Why God Does What He Does
Isaiah 43
In 2007 Brad Pitt was interviewed in Parade Magazine. He said he was raised as a conservative Southern Baptist, and for a while that made sense to him. Here’s a quote:
Religion works. I know there's comfort there, a crash pad. It's something to explain the world and tell you there is something bigger than you, and it is going to be alright in the end. It works because it's comforting. I grew up believing in it, and it worked for me in whatever my little personal high school crisis was, but it didn't last for me.
It didn’t last for him. Why not? What happened? Here’s his explanation:
I didn't understand this idea of a God who says, “You have to acknowledge me. You have to say that I'm the best, and then I'll give you eternal happiness. If you won't, then you don't get it!” It seemed to be about ego. I can't see God operating from ego, so it made no sense to me.
What do you think about that? Is he right? Does God call us to acknowledge Him? If so, is that about ego? See, Brad Pitt is raising the question of God’s purpose. Why does God do the things He does? Why does He create? Why does He forgive sins? What is God’s purpose?
The Old Testament prophet Isaiah answers those question in Isaiah ch.43. Let’s turn there. If you need a Bible, go ahead and raise your hand and we’ll bring one to you. Isaiah 43 is on page 603 in the Bibles we are passing out.
Let’s walk through this chapter so you can see the big picture of what Isaiah is saying. At the end of ch.42, Isaiah talks about how Israel repeatedly and knowingly sinned against God, and as a result God allowed her to be conquered by Babylon. But this punishment will not last forever. Look at what God says he will do now – starting in v.1 – and keep in mind that he is speaking this to sinful Israel --
1 But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.
2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.
3 For I am the LORD your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in exchange for you. [God destroyed sinful Egypt to free Israel from slavery; commentators are not so sure about the reference to Cush and Seba.]
4 Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life. [Again, God destroyed sinful Egypt in order to save Israel from slavery.]
5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you. [God had punished Israel, scattering her to the nations, but God is going to gather her.]
6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth,
7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."
Then in vv.8-13 Isaiah says Israel can be absolutely certain that God will keep these promises of mercy, because she has seen God fulfill every promise he has ever made. You can see that in v.12 –
“I declared and saved and proclaimed, when there was no strange god among you; and you are my witnesses," declares the LORD, "and I am God.”
Then in vv.14-21 God again describes the wonderful blessings He is about to bring to Israel: He will destroy Babylon, bring Israel back to the Promised Land, and richly bless her. For example, look at v.19 –
Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Then in vv.22-28 Isaiah says that God will do all this for Israel even though she has sinned against Him. Look at vv.23-24 –
23 You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings, or honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with offerings, or wearied you with frankincense.
24 You have not bought me sweet cane with money, or satisfied me with the fat of your sacrifices. But you have burdened me with your sins; you have wearied me with your iniquities.
So feel what’s going on here. Israel has sinned against God – again and again and again – bowing down before idols, ignoring the poor, burning her babies as offerings to Molech – Israel has sinned again and again. And yet God says He will love her, count her as precious, change her heart, give her repentance and faith, forgive her for all her sins, bring her back to the Promised Land. Why? Why would God do that?
We can ask the same question for ourselves. If you know and love Jesus Christ, then you are in the exact same position as Israel. You have repeatedly sinned against God and deserve only God’s punishment. But in great mercy God set His affection upon you, loved you, punished all your sins in Jesus Christ, and then at some point He brought His power upon you and changed your heart, gave you repentance and faith, and forgave you for all your sins, and now He has sworn to guide you and provide for you and strengthen you and work through you and satisfy you in Himself from now to eternity. But why? Why would God do that?
To explain why, Isaiah answers two crucial questions. The first question is – why does God create us? Look at what Isaiah says in vv.6-7 –
6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth,
7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."
Here Isaiah explains why God created Israel – and the reason God created Israel is the reason God creates all of us. The reason God created Israel and all of us is for His glory. God chose to make people in order to display His glory. And when we read through the Bible, we see that this is the reason God does everything He does.
For example --
Why did God bring Israel out of Egypt? Eze 20:5-9 says it was to display His glory.
Why did God delivered them at the Red Sea? Psa 106:6-8 says it was to display His glory.
Why didn’t God punish Israel in the wilderness? Ezekiel 20:21-22 says it was to display His glory.
Why did God give Israel the Promised Land? 2Sam 7:23 says it was to display His glory.
Why did God worked miracles through Jesus? John 2:11 says it was to display His glory.
Why did God send Jesus to the Cross? John 12:27-28 says it was to display His glory.
God does everything He does to display His glory. In a sense, Brad Pitt was right. But Brad Pitt didn’t like that about God. So how would we answer that?
I would answer that none of us likes people to try to display their glory, like that one American Idol girl who said that she was going to do what the others had only talked about doing. Or the Wicked Witch in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs who looks into the mirror and says “Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” We don’t like people who want to display their glory – because it’s for themselves.
But the reason God wants to display His glory is for us. Think about it: which stirs your heart more, seeing someone surfing a little 2-foot wave, or seeing someone surfing a 40-foot monster wave? Answer: seeing someone surfing the 40-foot monster wave. And the reason is because we are all wired to find our greatest joy in beholding greatness – and the 40-foot monster wave is much greater than a little 2-foot wave.
