Reference: Isaiah 54:10
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. ……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.
This is about God
Simply put, as I have stated numerous times as we worked our way through the entirety of Heidelberg Q&A #1: This — all the components of the comfort spoken of in the catechism — is about God.
Understand that all you know and believe in concerning salvation is about what God has done. It includes your faith, your acknowledgment of sin and need, and most certainly your new life in Christ.
These rich promises of comfort are not about God giving you some pathway to restore yourself to Him. This is not about God giving you an opportunity, even when you understand you don’t deserve such an opportunity. This is not about God saying to Israel, “Maybe I acted too quickly… let’s see if we can figure something out here.”
Most certainly, this is not about cooperating with God. “God has done His part, now you need to do yours.”
Instead, it’s simply and only about what God has done and Him telling you what He has done for you. God’s Word is a revelation to you, a making known that He saved you and is calling you to enjoy that restoration.
Founded on the certainty of God’s work
It is of utmost importance to understand all of this is about God, because that’s the basis for trust. God’s trustworthiness is the basis upon which you have any sense of assurance. On this basis, Peter writes in I Peter 1:4 of our salvation as an “…inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.”
It comes down to this. Do you trust Him? Do you believe that He is actually capable of saving you? Do you believe that He will not renege on the promise He made you?
You may say, “Well, yes, He is God.” Yeah, that’s just the point. That is the comfort.
What God is setting before you, in this reference to mountains not moving, is the assurance, “You can trust Me.” You can trust me because I am God. Again, your comfort does not come from you trusting yourself.
Remember our original question from Heidelberg Q&A #1: What is your only comfort?
The answer is not a pep talk, a “Hey, you can do this.” Instead, the answer is an invitation: look at what I have done for you. Therefore, our confession in the catechism says, “I belong to my faithful Savior.”
It is that simple. Nothing more needs to be said. It really is that simple.
Blog post content taken from a sermon series delivered by Dr. Maynard Koerner, President and Professor of Ministerial Studies at Heidelberg Theological Seminary.