“Thus saith the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, and his Maker, ‘Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons, and concerning the work of My hands command ye Me.'” Isaiah 45:11
Throughout Scripture, from the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve heard the Lord walking in the cool of the day, and where He spoke and communed with them, to the invitation of the Lord Jesus in the book of Revelation, to “open the door” to let Him in, there to eat with Him, and He with the believer. If there is one thing that is so very clearly, wonderfully, and graciously presented to us in the Bible, it is that God is seeking man, not because He has need of him, but that He is love, the giver of Eternal Life and “every good and perfect gift,” so that man can live to the fullest by the Spirit of God for the glory of God. Why is this matter of the glory of God so important to grasp? It is because in His glory, that reveleation and manifestation of Himself, His character and nature to man, that man is truly and eternally blessed. We forget sometimes that the Almighty God, as John the Apostle put it, is also, perfect, eternal, unchanging love. God has proved His willingness to go to the greatest extent in giving His Son to die on Calvary, and this, to bring man to a saving knowledge of Himself. His great objective is to bring man into fellowship, or communion with HIm, for in that communion man can receive the things of God, come to know Him in an ever-increasing way, and show forth the wonder and beauty of His person to a lost and dying world. How is this possible, since man is so small, sinful, and limited in his understanding of God’s ways?
The Bible begins to answer that question by declaring that this is impossible to man, in and of himself. When Jesus was teaching His disciples concerning entering the kingdom of God, and how one’s trust in riches can be an “impossible” obstacle to remove, He concluded by saying: “With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God ALL things are possible.” (Mark 10:27) In the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Philippian believers concerning the work of God in them, he writes: “For it is God who is at work in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” (1:6) The impossibleness of man, with regard to his resouces, limitations, but in particular, his sinful nature in opposition to God, to enter into this communion with God, can only be realized by the intervention of God. This is the God who stretches His arms out all day long, who defies difficulty and hardship, even a cross, who will go to any and all cost and suffering, to reach even one sheep dying alone on the mountains. The motivation of God is that which we see as declared by Paul in writing to the Corinthians: “For the love of God constraines us.” (2 Cor. 5:14) Moved by compassion and love for the “loveless,” the Father did not spare His Son, so that every barrier that hindered sinful man from coming to Him would be removed forever. Also, every need that man possessed could be met, and would be, IF the individual would respond to the overtures of God, the call of God. So then, everything has been accomplished, and God in Christ is daily seeking the lost. Why then does God, through Isaiah, say: “Ask Me of things to come concerning My sons?” He seeks to draw man out of his faithlessness to the reality of the existence of God. In doing so, He speaks of a relationship between Father and son. Secondly, the call comes forth, “…concerning the work of My hands, command ye Me.” Here is the specific call to the individual heart to respond in faith to God. God waits to work, but He cannot save unless man is willing to believe.
Dear Father, Strengthen us to believe in Thee. In Jesus’ name, Amen.