Am I a Rebel or Restored?
Today’s discussion is about Isaiah chapter 1. Read it beforehand if you want to follow my thoughts more accurately. The prophets are very interesting and difficult to read. They are not difficult to understand. The direct and unwavering verdicts are difficult to accept. The first verses describe the Israelites as rebellious people. When I look at the culture around me, I wonder: “Are we rebellious?”
A vast portion of the American culture is rebellious; but that is obvious. Disney movies promote children rebelling against parents. The Little Mermaid rebels against her father and then is granted her rebellious wish. Children talk back to their parents or throw temper-tantrums in defiance. Teenagers pride their haughty positions as more “enlightened” than their elders. These actions are clearly rebellious. However, I am talking about the more subtle rebellion: the rebellion of the heart. Isaiah 1:4 says “They have forsaken the LORD; they have spurned the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on him.” Have “Christians” done this? The shallow Gospel that promotes a “self-help” lifestyle appears to be consuming American believers. How many YouTube videos are watched every day that provide “inspiration”? Isn’t the Holy Spirit supposed to be our inspiration? Isn’t the truth our motivation? Isn’t Jesus both: inspiration and motivation?
The questions in verse 5-6 pierce my heart: “Why should you be beaten anymore? Why do you persist in rebellion? Your whole head is injured, your whole heart afflicted. From the sole of your foot to the top of your head there is no soundness–only wounds and welts and open sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil.” What a state! Every Sunday we dress up, place the mask on and try to sing glory to God. Then the question must be asked: does God see us how He viewed the Israelites at that time? God says that sacrifices are nothing to Him (vs.11), that Israel tramples His courts, (vs.12), the feasts for His honor are a burden (vs.14) and that He will hide His eyes from their prayers (vs.15).
Israel is not looking good here. There is blood on their hands (vs.15) and they won’t stop doing wrong things (vs.16). Is America any different? How many babies have been killed? How many rapes happen in the U.S.? How many widows go hungry? How many children are abandoned by their fathers? After Donald Trump won the presidency many Christians acted like a new era had arrived. A triumphant belief that the oppression of socialistic political correctness and governmental corruption had ended. Yet, insidious agendas still exist. Manipulation still exists. Evil still exists. Sin still exists. President Trump or President Obama, it doesn’t matter. Without righteous men standing for the truth there is no shelter in grace.
The answers to sin are clear: repent. Oh, don’t cringe. Repentance is misrepresented in American culture. The typical impression is the man with a bullhorn screaming at the masses or a parent beating their child until they apologize to their sibling. This isn’t repentance; that is forced tolerance. Repentance is true sorrow and change. Sorrow that makes tears flood your eyes when you think of your faults. Change that completely alters your personality and character. It is hard to find sorrow and change. All these American Gospel messages about “habits” that can alter your life are temporary or substitutions. They help hide the faults but don’t remove them.
The way that repentance and change occur is through God opening our eyes and purifying our souls by gifting us the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. It is painful, like working out for the first time in five years; your muscles ache and your breathe is painful in your ribs. God’s refinement is not easy. Verses 25-26 say “I (God) will turn my hand against you; I will thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities. I will restore your judges as in days of old, your counselors as at the beginning.” While this sounds hard and harsh, isn’t this what we all want? To be restored? The idea of being restored might be strange to some people. Perhaps it is strange to you. What are we being restored to?
The world is constantly selling us messages of restoration: ways to stay young, keep your beauty, new trends, new clothes, etc. New is restoration. When something grows old it degrades. Fixing old things is called “restoration.” Accepting Jesus as Messiah and Lord and choosing to follow him begins the process of restoration in our hearts and minds. Paul, in Ephesians 4: 22-24, expounds upon this restoration process; “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” That old self, which is rebellious and deceitful, is thrown away like a jacket covered in mud. Then the renewing of our minds by the Holy Spirit will restore us.
There is an important point to make: no one can renew themselves and be holy. Herein lies the toughest truth, that humans are corrupt without intervention from an outside force. Our nature is destruction and defilement. Jesus explains to Nicodemus in John 3: 5-6 that “No one can enter the kingdom of God unless is he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” Then in John 5:24 Jesus says, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” When one hears and believes Jesus, that person leaves the old (that which is dying) to follow the new (that which brings life). Where do I stand: a rebel that flirts with death or restored into new life? By Jesus’ restoring power, I have hope all my days. May the Lord Jesus the Messiah keep me from rebellion and restore my heart and mind for His glory.
