A Servant Saving a Servant

Observations From My Study (Isaiah 42:1-43:7)

This section of Isaiah talks a lot about the servant of God. But a close reading shows that there is more than one servant in view here.

First, read 42:1:

Behold my servant, whom I uphold,
     my chosen, in whom my soul delights;
I have put my Spirit upon him;
     he will bring forth justice to the nations

This servant sounds pretty great, huh? He is indwelled with the Spirit of God and will bring justice to all. What could be better?

But read later in the chapter:

Hear, you deaf,
     and look, you blind, that you may see!
Who is blind but my servant,
     or deaf as my messenger whom I send?
Who is blind as my dedicated one,
     or blind as the servant of the LORD? (Isaiah 42:18, 19)

This doesn't sound at all like the glorious servant from earlier in the chapter. He is blind and deaf; he can't follow the Lord. The two passages simply cannot be referring to the same servant.

The context reveals this for certain. We discover in later verses that this second servant needs redemption. In contrast, the first servant comes to bring redemption. This first servant, as the New Testament reveals (Matt. 12:28-30), is none other than Jesus himself. Jesus became a servant to save God's fallen servant, Israel. Jesus is really the ideal Israel who fulfilled that which Israel could not fulfill and obeyed the Father in her place that she may be redeemed.

I think the best way to end this is with Paul's passage to the Philippians addressing that very topic:

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5-11)

Benjamin Keach's Catechism, Q14: The Creation of Man

Q. 14. How did God create man?
A. God created man male and female, after His own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures. (Gen. 1:27; Col. 3:10; Eph. 4:24; Gen. 1:28)

Scripture Proofs

So God created man in his own image,
     in the image of God he created him;
     male and female he created them. (Gen. 1:27)

Put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Col. 3:10)

Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. (Eph. 4:24)

And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." (Gen. 1:28)

I want to start by saying that, when I first read this question, I thought the answer would be something along the lines of "With dust." But then I realized that the question isn't asking what God did to create man. It's asking what God created man to be like. But that's still a bit of an inadequate explanation, because the idea isn't just what purpose or way God created man to be, as if he created man and said, "Now, attain to this;" it's how man actually was when God created him. When God created man, he "created man male and female, after His own image, in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, with dominion over the creatures." As with all of the questions we've covered so far, this answer is easily verifiable with Scripture. Like the last answer, I think the best way to go about this is to go one phrase at a time.

The first part says that "God created man male and female." Although several feminists would object, the answer is clear: humankind, both male and female, are, in fact, collectively referred to as "man." I'm not trying to make a massively significant point when I say that; I just think it's amusing, but I digress.

The big point here is that God created both man and woman. In the creation account, we can see that they were both created with specific purposes: man was to work, and woman was to help man. They have specific, differing, and complementary purposes. Now, along with this, they are both equals in terms of standing with God; that is - contrary to the popular mischaracterization of Christianity by the world - Biblically speaking, woman is not inferior to man. Paul says, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28). Paul is not saying that men and women are exactly the same; we've already seen that they are not, and the verse also compares Jews with Greeks and slaves with freemen, each very different classes of people when compared to the other. What he is saying is that, in God's eyes, men and women are equals. Men are not more saved than women, nor are women more saved than man. Both men and women are created in the image of God; neither bears more of God's image than the other. Husbands are called to lead and love and women are called to submit, but that does not imply inferiority or superiority; it shows difference.

So what does it mean that God created man in his image? Paul answers when he speaks of God's plan for his elect: "those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers" (Rom. 8:29). In other words, God made man to be like him. When you think about it, you realize that Satan offered Adam something he already had; "you will be like God" (Gen. 3:5). This doesn't mean that Adam was perfect or omnipotent or eternal or anything like that, but he was, as the catechism states, knowledgeable, righteous, and holy. Man was made to be good and holy. Man was good and holy when he was initially created because he was made to be like God. Ultimately, that's what God plans for his elect; "we know that when [Jesus] appears we shall be like him" (1 John 3:2). I personally like the metaphor of the sun and the moon. The moon has no light in and of itself; it's just a floating hunk of space rock. But it reflects the light of the sun to the earth. That's what man was made to do: reflect the light of God on the earth.

The next phrase says that God created man "in knowledge, righteousness, and holiness." This refers specifically to man's knowledge, righteousness, and holiness, as the verses given demonstrate: "Put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness . . . . which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator" (Eph. 4:24; Col. 3:10). Interestingly, the passages these verses come from parallel each other; they both address this idea of the new self. The idea is that, presently, God is restoring redeemed man to the condition he was in before the fall, that state of knowledge, righteousness, and holiness. Before the fall, man was already there. Man was knowledgeable, man was righteous, man was holy. The knowledge is of particular interest to me because we don't often think about it. Every genuine Christian will acknowledge that man is radically corrupted morally. But if every part of a man's being is corrupted by sin, and his mind is part of his being, then his mind is also corrupted by sin! It is occupied and infested with sinful thoughts! We can still think and reason, but we are imperfect and fallible in such ventures. That is why Paul, when speaking of our sanctification, tells us to "be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect" (Rom. 12:2). I've heard it said that the two clearest thinkers in all of history were Adam (before he fell) and Jesus, because neither of them were corrupted by sin. Before the fall, when man was in the state God created him in, he could think clearly. He did righteously, and he could discern what was the will of God. When you think of that, however, you realize just how bad the fall was; Adam knew it was wrong and he did it anyway. He was knowledgeable and righteous and holy, but not enough to keep from sinning against God.

