The Bible Breakdown

Isaiah 63: God is Our Good Father

• Brandon Cannon • Episode 641

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Speaker 1:

Hello everybody, welcome back to the Bible Breakdown podcast with your host, pastor Brandon, today, isaiah, chapter 63, and today's title is God is our good father God is our good father. I can't wait to get into all this but, as always, if you don't mind, open up your Bible with me to Isaiah, chapter 63, and we're going to dive into God's word. And while we do that, make sure that you are like sharing and subscribing to the YouTube channel. Leave us a five-star review on the podcast and make sure you go into the Bible breakdown discussion, because the more we dig, the more we find.

Speaker 1:

Remember, the overall idea of Isaiah to kind of catch you up for the last 62 chapters is in the middle of all this social, political, religious unrest and stuff, and there's wars and rumors of wars all around Isaiah and the nation of Israel, the overall message of Isaiah's life is God is our salvation and so he's constantly calling and drawing the nation of Israel back to God. But there's a little bit of a confusion here and there's something that I have seen over and over in my own personal life, something I've seen in the lives of other people, and you kind of see this in this chapter because if, if you've been reading along with us, you know there's been all this kind of stuff ups and downs, everything in between. And then recently God is just over and over again saying in Isaiah and the you, 61, 62, all these things about how God is good and God is going to do all these great things. But here's the thing In chapter 63, you see how also there's vengeance happening and there's mercy happening. So it's like God is judging the nation, but yet he's also having compassion on the nation.

Speaker 1:

And that can sound a little schizophrenic to us. It's like okay, now wait a minute. God, are you for us or are you not for us? And I don't know if you've ever felt that way before, but what it reminds me of is the difference between how we should view God, but how we sometimes view God based on just experiences and other people. So one of the best ways I can think of this is God is not Santa Claus.

Speaker 1:

He's a good father, but many times we think of him as Santa Claus and not a good father. Let me explain. There are people who, for a thousand reasons that we're going to get into today, they think of God as Santa Claus, and what I mean by that is is I know that they you know there's all these things about how you got to be good. He checks his his, you know his, his list twice and call if you're bad, all that. But people aren't really focused on that. What they focus on when they think about Santa Claus is you ask him for gifts. You Psalm. When they think about Santa Claus is you ask him for gifts, you write him a letter asking for gifts and then he brings you the gifts.

Speaker 1:

It's a transactional relationship. Think about it. When is the last time you ever saw a movie about Santa Claus and Santa Claus? You're like we send him, send him anything other than cookies, as he's delivering our gifts. Right, it's all about Santa Claus bringing us the things that we want. That's the transactional relationship with this person On the other side.

Speaker 1:

A good father gives gifts, but that father's goal in the life of the child, the father's goal for that child, is for that child to be whole, to be mature and to grow up, to be healthy. So that father's goal is to make sure that that child has all of their needs met, some of their wants met, but also, along the way, doing what's right for the child, not just what the child wants. So that means there will be times when that father will put their children into difficult situations where they can learn, where they can grow, where they can develop, where they will give them chores, because the goal of chores is to teach responsibility, to teach skills. They will make that child get an education. They're going to have to go to elementary school, have to go to junior high, have to go to high school, whether it's homeschool or whatever because they know that child needs to learn. They know those things right. So it's not a transactional relationship. It is a relationship that's involved good and bad.

Speaker 1:

And one of the things I think that many times we can all struggle with and I know I have in the past is I don't mean to, but I think of God in heaven as more of a cosmic Santa Claus rather than a good heavenly father. Therefore, when God does not do what I want him to do, he does not give me what I ask for, I'm wondering what's wrong. Because in my mind, if he's a cosmic Santa Claus and this is a transactional relationship I'm supposed to ask, he's supposed to give, and so if he doesn't give, something has fell apart here. You know what I mean. But if it's a good father, then I realize my job is to ask, but then I trust him with what he does. We're going to see that in this chapter, and so we're going to read this and then finish off together and see if maybe God would challenge us on how we view God in our lives. You ready?

Speaker 1:

Isaiah, chapter 63, verse 1, says this who is this who comes from Edom, from the city of Bezorah, with this clothing stained red? Who is this in royal robes, marching in his great strength? It is I, the Lord, announcing your salvation. It is I, the Lord, who has power to save. Why are your clothes so red? Close, for the time has come for me to avenge my people, to ransom them from their oppressors.

Speaker 1:

I was amazed to see that no one intervened to help the oppressed. So I myself stepped in to save them with my strong arm and with my wrath and my wrath sustained me I crushed the nations in my anger and I made them stagger and fall to the ground, spilling their blood upon the earth. I will tell of the Lord's unfailing love. I will praise the Lord for all he has done. I will rejoice in his great goodness to Israel, which he has granted according to his mercy and love. He said they are my very own people. Surely they will not betray me again.

Speaker 1:

And he became their savior. And in all their suffering he also suffered and he personally rescued them In his love and mercy. He redeemed them, he lifted them up and carried them through all the years. But they rebelled against him and grieved his Holy Spirit. So he became their enemy and fought against them.

Speaker 1:

Then they remembered those days of old, when Moses led his people out of Egypt. They cried out where is the one who brought Israel through the sea with Moses as their shepherd? Where is the one who sent the Holy Spirit to be among his people? Where is the one whose power was displayed when Moses lifted up his hand, the one who divided the sea before them, making himself famous forever? Where is the one who led them through the bottom of the sea? They were like fine stallions racing through the desert, never stumbling as with cattle going down into the peaceful valley. The spirit of the Lord gave them rest.

