An invitation like no other

Isaiah 55

‘Evangelism’ - it’s taken from the Greek word for ‘gospel’ which means ‘good news’. Christians are called to go out and share this gospel, but so often we find it hard. Why? Maybe because we have forgotten the extravagance of God’s invitation to us.

Isaiah 55 helps us to see that God’s invitation is like no other. Today we’ll ask what is this invitation, how do I get it and what difference should it make?

Receive Freely

‘Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.

Isaiah 55:1

Throughout the book of Isaiah we have been seeing how the prophet speaks about this hero who is yet to come - and we’ve seen how Jesus is the fulfilment of those prophecies. It is Jesus who (Isaiah 61) “has come to proclaim good news to the poor.” What we need to see is that it isn’t Isaiah speaking here but God Himself.

This invitation is etched onto the heart of God. The closing words of the whole Bible are spoken from the mouth of God Himself and he quotes Isaiah 55:1 (check Revelation 22). After the whole Biblical narrative of humanity rebelling against God in sin and pushing Him away, still He says, “Come to me.”

That’s grace. Grace is etched onto the heart of God. He says come freely, but not because there is no cost. He invites us to come and find satisfaction in Him freely at His own expense. We don’t earn this, it is freely given.

Verse 3 helps us understand this tension. In the Old Testament God makes many covenants with His people - some seem to be conditional (you do this and I’ll do this) and others unconditional (whether you keep your promise or not I’ll keep mine). So we enter the New Testament with this question, will God keep His promises to His people?

The answer is - yes. Verse 3 tells us why, because His is an everlasting covenant rooted in HIS faithful love. It is because of this faithful love that Christ went to the cross for us. He kept rhetorical covenant that we could not. He fulfilled the conditions to come to the feast so that you and I could come and feast unconditionally. That’s grace.

Repent Radically

‘Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

Isaiah 55:1

If we want to be effective evangelists we have to be effective repenters. This free invitation invites us to give up our ways and depend on the mercy of God. Real repentance isn’t simply feeling bad about sin. Sin isn’t the object of our repentance, God is. It’s about making every effort to turn our whole lives towards Him by His grace.

When we repent like that, it doesn’t lead to despair but rejoicing - because it leads to the cross where we see the grace of God fighting for us in Christ at the cross. The gospel exposes our sin but in that it reveals to us a God who is ready to forgive anyone who would repent and come to him.

“You are more wicked than you ever dared believe, but more loved and accepted than you ever dared hope.”

— Tim Keller

Rejoice Confidently

You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn-bush will grow the juniper,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.

This will be for the Lord’s renown,
for an everlasting sign,
that will endure for ever.’

Isaiah 55:12-13

This picture of the reversal of the curse is a picture of what God does in the life of Christians. He begins a good work that He will see through to completion (Philippians 1). When we grasp that, it gives us a kind of joy that leads to freedom. A freedom to live wild lives that are governed not by what we can see but by faith.

God’s people in the Old Testament understood this. They were taken out of Egypt which had an enormous river to living in the promise land which had no river. They had to depend on the Lord to send rain (Isaiah 55:10). It may have looked foolish, but God was teaching them where to find their confidence - not in rivers but in the rain He sends.

This is the life of the Christian. We rejoice not because of what the world is now but in what it one day will be - and between now and then we have the joy of inviting people to be ready for His return.

If we truly believe this message. If we receive freely, repent radically it will lead to a kind of rejoicing that doesn’t make sense to the world, but God will use that to make Himself known

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