Isaiah 45:18-25 Maker of Heaven and Earth: Created Not to be Empty
Let’s say that you are a creative genius. You go through your work day and keep running into the same problem or difficulty. You say, “Somebody really ought to come up with something to make this easier.” Your ever-so-helpful spouse says, “Why don’t you figure it out?” So, after months of deliberation and trial and error, you come up with a product that is going to change lives. Wouldn’t you want to protect it? Wouldn’t you want to get credit for it? Wouldn’t you want to make sure that it was used for good and not nefarious purposes? Well, the way to do that is to get a patent.
A patent is a legal document that the US government grants to inventors that gives them the right for up to 20 years to prevent others from making, using, or selling their invention. It protects intellectual property. “...for a patent to be issued, the invention must meet four conditions:
- It must be able to be used (the invention must work and cannot just be a theory)
- It must have a clear description of how to make and use the invention
- It must be new, or “novel” (something not done before)
- It must “Not obvious,” as related to a change to something already invented”
https://www.uspto.gov/patents/basics/essentials
There are patents for all sorts of things. Some of these inventions work better than others. Alexander Graham Bell patented the telephone in 1876 and Thomas Alva Edison patented the lightbulb in 1878. Both are incredibly important even today. On the other hand,“ In 1882, Samuel S. Applegate received a patent for his “Device For Waking Persons From Sleep.” This device connected a wall-mounted alarm clock to a wooden frame. On the frame were suspended wooden blocks, which were placed directly above the sleeper’s head. When the alarm rang, CLANG, CLANG, CLANG, the frame would drop, causing the blocks to hit the person in the face. Applegate himself admitted in his patent application that “these cause pain.”... (https://www.flextrades.com/blog/10-fascinating-facts-about-patents-you-didnt-know/) I am guessing this may be part of the reason Applegate isn’t a household name. Today, though, we are going to look at the greatest inventor of all time.
We are continuing our series on the Apostle’s Creed. I am going to focus in on the second line – Maker of Heaven and Earth. Let’s stand and say the creed together. Christians, what do you believe? I believe…
Our scripture today is Isaiah 45:18-25 “18 For this is what the Lord says—he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited—he says: “I am the Lord, and there is no other. 19 I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right. 20“Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save. 21 Declare what is to be, present it—
let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no God apart from me,
a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. 22 “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. 23 By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. 24 They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone are deliverance and strength.’” All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame. 25 But all the descendants of Israel will find deliverance in the Lord and will make their boast in him.” This is the very word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Oftentimes in the hurry-scurry of life, we forget to look around and be in awe of the immensity of creation and from that, learn what it tells us about God. Today, we are going to look at three points that 1. God Created (v. 18), 2. God Created the world Not be Empty (v. 18), and 3. God Created Us to be Spiritually Full (v. 19, v. 22, 24. 25)
First, God Created. I think that it is interesting how the prophet Isaiah describes what happened at the very beginning of time as we know it. He doesn’t just say that God made the world. He is elaborating, chewing on, fleshing out what it means to be created. He says in verse 18 “18 For this is what the Lord says—he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited…”
Isaiah wants us to be in awe of the power, the strength, the beauty, the intelligence, the creativity it took for God to make something out of nothing. Look at the words Isaiah uses to describe what God did. Nicely enough, these words all start with the letter F. See if you can find them all. Isaiah continues that God fashioned the earth. God fashions. He is a master planner and designer. He determined the sounds wolves would make at night, the whisper of a butterfly’s wings, how dolphins could communicate with each other, the roar of a waterfall, and the hush of a gentle breeze. He loves creativity and color. He created stripes on a zebra, spots on a leopard, and rainbows on a trout. He created poky quills on a porcupine, soft wool on a lamb, and rock hard shells on a turtle. Think of all the colors of creation, the vivid jewel tones on a peacock, the ruby throat of a hummingbird, or the striations of rocks.
Also, He founded it. God set it up and established it. He gave a base. He also didn’t want it to be temporary. He wanted it to have structure for a lasting existence. He didn’t willy-nilly throw some stuff together and hope for the best. He had a plan. He knew the hibernation of a bear, the migration of geese, the number of times a camel’s heart beats in a minute, the way snowflakes are formed, and how crystals transform into stalactites and stalagmites in caves. He decided how mountains, deserts, jungles, farmland, and oceans would look. He determined weather patterns so that things could grow and survive. He gave daytime and nighttime to give time, order, and periods of rest. The Lord created gravity so that things would stay in place and not float into oblivion. Then, consider how many things are happening in your body right at this moment. You are breathing in and out. You may be digesting breakfast or feeling hunger from not eating yet today. You are either listening right now or fighting the urge to fall asleep. You may be noticing an itch on your elbow. Your heart is pumping, your muscles are tense or relaxed. Every part doing its job in harmony. So many things are happening all at the same time in your body, so many things happening right now in the natural world and it all seems to work.
Then, too, He formed it. He knew the measurements, the calculations, the recipe to make it work. And yet instead of taking months or years to build it with toil and sweat. In all of His power, all He had to do was say the word and there it was. Perfect. Complete.
It wasn’t like God said “Let there be a chicken.”
And poof, a chicken appears but with five wings and fire blazing out of its beak when it cock-adoodle-dooed in the morning and laid bricks of dynamite instead of eggs. It wasn’t like God scratched His head and had to go back to a drawing board and say, “Hmm, two wings would be more symmetrical than five. Yeah, and the firebreathing is dangerous. What happens if they lay the dynamite at the same time they cock-adoodle-doo? Maybe they should lay eggs instead and completely forget the firebreathing.” No, it didn’t happen like that. God got it right the first time.