Lastly, God created man "with dominion over the creatures." That's an easy one; God rules the earth and has given it to us to rule over. His first command was for man to "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth" (Gen. 1:28). Man has a duty to fill the earth, which involves being fruitful and multiplying. Man has a duty to rule the ground and make it flourish. Man also has the right to use the ground and the resources of the world to make progress, such as building houses and roads and things to make life easier. Man is called to care for animals, but animals are not to take priority over man; if one is driving on a road and sees a human baby and a baby koala ahead, and there is no way to avoid hitting one of them, say goodbye to the bear and rejoice that a human baby is still alive. Then try to find the baby's parents, of course, because clearly someone wasn't paying attention.

This is not all the catechism has to say about man's creation and purpose; there is a lot more to come.

To read the full catechism, click here.

Benjamin Keach's Catechism, Q13: The Work of Creation

Q. 13. What is the work of creation?
A. The work of creation is God's making all things of nothing, by the Word of His power, in the space of six days, and all very good. (Gen. 1:1; Heb. 11:3; Ex. 20:11; Gen. 1:31)

Scripture Proofs

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen. 1:1)

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible. (Heb. 11:3)

For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. (Ex. 20:11)

And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (Gen 1:31)

In the last post, we covered that God's decrees are executed in his works of creation and providence. Today we'll discuss his work of creation. I think the answer given covers the topic more than adequately: "The work of creation is God's making all things of nothing, by the Word of His power, in the space of six days, and all very good." Each of these statements are easily backed up by Scripture.

God made all things out of nothing; well, when the Bible says "God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1), it's easily implied that nothing existed before that moment except God. Note that the verse does not state that God himself was created in the beginning; he was already there. God has always been around. This is not illogical; a being with the power of being within himself does not need a cause. He, unlike us, does not need someone to grant him the ability to be. He has always been there. We can't grasp that; everything we can think of has some kind of beginning in time. But even time didn't exist until God created it, so how can he have a beginning in time?

The next phrase refers to his creating by "the Word of his power." The author of Hebrews says this very thing: "By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God" (11:3). Genesis also attests to this when it says, multiple times, that "God said" and what he said happened. (1:3, 6, 9 ,11, 14, 20, 24, 26). There is no mention of God taking some kind of pre-existing material and creating something with it except in the case of man, who was formed out of dust (2:7). No, God simply spoke and it came to be. What power!

The next phrase, "in the space of six days," is a hotly-contested issue for some reason or another. Some people say it means six literal days. Others claim it means six ages or indefinite spans of time, citing the fact that, since the sun and moon were not created until day four, there was no such thing as a literal, 24-hour day before then. I tend to fall in the first camp: the Bible affirms that "in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day" (Ex. 20:11). In fact, in context, that verse is the reason God instituted a six-day work week with a Sabbath; it is the last verse in the fifth commandment itself (20:8-11). The work week and Sabbath are intended to model God's work of creation! I don't really see why people argue against it or what the big deal is. However, this isn't a mountain I'd die on; if someone wants to argue with me about this, they won't get a response, as I don't think it's a live-or-die, you're-not-saved-if-you-don't-believe-this issue.

The last phrase, "and all very good," is not one that Christians argue about. It's very clear that God made creation good. "And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good" (Gen 1:31). Paul agrees: "For everything created by God is good" (1 Tim. 4:4). In fact, the only thing that was not good is that man was initially alone, and God quickly fixed that problem, making it good (Gen 2:18-25). It is only because of man that things went bad, but we'll get to that later.

To read the full catechism, click here.

Benjamin Keach's Catechism, Q12: Executing His Decrees

Q. 12. How does God execute His decrees?
A. God executes His decrees in the works of creation and providence. (Gen. 1:1; Rev. 4:11; Matt. 6:26; Acts 14:17)

Scripture Proofs

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Gen. 1:1)

Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
     to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
     and by your will they existed and were created. (Rev. 4:11)

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Matt. 6:26)

Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness. (Acts 14:17)

Compared to the previous question, this one is a breeze. "God executes his decrees in the works of creation and providence." We talked a bit about providence in the last post. Today we'll discuss both providence and creation. To be honest, I don't see this being a very long post; I can't really discuss precisely what God's works of creation and providence are because those answers are covered later in the catechism.

