Living Grace

“Sing, O barren one, you who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who did not travail with child! For the [spiritual] children of the desolate one will be more than the children of the married wife, says the Lord”. – Isaiah 54:1

The promise of Christ is the release of thanksgiving, the celebration of heaven, the joyous freedom to sing!

“For though the mountains should depart and the hills be shaken or removed, yet My love and kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace and completeness be removed, says the Lord, Who has compassion on you.” – Isaiah 54:10 

This remarkable verse is the promise of the reign of the coming King. The establishment of a Kingdom Covenant that would surpass creation and time.

The apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans declared exactly the same message when he wrote, “I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present or the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

It is an unconditional covenant, a covenant founded and kept by the finished work of Christ.  A covenant birthed by the desire and passion of God. A covenant created before the foundations of the world and ignited by the Cross.

For in Jesus Christ is the fullness of God and all God’s love, kindness, peace, completeness and compassion is in Christ.

The promise of the King is now the Kingdom alive inside you. For all God is and all Christ is, is contained in the Kingdom Covenant alive in you.

The unconditional declaration of Christ over you is that He is the eternal promise of God, given to release you into the fullness of God. God’s gift, freely given and all you do is receive him and live in its fullness.

“For your Maker is your Husband—the Lord of hosts is His name—and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; the God of the whole earth He is called.” – Isaiah 54:5

The promise of God here is magnified in His commitment to deliver his people from their captivity, the promise of a kinsman to free us from the shadow of death and transfer us into the fullness of the Kingdom.

The slavery of the consequences of sin are so deeply embedded in our world that we cannot escape its invading influence in our thinking and emotions. It slowly seeps away our trust and delight in pleasing our Father, but Christ is our redeemer.

Jesus Christ purchased for us an eternal redemption. His blood poured out for us cleanses our conscience from all condemnation, all guilt, all shame and all feelings of separation.

Redemption means deliverance form all captivity and entry into the unfading glory of God.

Jesus Christ entered the world to bring you into the glory presence of God, to release you from the prison of guilt and fee you from the dudgeon of condemnation.

The baby born in a manger, to a teenage girl was the promised redeemer, the sacrifice given for you to deliver you from all your captivity.

“Behold, I have appointed him (Him) [David, as a representative of the Messiah, or the Messiah Himself] to be a witness [one (One) who shall testify of salvation] to the nations, a prince (Prince) and commander (Commander) to the peoples.” – Isaiah 55:4

The promise of God declared by the prophet Isaiah is the assurance that God will visit his people with a witness to declare to all the heart of God. Therefore, if you wanted to know what God is like all you need to do is look at Jesus Christ.

Jesus’ life was a living testament to the glory of God.

The intention and commitment of God to his children was the coming of a saviour, a prince and commander who would guide, care and with kindness and love restore his children back into their father’s arms.

His children were always the desire of His heart, and Jesus Christ was the God’s witness to the plans and purposes of God. In all Jesus did he did with the power and commitment of His Father.

The fulfilment of God’s intention took place at the cross, it was at Calvary where mankind was reconciled back to God, the Cross was the starting point of history and the centre point of all God’s plans.

The promise of the coming witness is the eternal oath to reconcile man back to God, to make a way in the wilderness and to path a way into the Promised Land.

“Wait and listen, everyone who is thirsty! Come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Yes, come, buy [priceless, spiritual] wine and milk without money and without price [simply for the self-surrender that accepts the blessing].” – Isaiah 55:1

This is one of the most amazing passages in the Bible, the declaration of God that his abundant life is a free gift. Here is the heart of the New Covenant that the charge God makes for his divine riches is without price. And it is without price because Christ has purchased it all with his life.

This is extravagant grace, outrageous favour where the only thing God demands is our acceptance. That we lay down our self effort, our performance mentality, and our self righteousness and receive the divine inheritance.

