Reading Time: 5 minutesAnd Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28).
I have known situations in which a person’s connection to Christ has been based mostly or wholly on another’s relationship with Christ. Examples include a son’s or daughter’s connection through their parents, one who falls in love with a strong Christian and “converts,” or a person overly influenced by a highly charismatic Christian leader.
An example of this third-party connection is in Acts 19:13-18. Here some try to exorcize demons in the name of “Jesus whom Paul preaches” (v. 13). Because the Jewish exorcists don’t have their own faith-link with Christ, their efforts are actually harmful when the demons turn on them.
A third-party connection to Christ is a form of false trust, benefitting no one. We need our own personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. We must be able to cry out wholeheartedly to Christ, as the apostle Thomas did, “My Lord and my God!”
What gives a person a deep faith in Christ varies. The disciples of Jesus walked and talked with Him, observing His miracles and His death, burial, and resurrection. They also experienced Christ’s love. Their personal experiences fueled their faith and flamed their love for the Lord. For others, including this author, faith and love come more through exposure to the Word of God, as Romans 10:17 says: “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Whatever it is for you, the important thing is that you have your own personal faith in God through Christ so that you can heartily exclaim, “My Lord and my God!”
Isaiah 42
The prophetic accuracy of Isaiah 42 is just one example of how God’s Word grounds my faith in Christ and my love for Him. In this passage, several wonderful accomplishments of our Lord and some beautiful aspects of His character are foretold. Here, we take a look at verse 1:
“Behold! My Servant whom I uphold,
My Elect One in whom My soul delights!
I have put My Spirit upon Him;
He will bring forth justice to the Gentiles.”
Here, the Messiah is foreseen as Servant. Certainly Jesus served humanity while on earth, feeding, teaching, and healing many. He said He did not come to be served, but to serve (Mark 10:45). This “servant prediction” might seem easy to make, but then again, consider whether one would naturally expect such a mighty One from heaven to come in the humble form of a servant.
The Servant of this verse is also described as God’s “Elect One” in whom God delights and upon whom God puts His Spirit. When Jesus came up out of the Jordan River after being baptized, the Father said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). God delighted in Him, and the Spirit of God descended upon Him in the form of a dove. This would appear to be a special form of anointing (see Luke 4:18). Jesus certainly was God’s Elect One — His anointed.
The last part of Isaiah 42:1 says that the Servant will “bring forth justice to the Gentiles.” Justice is about fairness and giving people their due. Recall how Jesus also reached out to Samaritans (a people despised by the Jews), such as the woman at the well, and how He showed mercy to the Canaanite woman whose daughter was severely demon possessed. Justice for the Gentiles was certainly achieved through Jesus’ death on the cross, as Paul wonderfully explains in Ephesians 2:11-22. Read this text along with Romans 15:8-12 and Galatians 3:28, then decide for yourself whether my Jesus fulfills this last phrase of Isaiah 42:1.
Back to Isaiah 42:
He will not cry out, nor raise His voice,
Nor cause His voice to be heard in the street.
A bruised reed He will not break,
And smoking flax He will not quench;
He will bring forth justice for truth (vv. 2, 3).
If this is a poetic description of one who is gentle and compassionate toward the weak, then it fits Jesus perfectly. The woman caught in adultery who was about to be broken by her condemners immediately comes to mind. Jesus saved her from being stoned to death. Jesus showed rare compassion toward sinners, while the Pharisees wanted to break them and snuff them out.
Jesus completed His mission successfully. If He had sinned once, He would have failed. He was subjected to much temptation, taunting, and suffering, but He maintained self-control. He had many reasons to be discouraged, too, not the least of which was the disappointing behavior of His own people and, at times, His disciples. However, Jesus could declare, “It is finished!” Because of His success, the message of the Bible has spread to the coastlands — in fact, to all the nations of the world. Millions have accepted Him as their ruler, king, and lawgiver.
Thus says God the Lord,
Who created the heavens and stretched them out,
Who spread forth the earth and that which comes from it,
Who gives breath to the people on it,
And spirit to those who walk on it:
“I, the Lord, have called You in righteousness,
And will hold Your hand;
I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people,
As a light to the Gentiles,
To open blind eyes,
To bring out prisoners from the prison,
Those who sit in darkness from the prison house (vv. 5-7).
I have faith in God because He accurately foretells the future, and I love Him because He is a God of justice, compassion, and truth. Verse 5 gives us reason to admire God for His awesome creative power.
In verse 6 the Lord (God) is speaking to the Servant. He will give Him as a covenant to the people. This seems to be an unusual prediction, as normally a covenant is in writing, or, as with Israel, an animal’s blood was shed at the making of the covenant. Isaiah, who surely was inspired by God, remarkably foretells that the covenant to the people would be written in the Servant’s blood (Matthew 26:27, 28). Jesus sealed the new covenant with His blood at the cross. Hence, another interesting detail of Isaiah’s prophecy about the Servant finds fulfillment in Christ.
Finally, verse 7 predicts that the Servant will open the eyes of the blind and free the prisoners. This could be interpreted as being fulfilled both literally and figuratively by Christ. He not only healed those who were blind physically but also opened the spiritual eyes of many and secured the release of many who were bound by sin.
Given the clear application of Isaiah 42:1-7 to Christ’s ministry, it’s no wonder my God could say so boldly in verses 8, 9:
I am the Lord, that is My name;
And My glory I will not give to another,
Nor My praise to carved images.
Behold, the former things have come to pass,
And new things I declare;
Before they spring forth I tell you of them.
You may not get as big a thrill as I do from fulfilled prophecy about Christ. Maybe your own experiences of God strengthen you more. That’s great if they do.
As for me, I believe in Jesus and in God the Father. I love my Jesus; I love my Father. If your heart is telling you now that you need your own deep personal faith in God and love for Christ, then wholeheartedly seek God for yourself. Cry out to Him, “My Lord and my God!”
Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version.
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