Reference: Isaiah 54:10
‘For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,’ says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
Isaiah 54:10 (ESV)
Introduction
Even though all of the statements of our confession have been covered, I want to sum up the beautiful teaching and confession we have in Heidelberg Q&A #1 with a final installment in this series.
A few years ago, I rediscovered something I had long ago forgotten. The pastor under whose instruction I was catechized and confirmed, Rev. William Korn, had assigned a specific Scripture passage to each member of our confirmation class. When I rediscovered this a few years ago, I looked for and found my confirmation certificate. The passage assigned to me was Isaiah 54:10; I was sorry I had forgotten about it. What a great passage to be guided by in ministry or any aspect of Christian life.
As I considered how to conclude this series, I thought about that passage. It emphasizes the absolute confidence you can have that God will provide you with the comfort of life. Why? Because He is the God described here. Have you ever thought about mountains moving? We know that sometimes, in fact, they do — in certain places, they shake from time to time. But not God’s compassion.
Let us consider how we can receive this kindness.
Assurance in salvation
The gist of Isaiah’s message is this: God has made a promise to you, to all those He saves unto eternal life. It is the promise of salvation. It is a promise of certainty, a promise you can truly rely on.
The promise comes after a description of how God had rejected His people. In verses 7-8, God says, “For a moment I forsook you, with a little wrath I had turned my face from you.” This is written in the context of God taking the nation of Judah into captivity because of their unbelief.
So there exists this fear: what if God turns away from me? Certainly, there is plenty of reason He should do that. Let us be absolutely clear here: there is every reason why God should turn His face away from us. You should be concerned about that.
But that concern is answered by what God does as our Redeemer, yours and mine, and in what He says in this verse we are considering.
This verse also comes to us in the context of God identifying Himself as the Redeemer of His people. He is your Redeemer in that He called you to be His people. He did not call Israel because of their worthiness — when they were not — but He chose to do so by grace. Yes, He saved Israel by grace, and Israel had a unique roll in the process of the unfolding of completed salvation.
So before we examine in greater detail the components of this promise, and the assurance you have of your salvation based on this promise, I want to be sure you understand the background of what God says here.
Next week: It’s God’s Doing
Blog post content taken from a sermon series delivered by Dr. Maynard Koerner, President and Professor of Ministerial Studies at Heidelberg Theological Seminary.