Speaker 1:

You led your people, lord, and gained a magnificent reputation. Lord, look down from heaven, look from your holy, glorious home and see us. Where is the passion and the might you used to show on our behalf. Where is your mercy and compassion now? Surely you are still our father. Even if Abraham and Jacob would disown us, lord, you would still be our father. You are our redeemer from ages past. Lord, why have you allowed us to turn from your path? Why have you given us stubborn hearts so we no longer fear you? Return and help us, for we are your servants, the tribes that are your special possession. How briefly your holy people possessed your holy place, and now our enemies have destroyed it. Sometimes it seems as though we never belonged to you and as though we had never been known as your people.

Speaker 1:

Can you kind of feel what they're talking about? They're talking about God. I remember a time when things were going great. This relationship was great. We were asking you for deliverance, and then you gave us deliverance, but then we walked away from you and we were still asking you for things, but yet that the asking and the receiving part was kind of broken. And so now we're asking you to help us again and help us kind of get out of this situation. And they said in verse 16, because surely you're still our father. In other words, they're remembering. Because surely you're still our father. In other words, they're remembering okay, god is a father, not just a transactional relationship. So come back to us again and I don't know if you've ever felt like that, but I know I have.

Speaker 1:

I've gone through situations before when Everything seems to be going right. I'm praying and God's answering, and, man, it's awesome. And then all of a sudden, I start praying and God's not answering the way I think so anymore and I think something's broken. What am I doing wrong? Or God, what are you doing wrong? Because somebody's doing something wrong here, because I'm supposed to pray and you're supposed to answer.

Speaker 1:

And if we think of God as a transactional relationship, then we're gonna get shipwrecked the next time we pray and God doesn't answer the way we think. Can I tell you, I've had times before when I've walked with people who were struggling to believe if God was even real and it all had to do with. Well, I really thought God told me to do this. I really thought God answered my prayer, but then he didn't. And if God's supposed to be faithful, then why didn't he do what I told him? I mean, they don't say that many words, but that's basically what they're saying and, without realizing it, they have reduced God down to a transactional relationship. Therefore, it makes complete sense that when God doesn't do his part of the transactional relationship, well then I'm questioning your faithfulness, because you're supposed to give me what I want. Isn't that what God's supposed to do?

Speaker 1:

Absolutely, if you see God as a transactional, as a cosmic Santa Claus, however, if we can shift our mind to think about God as our heavenly father, then we realize God loves us more than we can imagine and he is not interested in just answering your next prayer. He's interested in healing and in wholeness. God is not interested in just helping you get out of the pain of the moment. He's interested in healing the wound so that the pain goes away forever. And that may mean, instead of giving you a Tylenol, it may mean doing surgery, it may mean dealing with difficult things, and it's out of his goodness that God will do something different. And if we think of God as Santa Claus, then we think well then, god, why aren't you faithful? But if we think of God as a heavenly father, then we go, okay. Well then, god, aren't you faithful? But if we think of God as a heavenly father, then we go, okay. Well then, god.

Speaker 1:

If you didn't answer it the way I wanted you to. That means you've got something even better in mind, something that I may not think is better in the short term, but I will understand and know is better in the long term. I wanna encourage you today if you're going through a season and a situation and can we be really honest for a moment If you're mad at God, if you struggle to trust God because of something in your past, you prayed for God to heal someone, but it didn't happen the way you thought. You pray for God to answer a prayer for something and it didn't happen the way you thought, and because of that, you still love God. But there are some things in your life that you just say God, I just need to not talk to you about that. It's better if we don't go there, because I don't understand why you did that. That person was innocent, that didn't have to happen, just just whatever. Is it because, unintentionally, you have thought of God as a cosmic Santa Claus? God is good, therefore he should do all the good that I think he should do. We don't mean it to sound like that, but it turns out to be the same.

Speaker 1:

Have you struggled in your relationship with God because you thought of your relationship with him as a transactional relationship. What if today, when you finished the podcast, you took a moment and you really thought about okay, if God is a good father and he is interested in what is ultimately good for me and for everyone around me, if that's true, can I trust him with the things I don't understand? Can I trust him that the reason why he may be doing something different is because he might know something I don't and there may be something going on? And if so, maybe you want to spend some time and talk to God about that. God, I am so sorry for how I have misinterpreted the things that you were doing. Will you help me? Will you open my eyes to see you more clearly, so that I can have that peace of knowing who you are?

Speaker 1:

Let's start that prayer right now together. Father, thank you so much for loving us the way you do. Thank you, god, for your patient kindness toward us. God, I'll go first and say there's been many times when I have struggled because I really thought that you should do X, Y or Z, and when you chose to do something else, I struggled with it, because sometimes I forget that you were interested in so much more than the moment, but you've got so many more things going on that I will never understand. I pray today, god, that you'll open my eyes to see you more clearly. Help me to submit myself to your authority and help me learn to trust you fully. Thank you for that. Today, in Jesus' name, we pray Amen, amen. Let's say our verse together. Isaiah, chapter 12, verse 2, says this God has come to save me. I will trust in him and not be afraid. The Lord is my strength and my song. He has given me victory. Man, what a powerful promise. I love you. I'll see you tomorrow. We're almost done. Isaiah, chapter 64.

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Brandon Cannon

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