So we learn from this answer that we can define anything that God commands to be a decree. "Well duh," you say. Of course, that makes sense. But I wonder if we often think about how God commanded creation itself to exist? When "God created the heavens and the earth" (Gen. 1:1), he used his words. He told creation to exist. He may as well have said, "Creation, exist now," and creation, which didn't exist before, came into existence out of obedience. It's a philosophical mind-twister, because something that doesn't exist can't obey or disobey anything. But then God, who has the very power of being within his nature, commanded that Creation be, and it had to be. "For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm" (Ps. 33:9). It's pretty crazy to think about, but there you go.

God's works of providence is another thing. This basically refers to God determining what will happen in time. Again, we covered that earlier and will cover it more later.

I think one thing that we should remember when we think of God's decrees is just how sovereign he truly is, and how protected we are as a result.. For one thing, the Bible frequently refers to Creation as a reason to listen to, obey, and praise God (see Job 38:4-7; Ps. 33:6; 136:5; Isa. 42:5; 45:18; Acts 14:15; 17:24; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:10; 11:3; Rev. 4:11). We should praise him as well because he is our Creator. That simple thought ought to be overwhelming to us. As for our protection and provision, just read these two verses: "Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" (Matt. 6:26), and "he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness" (Acts 14:17). God has decreed that his people be provided for! Lastly, as an aside, these decrees testify to his existence and character; "he did not leave himself without witness." That affirms even more his sovereignty and faithfulness in provision.

In the next post, we'll consider God's work of creation.

To read the full catechism, click here.

Benjamin Keach's Catechism, Q11: The Decrees of God

Q. 11. What are the decrees of God?
A. The decrees of God are His eternal purpose, according to the counsel of His will, whereby for His own glory, He has fore-ordained whatsoever comes to pass (Eph. 1:11; Rom. 11:36; Dan. 4:35)

Scripture Proofs

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. (Eph. 1:11)

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Rom. 11:36)

All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing,
     and he does according to his will among the host of heaven
     and among the inhabitants of the earth;
and none can stay his hand
     or say to him, “What have you done?” (Dan. 4:35)

The idea of God's decrees and fore-ordinance is a very interesting one. Philosophically speaking, the idea that God ordains everything that happens makes a lot of people very uncomfortable, especially when they witness the horrors of evil. (This is usually called the Problem of Evil.) But the idea is Biblical, so we as Christians must accept it to be true.

The answer given, that "the decrees of God are His eternal purpose, according to the counsel of His will, whereby for His own glory, He has fore-ordained whatsoever comes to pass" is somewhat of a direct quote of Ephesians 1:11, which says that God "works all things according to the counsel of his will." The key words for our purposes are "all things." God very literally brings about all things that come to pass.

The next Scripture proof given says that "From him and through him . . . are all things" (Rom. 11:36). All things are from him and through him. It couldn't be much clearer than that.

The Bible also flies in the face of anyone who would say that mankind can defeat, or even stall, God's purposes. "He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him 'What have you done?'" (Dan. 4:35). This verse emphasizes God's total sovereignty over the whole universe; he works all things in heaven among the angels and on earth among man. Not only that, but God is so sovereign and great that man has no right or reason to question what he does. Paul echos this idea - with particular emphasis on God's sovereignty over man - when he says, "Who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, 'Why have you made me like this?' Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?" (Rom. 9:20, 21).

So, does this mean that God wills that which goes directly against his commands? In one sense, yes, but in another sense, no. Theologians have distinguished between God's precepts (his laws and commands) and his decrees (that which he causes to happen). In some way, despite the fact that God commanded Adam not to eat of the tree in the garden, he sovereignly ordained that he would do so. But we must remember that, while God does this, he does it in such a way that he is not the author of sin¹. "God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one" (James 1:13). God did not create sin. How this all works out is not fully explained in the Bible so far as I know; it remains in the hidden counsel of God. We must simply trust him in this.

Footnotes

¹ 2nd London Baptist Confession of Faith, 3.1. http://www.reformedreader.org/ccc/1689lbc/english/Chapter03.htm

To read the full catechism, click here.

March Debrief

Well, blog-wise, March was a very good month. Most of the time I had enough posts written and scheduled for a week by Wednesday the week before, which is a good feeling. It's nice to keep up so well. During the last week I started to trail a little in that, though; I think I scheduled the last two posts by last Tuesday, but I still managed. So all in all, it was a good month. Hopefully I can keep it up in the future.

Interestingly, I found myself with a lot more to write about outside of the catechism series. This doesn't mean I neglected it; I'm trying to write at least one post about the catechism a week, if not more. But I thought of other things to write about as well, which I really enjoy because it's much easier to write posts when I don't have to do intensive study while writing; the text just flows out a lot better. But I want to keep up the series and not lose interest, so I'm thinking of trying to focus on it more this month.

Personally, I have a massive life update: I got hired for a new job last week! I start in the middle of this month. It'll be a new location, new schedule, and new line of work for me. I'm not entirely sure how this will impact my blog output yet though; I've managed to get into somewhat of a decent rhythm with my current schedule, which has enabled me to keep a regular level of blog writing. I may have to change the days or frequency of my updates; we'll just have to see how it works out.

So, here comes April!