What Is God Like?

Before we begin to take a look at this week’s chapter I want to point out something about the last couple of chapters that we have looked at. This will put today’s chapter in a helpful context. There has been a progression. Isaiah 53 is about Jesus’ death on the Cross for sinners. Chapter 54 is a call to enlarge the tent because, now that the way to the Father is open, Jesus and the Church will be producing many children. And that leads to today’s chapter. This chapter is the call for sinners to come and enjoy what it means to be those children whom Jesus will produce through His Church. This week’s chapter is the climax of that progression. It’s the last that Isaiah directed to the exiles. The following chapters have a different focus. We’ll return to take a look at them in January after some sermons on Jesus’ First Coming.

Listen as I read Isaiah 55.

I may be presumptuous when I say this, but I think that it’s true. The most important question that you will ever deal with is, ‘What is God like?’ This is not about some merely academic answer. So, to make that clear, let me rephrase the question. Here’s what I have in mind. ‘What is God like as deals with you? What is He thinking? What is He feeling? What’s going on in His heart as He considers you?’ This is a very personal question and thus a very practical question. How your heart answers this question profoundly affects how you relate to your God. So, what is God like as He considers you?

Our text helps in this. It’s not a complete answer, but it’s a good start. I’m going to read the opening verses again. This time listen for the tone as God speaks. ‘Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.’ How would you describe the tone? What is God doing here? What is He feeling here? God is pleading. Four times He calls, ‘Come’. And then, there is that poignant question, ‘Why…?’ This is a big deal. The God who could command, pleads. Does anyone doubt that He has the authority to command? And doesn’t He have the power to condemn any who won’t obey? And yet, what do we find here? We find God pleading. There are those who think of God’s interaction with them only in terms of command and demand. Their mouths may talk about God’s love and mercy, but their hearts believe in a God who only commands. They remind themselves that God is high and lifted up, the Almighty Sovereign Over All Creation. But a god who only commands, and that with bullying threats, is nothing more than a tyrant. But our God is no tyrant. While He does command – something that we should never forget – He also pleads. And that says a lot about how He relates to you.

Just as there is error on one side there is error on the other. We need to be careful. There are those who talk about a pleading god, but they do this because that is all their god can do. That kind of god pleads because he is weak. He cannot command. He has no power to command. But that is not our God. Our God does not plead because He is weak. Please remember that His plans cannot be frustrated by us. So, He is not some god who nervously wrings His hands as He waits to see if we’ll side with Him. No, our God is the Almighty Sovereign Over All Creation. Nevertheless, He pleads. But He pleads out of strength.

The right question to ask here is, ‘Why?’ If God could command us and hold us accountable for our response, why does He plead? The answer is clear. In addition to being strong, our God is also tender. He is tender toward us. He sees our sorry situation, and He pleads with us to come. We get a glimpse of God’s heart in this pleading, and it is a very tender heart. So, you see, there is a warmth to our God when He considers us. We are, after all, His children.

In His pleadings, God asks a question. ‘Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?’ When God asks a question it’s not because He doesn’t know the answer. He always knows the answer. He asks the question to get us to stop so that we would ask ourselves the question. Do you see what His concern is here? Our God is concerned about our being satisfied. Please note this: not just adequately content, but satisfied, really satisfied. And that makes sense. He created us with desires, and He intended these desires to be completely met; sated. He has no problem with our wanting these desires to be satisfied. His problem is when we do a bad job of it. His problem is when we settle for less. Remember: God wants you happy, really happy. So, here, He asks a question so that we would stop our worthless efforts that, at best, might result in our being somewhat satisfied – maybe. He asks this question so that we would be completely satisfied.

Let’s explore this a bit. Jesus said, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”’ He’s not talking about the body and how water can quench its thirst. He’s talking about the soul. Your soul was created with desires that are to be satisfied. Having a good meal can be very satisfying, especially if you can enjoy it with good friends. But the sense of satisfaction in that setting is much more than just enjoying the taste of some food. Enjoying the food is part of it, but there is more. There is something in your soul that is touched when you share a good meal with good friends. That’s how we have been created. The problems start when you try to satisfy your soul’s desires in ways that just won’t work. God knows that and asks the question, ‘Why are you doing that?’ And so, Jesus pleads. ‘Are you thirsty? Come to Me and I will quench that thirst. Let me satisfy you, body and soul. I have good gifts to give you, things like a good meal with good friends. Come to Me, and I will satisfy you.’

