousness. (Galatians 3:6)

“You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear…”

If you have fear in your life, you don’t understand that you’re righteous.  Perfect love casts out fear; if you’re in right standing with perfect love, then fear cannot stay.

“If you’re in right standing with perfect love, then fear cannot stay.”

Look at the Apostle Paul…they couldn’t stop him.  They put him in prison and he praised God (and was delivered).  They broke his feet and ankles; he wrote letters to the early church…and those letters continue to be read nearly 2,000 years later.

Paul said, “To live is Christ, to die is gain.”  What fear does someone know when they realize if they died they’d get to see Jesus…they get to experience everlasting perfection in His presence.

If you’re oppressed – in depression and anxiety – you need to find out about the righteousness of God.

“And from terror, for it shall not come near you.”

James 4:7 says to resist the devil and he will flee from you.  If the devil’s not fleeing, you’re not resisting.  Resisting the devil is not telling God about your problems…it’s telling the devil about your God.  It’s telling the situations in your life, “Pain, go!  Sickness, go!  In the name of Jesus, I command you out of my body!”  Don’t let anything contrary to God’s Word come out of your mouth.

“Indeed, they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me.”

Trials and situations may try and come, but it’s not because of God.  How many times have you heard a church say that trials come because God’s trying to perfect you or teach you something?  That’s what unbelievers say they’ve heard.

“Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake.”

All those things – poverty, anxiety, sickness, etc. – will fall not because God needs to have it happen that way; they’ll fall for our sake because God cares for us.  To verse 17:

“No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn.”

That’s resisting the devil and he will flee.  If you don’t condemn the things that come against you, you are not resisting.  What are the tongues and weapons?  They’re the lies about you that you’re not good enough or you can’t do anything.  But you need to see yourself as God sees you, as His bride.  Instead, proclaim, “I’ve been made holy.”

“This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,’ says the Lord.”

This is the inheritance.  Everything that God bestowed upon Christ Jesus is bestowed on us as co-heirs.  If you don’t believe it, it won’t work for you…but if you believe it, it’s yours.

Our righteousness is not from our works…it’s from God.  And that’s good news worth telling others about!  His relentless grace is poured out on them.  What if they’re not born-again?  God knows what their true identity is and how He created them.  That Jesus died for everyone so there’s no sin that separates them from Him.  If people see that, they realize God is in love with them and they’re lovable, not because of what they did but because of what Jesus did.

That is why it’s so important to tell people who God is, the God of mercy, love and peace (not a god of wrath and condemnation).

To watch or listen to the entire message, click here.