Isaiah shouts out to us from centuries past to listen. It is in the listening that we connect with the heart and purposes of God. Jesus said it in another way to his disciples, “For him that has ears to hear, let him hear!” To receive of Christ it is essential to open our hearts and listen to the truth of his grace, for in the listening comes the understanding to receive.

We don’t need money to receive all the blessings of God, we need an open and listening heart that delights in the love of our Father.

Come, buy and eat, it is all available to you, you don’t need money, just accept and receive it.

The promise of Christ is the promise of God’s free gift, the invitation of abundant grace to all.

“Behold, My Servant shall deal wisely and shall prosper; He shall be exalted and extolled and shall stand very high.” – Isaiah 52:13

In all Christ did he prospered, the favour of God was evident through his compassion, mercy and goodness.

His mother, Mary expressed this favour when she declared, “that He has filled the hungry with all good things.” She prophesied that to everyone who desired, who wanted the bread of life, they would be satisfied.

For satisfaction in Christ, delight in his favour is the essence of prosperity.

A prosperous soul is a life focused and fed on Christ. It is a soul that places its trust in Christ, rests in Christ and delights in Christ.

The promise of Christ is the promise to bring our mind, emotions and feelings into health, wholeness and prosperity. For the confident expectation of our heart is anchored in the promise that God will never leave us or forsake us. That Christ’s work in us will bring us into all he created us to be.

That just as Christ is so I am.

That in all things and in health, I would proper just as my soul prospers, for my heart now prospers in Christ.

“Shake yourself from the dust; arise, sit [erect in a dignified place], O Jerusalem; loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion.” –  Isaiah 52:2

The magnificence of the coming Christ is gloriously proclaimed with the words, “Shake yourself from the dust, arise.”

Here is the full radiant revelation of the coming King, for in Christ we have entered into a New Covenant, a new relationship with God. A new day has come, a new dawn has arisen in the heart of mankind, for Christ heralds a new beginning for all.

And the declaration of God is his overwhelming desire that we shake of the dust. We shake off everything, every hindrance, and every lie that would rise up in our mind, thoughts and feeling and tells us that Christ is not enough. For Christ is the full manifestation of God, He is the full provision of our forgiveness, healing, redemption and life.

The finished work of Christ was a complete, once and for all eternal redemption.

God’s word is for us to arise and be everything that Christ has made us to be. To let his glory, joy and abundance flourish in our lives and we do this effortlessly by resting, accepting and delighting in all Christ has given to us. For we live in him because he now lives in us.

The abundant life of God has been deposited inside every believer, so shake of the dust of the past, the world, and arise and shine with the glory of God.

“Listen to Me, you who pursue righteousness (right standing with God), Who seek and inquire of the Lord: Look to the rock from which you were cut And to the excavation of the quarry from which you were dug. “ – Isaiah 51:1

God the father’s heart has always remained unchanged. He has never changed, we were his delight before creation, his desire has always been to embrace us, hold us, care for us and love us.

“This is what the Lord says, “In a favourable time I have answered You, And in a day of salvation I have helped You; And I will keep watch over You and give You for a covenant of the people, To restore the land [from its present state of ruin] and to apportion and give as inheritances the deserted hereditary lands, “ – Isaiah 49:8

The good news of the birth of the saviour is that we have been placed into the perpetual season of the favour of God. That the plan of God was to bestow upon us the restoration and wholeness that we lost and our ruin has been superseded by heavens prosperity.

And this promise of the favourable season contains that life giving fruit of creation. To bring and give us knowledge of salvation, to give us forgiveness and remission of sin, to place inside of us God’s heart of tender mercy and loving-kindness, and to draw our life and light from the power that indwells us.

No longer do we have to be influenced by the fluctuation of seasons, the pressure of circumstance, for In Christ we are constantly in God’s favour.

And this favour means that we are held in an everlasting embrace, kept by Christ’s indestructible life, filled with his unconditional love, and showered with unloseable grace.

For the promise of Christ is to heal the broken hearted, to set the captive free, to declare the favourable time of the Lord and to know the acceptance, value and love of a good God.