Isaiah 44-45, Psalm 80 - I am God, there is no other

"I am God and there is no other."  Isaiah 45:22.  

 This is one of at least eight times in these two chapters of Isaiah that God declares this truth.  He is God.  There is no other.  He will not share His glory with another.  He alone is to be exalted.  There is no one that can be compared to Him.  He is the maker of all things, the heavens and the earth and all that is in them.  He stretched out the heavens and ordained all their host.   He is the Potter, the one who made man in His image.  He is the creator and sustainer of life.  He is the only one worthy of all of our affection and praise and honor.

And yet, like the Israelites, we forget.  We turn away, we fail and fall short and choose ourselves and our ways.  We trust in our own understanding, question His sovereignty, doubt His goodness and maybe even think that we know better.  We seek after fleeting pleasures, worshiping false gods that cannot save us nor give us life.  We are prideful and self-consumed.  We are deceived and we are sinful.

But........

We are redeemed.  We are made new.  The promises God spoke to Israel in those days are promises He now speaks to us through His son, Jesus.  They are promises available to all who trust in the redemptive work of the cross.

"Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant, O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me.  

I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud and your sins like a heavy mist.  Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.  

Shout for joy, O heavens, for the Lord has done it! Shout joyfully, you lower parts of the earth; break forth into a shout of joy, you mountains, O forest, and every tree in it; For the Lord has redeemed Jacob and in Israel He shows forth His glory."  Is. 44:21-23

God is uncompromising in His holiness as the One True God, yet unending in His love for His people.  It's the beautiful tension of the gospel that is not only truth nor only grace, but perfectly both.  He is God.  There is no other.  Every knee will bow before Him.  And in Jesus we are given new life.  Beckoned to come, to experience redemption.  And to live as a display of His glory.