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Holding Fast to Our Heritage
(Overcomer Wu)
“For we have become partners of Christ, if indeed we hold fast the beginning of the confidence firm to the end.”
Hebrews 3:14
Among all the rich treasures of truth given to God’s people in the Holy Scriptures few can be compared with the writings of Isaiah, who is known to be the prince of prophets. Isaiah’s "Book of Comfort" (the section from chapters 40-66) is one of the clearest and the most detailed declarations of God’s purpose for His people to be found anywhere. A man’s spirit must be sick unto death if he is not moved, as God through His prophet announces His redemptive intent in Christ. What God decrees is already done! History may grind out the events at what appears to be, from man’s viewpoint, a snail’s pace, but God’s relentless pursuit of His goals is not so much concerned with chronology as with redemptive certainty.
In our present critical period of history it is good to encourage our hearts repeatedly with God’s own assurance that He is moving toward the fulfillment of His eternal plan which includes us who are a part of the Church. The course of world events could easily divert our eyes from the end in view, focus them upon the agonizing process in the interim — a device of the enemy of our souls — and replace hope with utter despair. It is not necessary to call attention to this despair. It is so apparent that even many of God’s people are being consumed by it or are drained by it, either knowingly or unwittingly.
Too many Christians are tempted to look upon denominational traditions or creedal antecedents as being commensurate with this God-given heritage. Such thinking can be a church-destroying fallacy as it tends to perpetuate the errors of the past without questioning instead of going back to check with our Constitution, which is the Holy Scriptures.
Let the prophet give his own dimension to his words: “This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord...” (Josh 54:17). Moreover Isaiah, speaking on behalf of God, does not allow for any distinction between history, heritage or hope. In God’s economy these three factors amount to the same thing. Our earthbound minds cling to the concepts of past, present and future because it takes faith to break through and break out of this terrestrial perspective.
Today’s social, political, and environmental catastrophe demands the perspective which sustained Paul: “We look not at things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” When current events tend to fill us with fear and uncertainty, “looking after those things which are coming on the earth,” it is time to accept Isaiah’s invitation to scrutinize and embrace our heritage. First, Isaiah invites us to join in the song of world redemption (54:1-3). Barrenness has yielded to the intervention of resurrection life. As much as we deplore the morbid pessimism which has gripped many, we dare not allow ourselves the luxury of irresponsible optimism. Faith is not optimism or positive thinking. It is accepting the victory and the accomplishments God has given us in Christ and pursuing towards the goal of God’s high calling in the midst of whatever chilling deterrent our generation may bring us.
Second, this Scripture is an invitation to discover and maintain a life of freedom from debilitating, soul-destroying inward fear (54:4-10). It is impossible to exhort or even to recommend an attitude of fearlessness to the natural man. Admonishing a person not to be afraid in a world fraut with terror, constant change, and unpredictable futures in Isaiah’s day or ours, is tantamount to asking him to stop breathing! Inward peace is not a matter of pretending that all is well because God is in heaven. Inward peace is not conditioning the mind with escape tactics nor deadening it with the synthetic relief of drugs. Rather, true inward peace comes from knowing the truth of God’s Word and a volitional commitment to its validity with faith and trust in the One Who spoke those words. Fear enters in when unbelief is permitted to challenge this simplicity of trust in God’s truths and promises. If our Maker is our husband(verse 5), if our Lord is the God of the whole earth, if God’s decreed goals are certain and we can with hope wait patiently for the dependable outcomes(verses 8-10) � then fear is an emotional reaction which is simply unfounded, and if allowed ground within us will cause us to lapse into unbelief.
Third, the prophet conjoins us to believe that our personal encounter with history is an opportunity for the development of our spiritual maturity � the beauty of holiness (54:11-14). In the eloquent language of Isaiah we are addressed as God’s own possession. The man Isaiah who was consumed with personal turmoil, the churning spirit, the heart filled with the restlessness of exile, the mind bewailing that the pilgrimage is too rigorous to be endured � this man, speaking for God, says that such human exigencies are His occasions for shaping His children into something of great value in His eyes.
This Old Testament portion would seem to be one of the birthplaces of Peter’s bold teaching on Christian suffering as a necessary and required course for all of God’s chosen people for their perfection(1Pet 1:6-9, cf Heb 2:10b). There comes a point in our Christian experience where one must choose between ease of living with earthly tranquility and the fulfillment of God’s spiritual goal to conform him to the image of His Son with His abiding peace.
Fourth, Isaiah invites God’s own people to the “unshakable assurance ”that the wrath of man can never alter nor confound the purpose of God (54:15-17). The concerted effort of evil men to destroy the purpose of God by outright rebellion, lawlessness, atheistic philosophies, and immoral pursuits will not succeed. Though they may dominate or even gain control for a season, they cannot abrogate the inevitable outcome declared by Almighty God. Man-made legislations which would seem to destroy or deter God’s purpose for His people, will all come to naught. We must believe that or be swept under the increasing tide of evil. The promises in God’s Word is our heritage! The gates of Hades shall not prevail against the builded Church! What God has done in Christ is our eternal surety and truths to appropriate through faith! Our heritage is “ incorruptible, and undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven”(1Pet 1:4). Man cannot touch it or alter it, because it is the completed work of God. If these truths have become vague; if they seem unreal, impractical, they are nonetheless our heritage. They must be rediscovered, personalized, and experienced if we are to be overcomers in Christ.