Isaiah 46:5-11 (ESV)

“To whom will you liken me and make me equal,
and compare me, that we may be alike?
Those who lavish gold from the purse,
and weigh out silver in the scales,
hire a goldsmith, and he makes it into a god;
then they fall down and worship!
They lift it to their shoulders, they carry it,
they set it in its place, and it stands there;
it cannot move from its place.
If one cries to it, it does not answer
or save him from his trouble.
“Remember this and stand firm,
recall it to mind, you transgressors,
remember the former things of old;
for I am God, and there is no other;
I am God, and there is none like me,
declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’
calling a bird of prey from the east,
the man of my counsel from a far country.
I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass;
I have purposed, and I will do it.

The Point – We should live our lives for God knowing that He is in complete control of all things.

So far, we’ve seen that God does not change, He is eternal, He is all-knowing, and He is love. These are good things and important things for us to know about God. God is also all-powerful.

We’ve looked at this before, but imagine being able to do anything you wanted to do anytime you wanted to do it. It would be amazing to have that kind of power. That’s God. He is all-powerful. He can do, and He does, anything He wants to do.

As we look at Isaiah 46:5-11, there are a few things to notice:

• God is without equal. He cannot be compared to any other “god.”
• We are so prone to trust in and worship other things besides God.
• God will accomplish His purposes.

The logic of Isaiah 46:5-11 is simple. Since God is without equal, and He accomplishes all of His purposes, it would only make sense for us to live for God.

What’s illogical is for us to trust in and worship other things besides God. That shouldn’t make sense. But, so many times, we don’t trust Him and worship Him the way we should. The reason we don’t is because of our sin nature. We’ve rebelled against God, and we are spiritually dead (Ephesians 2:1). Because of sin we don’t do what makes sense (see God as He really is), and we do what doesn’t make sense (put other things in the place of God).

We may not literally bow down and worship a gold statue, but we may make a person, a video game, a sport, TV, the internet, school, or so many other things more important than God. God is without equal, and we can so easily try to make other things equal to Him. It just doesn’t make sense.

As followers of Christ, we are thankful for His mercy and grace that has led Him to give us spiritual life (Ephesians 2:4-5). Christ makes it possible for us to see God as He really is and have God as first in our lives. Without Jesus we are without hope. But with Jesus we have great hope (Ephesians 1:18).

Think Harder

• Read Psalm 115:3.
• How does it make you feel to know that God can do whatever He wants to do?
• How should knowing that God is all-powerful change the way we live for Him?