But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Isaiah 43:1, 25 (1)
This week a package arrived from my son, Jason. Among some gifts of perfume for his mother and sisters and a wonderful certificate for the parents of the soldier, there was a flag he carried with him as he served in Iraq this past year. The flag was labeled “Operation Iraqi Freedom”.
Every American soldier carries one. Beside the American and Iraqi flag emblems, there are messages written in Persian (Farsi), Turkish, Kurdish, Arabic and English for anyone who might help a soldier in trouble, perhaps separated from his unit. Even strong liberators sometimes need help.
Isaiah looked at the nation of Israel and saw a people enslaved to the Babylonian empire. Modern day Babylon is called Iraq. As modern day Iraqi’s knew under Sadaam Hussein’s regime that personal freedom was at the whim of the dictator – it was no different for the ancient people of Israel, pressed-down under the heavy hand of Babylon’s King Cyrus.
Liberation is a sweet thought when you are the one who has been defeated and occupied by the enemies’ armies. In the case of Israel it was even worse. The army may have been wearing Babylonian uniforms, sworn to serve King Cyrus, but it was God who had engineered the whole thing. Israel had sinned by worshipping idols and not trusting Jehovah. Jehovah was answering; captivity and harsh bondage was the language.
There are many types of bondage or captivity.
• There is political bondage like Communism where someone else controls what you are allowed to do.
• There is financial bondage. I know about that one. I had about 12 years without a car loan…then the old Buick died!
• There is physical bondage, such as a down-turn in health. I know about that kind too.
In each case there are some things you can do;
• Politically, you can revolt,
• Financially, you can begin to save and not spend
• With health issues the doctor can find a pill or do surgery (which may cause further financial bondage)…
The worst kind of bondage however is spiritual bondage. Why is it the worst? Because, like Israel of old, when God takes you to the woodshed, there is no revolt that works…there is no buying your way out, and there is no surgery any medical team can offer. Spiritual bondage is when people lose their connection with God.
What does spiritual bondage look like? Mistakes are made; a job goes sour, or a marriage. Kids get in trouble. People feel like they’ve squandered their chance to be respectable – like they’ve squandered-away their chance to know God.
It is a tough row to hoe for several reasons:
1. Spiritual bondage is internal, but it affects and controls every area of life. Moses had lost his connection with God. It drove him to become a hunted murderer.
2. Being internal, it is hidden from view. You know you’re there…others don’t.
3. The consequences are also hidden – at least delayed, often until it is too late to change the outcome.
4. Spiritual bondage is caused by sin.
In our text the word “transgression” is often translated “rebellion”. That is the nature of the source of spiritual bondage, rebellion against God. Ever since Adam and Eve decided they wanted to have that fruit off the tree of knowledge of good and evil, rebellion has been our human nature.
And that puts us in a rather difficult location, square in the middle of rock and hard place. We are in need of a fresh start, a second chance. And the text tells us that is what God is willing to offer.
A Fresh Start is Available
Because God Says So
I, I am He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins. Isaiah 43:25
Notice the language God uses, “I, I am…” Certainly we are familiar with that statement from Moses’ encounter with the Lord at the burning bush. The way the words are ordered, there is emphasis. It is as if God is saying “I and I alone can blot out your rebellion”.
Agreed; God is the only one holy enough to deal with our rebellion and our spiritual bondage…but how can it be dealt with. Every attempt we ever make to deal with it ourselves – self help programs, new years resolutions, diets, pills, materialism, good deeds – even going to church…it all falls short. It doesn’t work. That is precisely the point, all our righteousness is as filthy rags.
Freedom from any kind of bondage may only be bought with blood. It is that way in Iraq, and it is that way with our sin. And that’s how God did it, and how He still does it. In Iraq, men and women are dying so that others may live – that’s what Calvary’s cross was all about!
A Fresh Start Changes Everything
There is a good reason to ask God for a fresh start – when He gives it your life takes on new dimensions.
• Confidence in prayer
It is an amazing thing how much easier it is to talk to God once sin has been removed from the equation. Adam and Eve found it hard to talk to God with sin in the way. Cain didn’t want any part of talking to God with blood on his hands.
