The God of love and peace will
be with you all. Amen.
Isaiah 57:15 15 Certainly this is what the High and Lofty One says, the
one who dwells with his people forever, and whose name is holy: I
dwell in a high and holy place, yet also with the one who is crushed and lowly
in spirit, in order to revive the spirit of those who have
been pushed down, and to revive the hearts of those who have been crushed. (EHV)
The Holy One in His dwelling-place.
Dear
friends in Christ,
Sometime in your life, you may have experienced something
so painful that you immediately wished Jesus would be here to help, heal, or
protect you. But, I ask you, is it not
possible that we are much better off with Jesus in heaven? Tonight, we will look to see who Isaiah is
speaking of, where that Lofty One lives, and finally, what He does for us as
the The Holy One in His dwelling-place.
Isaiah does
not hide who is proclaiming this message.
He declares, “Certainly this is what the High and Lofty
One says, the one who dwells with his people forever, and whose name is holy.”
This can be none other than the Almighty
Creator of the world who told His people, “I, the Lord, am holy, and I have
distinguished you from the other peoples so that you belong to me.” (Leviticus 20:26) This is the true God who demanded of Job,
"Where were you when I laid the
foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you
understand anything about it.” (Job
38:4)
Now, the Bible is very clear that the One true God
exists as One God in three persons.
Jesus said, “I and the Father are
one." (John 10:30)
Jesus, also teaches us about the Trinity when He promises His disciples,
“The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the
Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and remind you of
everything I told you.” (John 14:26) So, who is the “High and Lofty One, the one
who dwells with his people forever, and whose name is holy”? It can only be the Triune God, Father, Son
and Holy Spirit.
The Almighty God affirms, here, that His name is
holy. We know that a person’s name is
more than just the letters in the word; it is his whole reputation. Therefore, God is telling us that every part
of His reputation is holy, and we find God’s reputation in His Word. In the Revelation of Jesus Christ, St. John
saw a vision of the angels around God’s throne, calling out His name as “Day and
night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come." (Revelation
4:8) Thus our holy God created us and His
Word is holy among us.
Not only
is God holy by definition, but He is perfectly holy in all His thoughts, words,
actions and judgments. The world does not
want to believe that. In our natural
state, we were God’s enemies. We didn’t
want to be ruled or defined by someone so perfectly righteous, so even while
acknowledging God’s existence, people naturally tend to follow the kidnapper’s
lead as he pretends to control the world. In rebellion, they question God’s actions, His motives, and
even blame God for our troubles.
As part
of their rebellion, it is exceedingly normal for people, while they are still
God’s enemies, to take all the credit for their successes and joys in this
world as something they have accomplished themselves. In foolish pride, the natural man even
imagines he can save himself. Sinful man
has an inflated estimation of his own abilities and works, but lest we get too
enamored of ourselves, God holds up His righteous standards, saying, “Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am
holy.” (Leviticus 19:2) Someday, we each must stand before God to be
judged, and the end result is that anyone not dressed in perfect righteousness
will cower in terror before the awesome holiness of the One who can destroy the
heavens and earth with a simple command.
That being said, if all we knew about God was His
perfect holiness, we too would forever cower in terror of His name. Thankfully, Isaiah has told us a little more
about The Holy One in His dwelling-place. He wrote, “The High and Lofty One… dwells with his people forever.” As we observe life around us, you and I see
ongoing frailty and death, so we struggle to understand the concept of
eternity. Nothing in our world lasts
very long. Every creature on earth soon
succumbs to the curse of death. Though
Moses was well-blessed in years, he was compelled to write, “The days of our lives add up to seventy
years, or eighty years if we are strong.
Yet the best of them are trouble and sorrow, for they disappear quickly,
and we fly away.” (Psalm 90:10)
God, on the other hand, lives in a completely different sphere. In God’s home, life never ends, nor does He. He is “the Alpha and the Omega…the
Beginning and the End.” (Revelation 22:13)
Through
Isaiah, God promises us that not only does He dwell in eternity, and high above
you and me on earth, but He dwells “with the one who is crushed and lowly in spirit.”
About seven hundred years
after Isaiah wrote this, Jesus told Judas, "If
anyone loves me, he will hold on to my word.
My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with
him.” (John 14:23) Because God is perfectly holy and
just, sinners must go through death, but God doesn’t leave His people there. As the perfectly loving Father of all, God
sent His Son to earth to suffer our death and become our salvation. That’s really what brings us to the Ascension
of our Lord Jesus: God’s perfect love and sacrifice for us which removed the
curse of death from our eternal future.
You see, Jesus is Immanuel—God with us—it is through Jesus that God
created us, by Jesus God saved us, and with Jesus we will live forever.
Many
people may have wondered why our victorious Savior couldn’t remain here on
earth after rising from the dead. Yet,
what conquering warrior would not return to his homeland after the battle is
won? What victorious king would not rule
in triumph from his throne? It’s no
different with our Lord. Jesus entered
this world to win the victory over the malicious liar who had kidnapped God’s
people. With perfect obedience of all
God’s will, and with the payment of His own life for the sins of the world,
Jesus conquered the deceiver and everything he stood for. Thus, with Jesus’ victory complete, the time
had come for Him to return in triumph to where He could help His redeemed
people the most—His home in heaven.
