Isaiah 57:14-15 And it shall be said, "Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people's way." 15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: "I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite. (ESV)
Ravi Zacharias was born in Chennai, India. At age 4, he moved with his family to Delhi, where he spent most of his childhood. Ravi lived a unique and at times, amazing life, partly because of where his life began. You might have heard of Ravi Zacharias before, or at least recognize the name. Ravi was a world-renowned Christian speaker, specializing in the field of apologetics, which focuses on defending the Christian faith.
Part of the uniqueness of Ravi Zacharias’ life is that he started out as an unbeliever. He didn’t know Jesus, and even after he was introduced, he didn’t believe. India is an overwhelmingly non-Christian community. Almost 80% of the people who live there are Hindu. The next leading faith is Islam, with Christianity accounting for only 2% of the population. That one of the leading Christian figures of our generation would come from India is miraculous in and of itself.
But Ravi Zacharias’ life was filled with many other signs of God’s handiwork. As a scholar and master speaker, Zacharias was known for many lectures, speeches, books, and general tidbits of Christian wisdom. One of his quotes stood out to me this past week: “Jesus did not come into this world to make bad people good. He came to make dead people live.”
For Ravi Zacharias, at the end of the day, what mattered most was life over death. The Christian faith taught about logic, ethics, morality, politics and truth – to certain degrees - but it was never meant as a means to an end for those subjects alone. Ultimately, Christianity a matter of eternal life over death. That’s what the Bible is about. That’s what Jesus is about. Ravi Zacharias could lecture, teach, and debate with the best of the scholars. But the value of the Christian faith for him was something that every believer possesses by faith.
The ascension of Christ presents to us a similar theme. We may think of the ascension and the resurrection of Jesus as two distinct events, and that is true. But, both point directly to life over death. The resurrection is obvious in that way. But the ascension also indicates that truth, precisely because life according to God’s definition always transcends the current reality around us. Most people think that life ends in all ways at death. But for the Christian, it’s really the beginning of life. What God created and gave as life is much, much more than what we’ve experienced so far. The ascension of Christ testifies to that because Christ returned home to heaven.
Like the resurrection, connected to what Christ did is a promise of what He will do for us. Because He rose from the dead, all who die in His name will one day rise too. Because He went triumphant to heaven at the conclusion of all His work on earth, so we too will those who believe in Him. At the end of all lessons on both the resurrection and ascension, we see a resounding victory of life over death.
This is where the thoughts of our text come in. This account was not a prophecy of Ascension Day. Isaiah was not foreshadowing the day when Christ returned to heaven. This is not why we read these words today. Rather, what we see through them is that promise of life over death and how God accomplished that amazing feat in our lives.
The idea we most often associate with the
ascension is God’s glory. It’s true that Jesus was glorified in the fullest
sense when He ascended. Luke tells us that the disciples worshiped Jesus once
He had ascended. Acts tells us that the event included the presence of angels.
Even the simple visual of Jesus rising into the clouds, above everyone else,
indicated glory.
But we must be careful not to disassociate Jesus’ glory with His active work for sinners. So often, we think of God’s glory in human terms. And a person who glorifies himself is not considered a very honorable person. God’s glory is not a matter of vanity or the need for personal flattery. We often associate glory with such things because that’s the way the sinful flesh portrays glory; something to emphasize the self, often at the expense of others. So, in a complete misrepresentation of the entire concept, skeptics call God the tyrant, the petty deity, and other such labels – trying to bring God down to the human level, which is really about bringing humans up to God’s level. Knock Him down a few pegs and we’ll feel better about ourselves.
The problem with that thinking is that God’s glory is always directed for our good. Think of the roles assigned in the Garden of Eden as an example. God made Adam and Eve in HIS image. He allowed them to share in His creation in a way that no other created thing could. He gave them jobs and responsibilities in leading the creation. This was part of the design – for Adam and Eve to be like mirrors that reflected back to the glory of God and in that glory they would thrive. But instead of reflecting God’s glory, Adam and Eve used it to honor themselves, and so is the case throughout the sad story of human history.
Sin distorts this proper image of glory, both in the sense that it comes from God and also the sense that it serves others. Sin leads to true self-glory, the kind that comes only from the human heart and the kind that seeks only personal interests above the will of God. It is because true glory was lost that Jesus was sent to be the Savior. The lasting image of His ascension, namely going to heaven in glory, is absolute proof that He accomplished the task.