• Confidence in living with an untroubled heart
Malchus must have lived that way. If you recall, the night Jesus was arrested, Malchus was in the posse. He was only a servant, but he was betraying the Son of God. Peter sprung into action, but he had terrible aim. He took a swipe with his sword, but missed dividing Malchus’ head in two…he just got an ear. Jesus stopped the fiasco, picked up the ear and put it back on.
Now the Scripture doesn’t let us in on what happened further, but can you imagine the scene at the Malchus house that night?
Mrs. Malchus: “How was your day?”
Mr. M.: “You wouldn’t believe it.”
Mrs. Malchus: “O come on; we never talk anymore.”
Mr. M.: “Well, alright…I went to help arrest this trouble-making Jew, a prophet they called him. There was a little trouble.”
Mrs. Malchus: “Are you alright?”
Mr. M.: “Yeah…I wasn’t, though.”
Mrs. Malchus: “What do you mean?”
Mr. M.: “It’s kind of difficult to explain.”
Mrs. Malchus: “Will you come out with it, already?”
Mr. M.: “Okay, okay…one of the prophet’s men, a big one with fire in his eyes took a swing at me with a sword.”
Mrs. Malchus: “Oh my…are you sure you’re alright?”
Mr. M.: “Yea……uh, well….actually the big slob cut off my right ear.”
Mrs. Malchus: “What…let me see…..hmmmmm…looks ok to me. You’ve been drinking again, haven’t you?”
Mr. M.: “No, no, I swear!…it was off! I saw it on the ground. Look at this blood on my sleeve. That prophet stopped the big guy and picked up my ear. Then he touched me and the ear was back on; not even a scar.”
Mrs. Malchus: “Look, if you just don’t want to talk when you come home, say so…you don’t have to try to make me out to be a fool. Cutting off your ear, putting it back on. Come on, dinner’s ready.”
Mr. M.: “But….but….”
Mr. Malchus may have had difficulty living with a troubled marriage, and with anyone else who didn’t believe his story, but I guarantee that from that day on he knew – he knew who Jesus was.
Tom Brady, the quarterback of the New England Patriots, is not only one of the NFL’s best players; he is also one of the NFL’s best stories.
At the tender age of 28, he has already won three Super Bowls—an accomplishment that ranks him with some of the best quarterbacks ever to play the game. Brady’s loss to the Denver Broncos in the 2005 playoffs was his first in the playoffs, compared with 10 playoff wins in the last four years.
But with all of Brady’s fame and career accomplishments, he told 60 Minutes: "Why do I have three Super Bowl rings and still think there’s something greater out there for me? I mean, maybe a lot of people would say, ’Hey man, this is what is. I reached my goal, my dream, my life.’ Me, I think, God, it’s got to be more than this. I mean this isn’t, this can’t be, what it’s all cracked up to be."
"What’s the answer?" asked interviewer Steve Kroft.
"I wish I knew," Brady replied. "I wish I knew." (2)
I have stood at the graveside of many people being laid to their final rest. There have been more than I can remember now. I have looked into the eyes of many thousands of family members and mourning friends of the deceased. It is always the same. They are always divided into two camps:
• There are those who have taken God at His word that they can have a fresh start. They have had their burden of spiritual bondage broken like a paper chain, and they live with an unburdened heart. In those eyes is hope and peace.
• There are those who have held onto their pride. In those eyes there is an emptiness that dresses itself in fig leaves and hides when the sound of the Lord is heard nearby.
Which describes you?
Isaiah said to come and reason together…though your sins be as scarlet, they can be washed as white as snow. And when Satan or anyone else, including you tries to bring them up for discussion, the Lord God Almighty simply says “What sins? I, I alone, have redeemed him…he is mine, and I choose to wipe away his rebellion forever!”
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ENDNOTES
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(1) All Scripture quoted is New Revised Standard Version unless noted
(2) Interview with Steve Croft of 60 Minutes (11-6-05), www.cbsnews.com