Though
there might be times we wish Jesus was here on earth helping us, Jesus’ ascension to heaven shows how devoted
He is to His most important work. Isaiah
explains: “To revive the spirit of those who have been pushed down, and to
revive the hearts of those who have been crushed.” Before
He suffered and died for us, Jesus told His disciples, “I am telling you the truth: It is good for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Counselor will
not come to you. But if I go, I will
send him to you.” (John 16:7) Jesus’ resurrection from the dead showed that
our salvation is complete and we are no longer separated from God, so in
His ascension to heaven, Jesus was not abandoning us to our fate. Instead, by returning to His Father’s side to
rule triumphantly for us, Jesus could promise His followers, “Surely I am with you always until the end
of the age." (Matthew 28:20)
Ten days from today, we will celebrate the festival
of Pentecost, which we commonly recognize as the birth of the New Testament
Church. In that festival we see the
outcome of Jesus’ return to heaven. At
Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out upon Christ’s followers, and from
that outpouring of the Spirit, you and I have been blessed through the spread
of Jesus’ Gospel.
Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to work the humility in
us that recognizes that we can’t save ourselves. On our own, we would have continued hoping to
make ourselves right with our Creator, but the fear of death would always
remain hanging over our heads. Through
the spread of God’s Word by those sent out to preach, you and I have been led
to recognize our sinfulness before God, but also to know the hope we have in Jesus. Apart from Him, we had no hope for life after
this world. Yet, through the Holy
Spirit’s work in the Gospel of Christ’s salvation, you and I are lifted up in
spirit.
Better than just feeling more spiritual, the Lord
makes us alive, again, through the Spirit He sends. The Holy Spirit promises that we are saved by
faith which is given to us through His work.
In our Epistle lesson, we heard Jesus tell His disciples, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon
you; and you will be my witnesses … to the ends of the earth." (Acts
1:8) Though the disciples already
believed in Jesus, they too needed the Spirit’s power to fully comprehend
Christ’s salvation. But when empowered
by the Spirit, they rejoiced to go out telling the world about all that Jesus
had done to conquer the devil and his evil partners.
Isaiah foretold that the Holy One would “revive
the hearts of those who have been
crushed.” Once we are brought to our knees by the work
of the law and the fear of condemnation, and when we finally recognize that we
cannot please God on our own, then the Holy Spirit has us ready to hear of the
salvation Jesus won for us all. It is at
that point that the Holy Spirit works through the Gospel to transform us from
dead unbelievers into living souls that have a future. Through the prophet Jeremiah, God promised
His people, “I know the plans I have for
you," declares the LORD, "plans to give you peace, not disaster, plans to give you hope and a
future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
That future is given to us through faith in
Jesus. Peter wrote: “By his great
mercy he gave us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of
Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3)
Peter also assures us that “Through
faith you are being protected by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to
be revealed at the end of time.” (1
Peter 1:5)
My friends, Jesus returned to heaven so that your
salvation would be a sure and certain thing; first, so that He could send the
Holy Spirit to work faith in you and me, and then, so that He could rule the
creation to defend us against the temptations and dangers that are allowed to
exist in this world until judgment day arrives.
Christ orders all things so that we are preserved in true faith unto the
end.
As Jesus ascended to heaven, He showed us our
future. Two angels stood among the
disciples with a question and a promise, "Men
of Galilee, why are you standing here looking up into the sky?” [And then the promise] “This same Jesus, who has been taken up from you into
heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.” (Acts
1:11) On the appointed day that only God
knows, Jesus will return to take us to His everlasting home. Jesus told His followers what the whole world
will see on that Last Day: “Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. And at that time all the nations of the earth
will mourn. They will see the Son of Man
coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. He will send out his angels with a loud
trumpet call, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from
one end of the heavens to the other.” (Matthew 24:30-31)
Many people likely question why it is important for
us to celebrate Christ’s Ascension. An
honest man will admit that there remains a lot of uncertainty in this world,
and there are many things we struggle to understand. At times, we too may wonder why we must
journey through the troubles of life on earth.
Many also wonder why God still allows this sin-damaged world to
continue, just as the martyrs pictured in the book of the Revelation cry out, “O Lord, holy and true, how long until you judge and
exact justice for our blood from those who live on the earth?” (Revelation 6:20) However, we
celebrate Christ’s Ascension because of the joy, the confidence, and the sure
hope of eternal life it brings to those who trust in Christ Jesus for
forgiveness and salvation.
Isaiah, here, assures us that all we really need to
know is that Jesus is still in control, that He is continually working for the
salvation of all those whom God has chosen, and that even though we don’t see
Jesus now, He dwells with us in His Word to give us life. Jesus wants us to keep on working for His
purpose too. He wants us to continue
trusting Him and to continue sharing His salvation with all we meet. In Christian faith and thanksgiving for what
He has done for us, we bow before His greater wisdom and His infinite mercy and
grace. We bow before The Holy One in His dwelling-place. Amen.
How blessed is everyone who fears
the LORD, everyone who is walking in his ways.
Amen.
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