One of the words the Bible uses the describe this is reconciliation. That word points at the process of making enemies friends. It involves restoration of a relationship that was lost because of sin. Jesus brought us back into the role that God designed us to hold, as image bearers of His glory. Jesus did this by making the payment for all sin on the cross and fulfilling all holiness through His life on earth. Jesus kept God’s commands, both in the just penalty over sin, but also in the righteous requirements to get into heaven – and therefore, all who trust in Him have this record. All who believe in Jesus are friends of God. This is the completion of reconciliation.
Isaiah was getting at the very same concept in the words of our text, and the ascension brings to mind a fitting picture in our minds. Notice, first of all, the way Isaiah describes the great difference between God and the sinner. This is done by three characteristics on both sides.
The LORD is…
1.
The One High and Lifted up
2.
The One who inhabits eternity
3.
The One who is Holy
The sinner is…
1.
Contrite and lowly
2.
lowly [in spirit]
3.
contrite [in heart]
We have what is called antithetical parallelism
in the Hebrew. That’s just a fancy term for a poetic way of showing the
difference between two things. Hebrew writers employ this literary device in
situations where they really want to highlight a contrast. That contrast in
this verse is between God and people.
Now, we referred earlier to these people as sinners, because Isaiah speaks of being lowly and contrite in view of sin. Only sinners have sin to repent of. But, most appropriately, Isaiah is describing believers here – because only believers manifest the true attitude of lowliness and contriteness in view of their relationship with God. We’re not discussing worldly sorrow here. This is not an infraction from one person to another. This text is describing the insurmountable difference between God’s holiness and mankind’s mortality. And it is as enduring and true a message as it is clear. No one can escape the validity of Isaiah’s words.
We also get this sense with the spatial imagery of these verses. Not only is parallelism applied, but also picture language. The shout goes out – "Build up, build up, prepare the way, remove every obstruction from my people's way." The image presented is that something is in the way – in the path between God and man – that needs to be removed. So, what should be done? Build up! Go higher. When an obstacle is in the way, getting past it means going above – whether literally or metaphorically.
This imagery sets the tone for the perfect entrance of verse 15 – “For thus says the One who is high and lifted up…” God’s point is clear. You have a problem; I have a solution. You need to get above sin, trouble, heartache, disease, pestilence, evil, and a host of other obstacles? I am the One who is high and lifted up.
Sounds a lot like the imagery of Ascension Day, too. Part of Jesus’ message with that imagery was exactly same. You want to get to heaven? There is One on earth who knows the way – who in fact is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Listen to and believe what He has done so that you can be reconciled with God in eternal life.
Isaiah tells us our job. Be contrite – confess your sins before God and repent – believing that Jesus will forgive you. God never turns away a repentant sinner. Be lowly – don’t forge your own path. Don’t trust in your own feelings. Don’t try to create your own righteous identity. Listen to Jesus. Obey His Word. Respect what He tells you especially in the areas that are difficult to believe.
This is the message directed at us. But there is also one within these words about God. In addition to what He says about our lives, more important is what He has to say about Christ’s life. God’s glory is also a necessary part of our reconciliation to Him. Because Christ was glorified for your revival. Yes, He is the high and lofty one in heaven. Yes, He does inhabit eternity. Yes, His name is holy. But He uses all that glory for your good. To be with you in your lowly state. To lift you up with His precious promises in moments of doubt. To revive your heart when you are troubled over your sins.
From the beginning, God’s glory was always a sign of His care for us. It was never just about Himself. Therefore, God is glorified when people are served with the gospel. It’s His design. And it’s exactly the same thing we see taught in the text from Isaiah today.
Ravi Zacharias died this past week from cancer at the age of 74. But there was a time much earlier in his life when everything appeared to be over. As a distressed youth at the age of 17, troubled by the pressures of rigorous academic goals and an unhealthy home life, Ravi attempted suicide by swallowing poison. Thank the Lord it didn’t work. When he was recovering in the hospital, at a loss as to what would happen in the days ahead, a Christian friend came to his bedside and shared a passage from John 14:19, where Jesus said, Because I live, you will live also. Ravi said five days later he walked out of the hospital a changed man. For him, Christ’s work was always about life over death. Of all the theological subjects he presented and lectured on, that single theme was always constant about the faith he was defending and proclaiming. It was, in fact, exactly why he so diligently sought to defend every truth from God’s Word.
We are blessed to learn the same today. The Ascension was not about selfish vanity from God. The glory of God always reinforces the blessed reconciliation we have through Jesus Christ. He has gone home – we will too one day – in His name. Amen.
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