God's Ultimate Plan

GOD’S ULTIMATE PLAN

By Pastor Jim May

This morning I want to read to you and expound upon one of the most beautiful passages in the Bible, found in Isaiah chapter 45. In this chapter we can sense the power, majesty, glory and love of God, expressed from his own lips, to those who are his own chosen people. Though the message from God is given directly to a heathen king named Cyrus, King of Persia, it is a message that also speaks directly into the heart of each of us who are called by his name and chosen to be a part of his kingdom and family.

Let me begin by noting that God is in control of all things and let us never forget that. In a world where our daily newspapers are filled with one catastrophe after another, and each day bring new and greater tragedies around the world, it is easy for us to get caught up in the events of these last days and to wonder if the world has gone completely mad and out of control.

The answer of course is that sin reigns in the hearts of men and that sin, coupled with the hatred of Satan toward all of mankind, drives sinful men ever deeper in the depths of depravity. As we draw nearer and nearer to the coming of the Lord, we must expect that the deeds of sinners will only become darker and more sinister. With each passing day, mankind attempts to cast off any vestige of a Holy God, and to forget that he has a Maker, and to discredit the fact that one day, each of us must stand before our Creator to give an answer for the things we have done while we walked this earth.

But in the midst of all that chaos and uncertainty, we must rest assured in the immutable fact that God has the “chaos” under control.

I’m certain that most of the Children of Israel would have wondered if things were out of control when they were slaves in Babylon and Persia. Had God left them to there destruction at the hand of their enemies? Had God turned his back on them and forgotten that they were his chosen people? How could any good thing come of this captivity? The worship of the true God of Israel had nearly been forgotten as a whole generation passed while in captivity. I wonder how many days that they would wake up, or how many times they would lay their head upon the pillow at night, and wonder, “God, have you lost control? Do you really care? Are you really going to bring this all about for good?”

What most of Israel didn’t understand, and what much of the church world today has forgotten, is that God hasn’t forgotten his promises, and that he still has all things in his hand. Though the world seems to be falling apart at the seams, it is still well in his hand. He is bringing about a master plan that will fulfill every word that he has spoken and not one word will fail!

In the very first verse of Isaiah chapter 45 we see that God is the one who has anointed this heathen king to be used as an instrument to bring about the will of God. It is God who appointed Babylon, and now Persia, to be the both the rod of correction upon the backs of God’s wayward children, and to the source of their deliverance as well. God put Cyrus in the right place, at the right moment in history, and upon the throne of the most powerful nation on earth, just to bring about God’s plan for his chosen people and bring them home again. (We have been studying about the return of Israel from Persian in our Sunday evening study of the Book of Nehemiah.)

The first 17 verses of this chapter are devoted to giving a message to Cyrus, reminding him that it is the God of Israel who has given him the power to rule and reign, and that it is also God who will not forget his people.

After all of that, we come to the 18th verse where we will begin reading.

Isaiah 45:18-19, "For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD; and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I said not unto the seed of Jacob, Seek ye me in vain: I the LORD speak righteousness, I declare things that are right."

What a word this is to the people of God! God speaks and the world trembles! God speaks and love bursts forth upon his people! God speaks and every rock, every tree, every star in the heavens, every planet in the universe, every insect upon the ground, and every heart that strains to hear his voice, comes to attention, waiting upon his every word!