The Spirit is at work in the lives of those who come. He helps them to see what satisfies and what doesn’t. He continually asks that ‘Why?’ question. And as you respond to Him, He leads you into real satisfaction. It’s like Jesus with the woman at the well. ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again.’ Jesus offers the woman a choice. ‘Will it be real satisfaction that lasts or some temporary counterfeit?’ So, the Spirit continues to raise the same question. ‘Will it be the water that Jesus gives, water that satisfies deeply? Or will you pursue this other water that will not satisfy, not really.’ One day, this work of the Spirit will reach its goal. And you will be among the great multitude that John writes about in Revelation. ‘They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water…’ The day will come and all your desires will be satisfied, completely satisfied, in the way they were originally intended. I don’t know what that exactly means, but I’m willing to bet that it will be very good – much better than what I can imagine. And I’m guessing that since there will be more to enjoy in eternity, our desires and ability to enjoy them will grow but never to the point that we will be less than fully satisfied. Heaven is really going to be something.

The greatest obstacle to our being satisfied by Jesus is our sin. Jesus knows this. So, He addresses it in our text. Listen to what He says through His prophet, Isaiah. ‘Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’ The key to growing in your satisfaction is seeking Jesus, seeking Him by repentance and faith. That’s the persistent message of the Spirit. So, notice some things. ‘… let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts…’ The first step in seeking Jesus, the first step in true repentance is understanding who you are. Did you notice the labels used here: ‘wicked’ ‘unrighteous’? This is not ‘them’. This is ‘us’. When the Spirit points out some sin of yours, some way that you were pursuing satisfaction foolishly, what He is pointing to is the wickedness that remains in your heart. When we sin, we are acting as wicked people. Acknowledging that is the first step of repentance. It’s just a matter of honest admission. Those who minimize their sin will also minimize grace. And that’s not the way to real satisfaction. When the Spirit points out your sin, you need to see that sin as wicked. It is something that really does deserve God’s justice in hell forever.

You know the next steps. To use Isaiah’s language, it is to forsake and to return. This is the familiar repentance and faith. Or ‘I don’t want to do that again’ and ‘Lord Jesus, please forgive me and change me.’ Forsake and return. Now, some of you might be thinking that doing even that is sometimes just too hard. If you are, you’re getting it. There are times when doing this is actually impossible for us. And that’s why Isaiah writes, ‘…call upon him while he is near…’ Call upon Him for what? To save you, of course, which in this context means to make it possible for you to forsake and return, to repent and believe. Depending on yourself to repent well enough is trying to save yourself. It doesn’t work. Call upon Jesus to save you when it comes to repenting. Call upon Him when it just feels impossible. He will make it possible.

And then, there is this. ‘…let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.’ Here is a comforting promise for people like us who can act so wickedly. When, by God’s kind favor toward us – His grace – we repent, Jesus promises compassion. I think that I can say that we’ve all been in the situation where we’ve gone to make something right with another person, and, in response, the other person blows up at us or something like that. Jesus will never do that. He promises compassion. And notice the reason He can be compassionate to us even when we’ve done something so wicked. He abundantly pardons. I think that it would be enough if He had just said that He will pardon my sins. But He says more than that. ‘He will abundantly pardon.’ It doesn’t matter what my sin may be. Whatever it is, and however evil it might be, when I come to Him in repentance and faith He will abundantly pardon. And that gives me hope. I can sin it up pretty good. But even that cannot be an obstacle to my being restored. He will abundantly pardon. Jesus offers full, free, abundant forgiveness for wicked people.

There’s just one more thing to note. Listen again. ‘Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near…’ The time will come when the Lord will not be found because He is no longer near. This is a warning to the presumptuous, to those who tell themselves, ‘I don’t need to repent right now. It can wait.’ And they tell themselves this because they don’t want to repent. Jesus is tender toward us but not because He is weak. He will not be trifled with. Jesus includes this warning to those who refuse to repent when the Spirit points out sin. The opportunity to repent and experience Jesus’ tenderness will be withdrawn. At that point this person will experience not Jesus’ tenderness but His anger. You don’t want that. You really don’t. So, when the Spirit points out sin in your life, don’t delay. Repent quickly.

We started with a question. ‘What is God like as He considers me?’ I don’t think I’ve told you anything new. But I do hope that I have encouraged you to believe a bit more what you already know.