Our highest joy is beholding greatness. So what’s the greatest greatness? Can anything or anyone compare with God?
Think of God’s power -- speaking a massive universe into existence.
Think of God’s sovereignty – His authority rules over everything.
Think of God’s knowledge – He always consciously knows everything that was, is, is to come, and could be.
Think of God’s wisdom, creating an astonishing universe – which, for example, has cows who have a little pouch between their mouths and stomachs that collect rocks and nails and enclose them in little folds of tissue for the rest of their lives so they don’t hurt them.
Think of God’s being – everything else in existence has a beginning, and depends on God for its existence. But God depends on nothing else; He has always been from eternity past with no beginning.
God is the greatest greatness. Which means our greatest joy is beholding God. So what’s the most loving thing God can do for us? The answer is: show us His greatness; show us His glory. So God created us – and does everything that He does – to display His glory.
But now let’s drill a little deeper and ask why God shows mercy. Specifically – why does God forgive us? Look at what God says in v.25 –
"I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
God blots out our transgressions. Israel, and all of us, have sinned against God, and rightly deserve to be punished forever. But God has made away for us to have our transgressions blotted out. And now that Jesus has come, we understand how God can do this. God can blot out our transgressions, because Jesus was punished in our place for our transgressions.
But why would God do this? Read v.25 again --
"I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
God blots out our transgressions for His own sake. That doesn’t mean He doesn’t care about us. All through this chapter we see that He loves and cares for His people. When he says “for my own sake” He means “for the sake of my glory, to display my glory.”
See, the highest display of God’s glory is His mercy. Think about it. How do you feel when you think of God’s power – creating the world and the universe and the galaxies? That’s awesome. How do you feel when you think of God’s justice – say, for example, punishing Satan and his demons forever? That’s right.
But how do you feel when you think of God’s mercy? God created all of us and gave us a world to live in and bodies that work and each other to enjoy and commands to guide us and Himself to satisfy us. But we all turned our backs on Him, took credit for what He’s given us, disobey His commands – again and again and again – so His justice demands that we be punished forever. But instead – instead – He punishes His own Son with the punishment we deserve, so He can change us and forgive us and restore us and love us and provide for us and guide us and satisfy us in Himself. That’s mercy. How do you feel when you think of His mercy?
God’s power is awesome. God’s justice is right. But God’s mercy – is glorious.
So why does God create Israel, create us, and do everything He does? God does everything He does to display His glory. And this is the most loving thing He can do – because our highest joy is beholding His glory. And why does God forgive sin? To display His glory. And this is good news – because our greatest need is for mercy.
Think about what this means. You are a sinful person completely undeserving of anything good. And you live in a universe created and ruled by a God whose highest passion is to display His glory through mercy – which means doing good for undeserving people.
So what does this mean for us?
First, be humbled. I want to do all I can to make sure that you are genuinely connected to God through Jesus. The only way that happens is if you say “God, be merciful to me a sinner.” It’s if we understand that we have nothing to recommend us; that in ourselves we deserve only punishment.
Now you may have understood that when you were first saved, but if you are anything like me, pride creeps in and starts making me think that part of this is about me. But none of it is about me. Even your faith was given to you by God’s mercy. The only reason God showed me mercy is because He is passionate about displaying His glory, and the highest display of His glory is his mercy.
So let this strip away any pride or self-righteousness and once again this morning come to God through Jesus saying only “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”
Second, be encouraged. Some of you have not yet experienced God’s saving work through Jesus. But I hope you see God’s passion to display His glory through mercy removes any barrier which could keep you from coming to Christ.
Because what this means is that there’s no sinfulness in you that can keep you back, if you will simply turn to Him by faith. Have you sinned lots? God says: “Perfect. That will display the glory of my mercy. Have you committed one particularly terrible sin? God says: “Excellent. That will display the glory of my mercy.” Do you feel really unspiritual, really far from God? God says: “Not a problem. As I change your heart that will display the glory of my mercy..” Do you see how that works? Let this remove all excuses keeping you from Jesus Christ.
Third, be sobered. All of us will display God’s glory forever, but there are two very different ways this could happen. If you have not bent the knee in faith before Jesus, then unless that changes you will display the glory of God’s judgment forever – as you are rightly punished forever for your sins. But if you are bending your knee in faith before Jesus, then forever you will display the glory of God’s mercy – as forever He will hold you up as a display of the amazing good He does for undeserving people. The destinies couldn’t be different. So ask yourself – are you truly bending the knee in surrender to King Jesus?
Fourth, be hopeful. Some of you who trusting Christ are in the midst of difficult trials, and things look bleak, dark, painful. But in Ephesians 2:7 Paul says that in eternity God will hold you up before all of the redeemed as a display of the glory of His mercy. Which means that part of what God will hold up is this very trial you are facing – and all the redeemed will see what God did in and through you in this trial – His goodness, His mercy, His faithfulness in this trial – and when the Redeemed see the outcome of this trial – they will all fall on their face before God in worship of His mercy to you in and through that trial. So be hopeful.