Being Rescued ~ Isaiah 12

“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid” Isaiah 12:2 ESV

              What do you think of when you think of a rescue?  My mind drifts to an image I’ve seen countless times in countless adventure movies.  The weary, world-wise treasure hunter traipsing through the jungle to claim his next trophy, stumbles into a pit of quicksand.  And in his sad stumble we see a fantastic example of a rescue.  That is, someone is in life-threatening trouble, because of that trouble they need rescuing, and someone outside of the situation is needed who will do the rescuing.  And just who rescues our treasure-seeking jungle adventurer?  Well, I’ve seen the trusted friend show up at the very last minute and toss them a vine, a friend rescuing a friend.  I’ve seen the loyal animal sidekick throw them a lifeline, a rescue rope at the comical hands of a capuchin monkey.  And yes, the greatest silver screen adventurer of all time, Indiana Jones, was rescued from his quicksand by having a Boa Constrictor thrown to him as his rescue rope.  Of course knowing his dreaded fear of snakes, this makes for quite the comical juxtaposition of life versus fear. 

              But no matter what the scenario, who the actor is, or how bad they desire to rescued, one prime piece of logic stands firm.  They cannot rescue themselves.  Yes, just as a drowning victim is bobbing uncontrollably in a violent sea, they do not and will not ever have the ability to throw themselves the lifebuoy they need.  And equally, no matter how accomplished that world-renowned treasure hunter is, he cannot just hop out of that quicksand, walk to the nearest Home Depot, buy a rope, and then throw it to himself.  Yet, friends, why do we humans so boldly and arrogantly claim we can do just this with the delicate state of our human spirit?

                The Old Testament book of Isaiah is quoted more in the New Testament than any other book in the entire Old Testament.  And why do you think this fact rings true?  Well, in a big book called the Bible that is all about Jesus Christ, it would be safe to assume that God reveals much about the future coming of the Jesus Christ in the book of Isaiah.  And you would be correct.  As God is pronouncing upcoming judgement on the rebellious and idolatrous and now splintered Israelite kingdoms as well as the neighboring kingdoms that He will use to deliver that judgement, God also pronounces the biggest promise the world had ever heard.  One day He would send a Savior to His people.

              Savior and salvation are two big fancy church words that we church folk kinda take for granted.  But as you casually toss them out today, have you ever really thought deeply about their true meaning and context within the Word of God?  Well, the context here in beginning chapters of Isaiah is that God is warning His chosen people that if they don’t toss the idols and get right with Him, He will remove His protection and allow the surrounding nations to come and haul them off into slavery.  And then God says that, even in slavery, if they get right with Him, He will reverse the situation and free them.  And just how do you free someone in bondage?  You rescue them.  And who does the rescuing?  Well…a rescuer.

              The Hebrew root of salvation means “to set free”, “to save”, or get ready for it, “to rescue.”  What a beautiful word picture this paints for how God sees our soul situation without Christ.  We, just like our adventurer above, are in a situation in which it is impossible to help ourselves.  Our soul is stuck in the quicksand of sin and without someone to throw us a lifeline, we are guaranteed to slip below the surface and succumb to the eternal death and damnation that all sin brings.  But praise God, He did send a rescuer, a Savior.  And if the Hebrew root of salvation means “to recue”, guess what the Hebrew root of Savior means?  Yep, “rescuer”.  We are condemned sinners desperately in need of rescue…and God sent a rescuer.

              But don’t miss the second beautiful part of our study verse.  What comes after you have realized you need rescuing and then have asked Jesus to rescue you?  Peace.  Oh, how each and every heart upon this planet today could use a big ol’ heaping dose of Godly peace.  But notice the peace equation that rests there in the second part of verse 2.  Trust equals lack of fear.  Trust = No fear.  Sure everybody wants peace in their lives today but how many are following God’s plan to get it?  Well, by looking around today, not many.

              Truly trusting that God sent Jesus Christ to this planet to rescue you from your sinful quicksand will produce an interesting byproduct…peace through lack of fear.  For you see, if you are trusting in a God that created this world, runs this world, and even has a perfect plan to end this world as we know it…then what are you afraid of?  Are you afraid you will die?  Everybody dies but for those that have called upon Jesus Christ in faith as their Savior (rescuer), God promises them an eternal home in heaven.  So why have fear of death when death is a glorious reward for those that call Christ Savior (rescuer).  Are you fearful of war?  As long as sin is in this world, war will be in this world.  Believers in Christ should not have fear of war but instead rest in the peace that they have already been rescued from that war.  Are you afraid of an unknown tomorrow and what it might bring?  God has all of your tomorrows and the details of each carefully logged in His foreknowledge.  Trust Him and live not in the fear of your unknown, but in the peace of His omniscience.  Folks, whatever you have fear of today can be combatted.  You can be rescued from your fear by the very one that rescued you from your sin, Jesus Christ.  Trust = no fear and no fear = peace within the soul. This is the real treasure that every human heart truly seeks to find.

              Today, if you need a rescuer you have one, cry out to Jesus Christ to save you.  And today if you have already been rescued by Christ yet live in fear of the things in this world…cry out again.  For it is impossible to have faith in Christ and fear His world and His plan for it.

Be fearless in your love of the Rescuer, Jesus Christ ~ Dan

“Wretched and miserable man that I am! Who will rescue me and set me free from this body of death , this corrupt, mortal existence?” Romans 7:24 AMP

“He (Jesus Christ) rescued us from so great a threat of death, and will continue to rescue us. On Him we have set our hope. And He will again rescue us.” 2 Corinthians 1:10 AMP

"symmetry in repition", Cuilapam, Oaxaca, Mexico