And what does that teach us about God? It tells us that God’s intellect is far beyond anything that we can imagine. He knows how things work and how they work together with other things. He set up patterns and natural laws. He loves order and peace. He is creative. He loves color and beauty. He knows what is good.
Second, God Created the world Not be Empty (v. 18)
Look at the second part of verse 18, ““18 For this is what the Lord says—he who created the heavens, he is God; he who fashioned and made the earth, he founded it; he did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited…”
Genesis 1 tells us that “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, …” There is a problem in verse 2 and every day of creation addresses the problem that the earth was formless and empty. There was no order and no inhabitants. So, in days one through three of creation, God created order by creating light on day one, the sky on day two, and the land and plants on day three. Then on days four through six, God filled the space. On day four, God created the sun, moon, and stars which gives us day and night or the way to calculate time. On day five God created fish and creatures of the sea and birds and creatures of the air. Day six brought all kinds of animals on the land including insects, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and mankind. Lastly, on day seven, God rested because it was complete and good. There was no more emptiness. There was no more chaos.
If something is non-existent, it has no purpose. If something is empty, it is lacking, insufficient, and needy. Verse 18, “...he founded it; he did not create it to be empty…” That is true for the world, but guess what? That is true for you, too. As part of God’s creation, God does not want you to be empty, lacking, without purpose, alone, and needy. Which leads us to our third point, not only did God create the world to be physically full, God created us to be spiritually full...
- God Created it to be Spiritually Full (v. 19, v. 22, 24. 25)
But, God did not make the world just to have a nice collection of things to look at. He made a place for us – a place where we could be in relationship with Him. God created us for more. God wants to be in relationship with us Not that He is needy or lonely, but so that He can share His glory and grace. So how do we receive this spiritual fullness for our lives? There are three ways that we can do that. We need to seek, we need to turn, and we need to trust.
First, we need to seek after God. Verse 19 and 20 says, “19 I have not spoken in secret, from somewhere in a land of darkness; I have not said to Jacob’s descendants, ‘Seek me in vain.’ I, the Lord, speak the truth; I declare what is right. 20“Gather together and come; …”
We can and should seek after God because He wants us to know Him. Genesis describes a God who didn’t just fashion the world and leave it alone, but who wants to be known. God is not distant. He speaks. He’s a Creator who made people for fellowship with him. He’s seen walking in perfect communion with Adam and Eve, and he’s ultimately revealed to us in the person of Jesus.
And, what He speaks is Truth. He is our deliverer and strength. He explains the best way to live, because He knows. As a loving Father, as the incomparable, omniscient, all-knowing God, He alone can give us the truth our hearts need. Turning to the world’s ideals will not satisfy. Only God can give us what we truly need.
Second, we need to turn. Look at verses 22 and 23. “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. 23 By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked:”
The story of creation doesn’t just tell us how the world began, but it also points forward to how the world will end. As we open the first pages of our Bibles, we should believe that the God of creation is also the God of new creation. The tree of life in the Garden of Eden is later symbolized in the cross where Jesus offers life to those who believe. Sin breaks us, but Jesus offers the once-for-all sacrifice. We need to believe that Jesus can change us from somebody who is dead in their sins to someone who has been born again to a new hope. All we need to do is turn from our sin and believe Jesus is the way to God the Father.
Lastly, we need to trust. Isaiah finishes this chapter by saying in verses 24 and 25, “24 They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone are deliverance and strength.’” All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame. 25 But all the descendants of Israel will find deliverance in the Lord and will make their boast in him.”
Daniel Darling, a blogger for the Gospel Coalition writes, “Creation reveals a God who is not like us. In the beginning, the Bible reveals a God who is not a created being, a figment of our imaginations, or a durable crutch we invent in difficult times. Genesis reveals an all-powerful God without beginning and end, who is other than his creation, who created something out of nothing. It gives me comfort to know there’s a God who is above the messiness and who is driving history toward a conclusion. It’s comforting to know someone besides me is in charge, that I’m not the master of my fate, the captain of my soul.
Sometimes we act like we want a God we can reduce to our size, a God who overlooks our flaws and blesses our indiscretions. We want a God we can shape and shift. But is this really what we want? A God who is limited by our limitations, a God who is subject to our fears and captive to our whims? When we whisper desperate prayers in the night, when we plead with God at the bedside of a loved one, when we pray over our children, we’re praying to a God we need to be big, a God we can trust is managing the world we can’t control. Down deep in our souls, we don’t want the cheap plastic gods of our age but an all-powerful God who is bigger than the problems we face and can defeat the things that haunt us.” https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/creation-god/
Thank you God, that You are God and there is no other. You are God and there is none like You. Let us pray.
Almighty God, Maker of Heaven and Earth. Thank you for creating the world and all its beauty. Thank you for creating us, your people. Thank you for creating our church. Fill us, God, with You so that we can share your goodness and bring light and life to those we meet. It is in your name we pray. Amen.
At this time, the deacons will come forward and we will worship God with our offerings.
Let’s pray: Lord, use these gifts for the sake of Your name. Thank you for your generosity to us. Accept these gifts as small tokens of our appreciation of your grace. Help us use these gifts well to share the good news of the gospel. You are our hope. Help us to give that hope to others. It is in Your name we pray. Amen.
Our final song is
Benediction: Hear these words of Paul from 1 Timothy 6:15-16 - Now to Him “who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and might, now and forever.” Even so, maranatha, come quickly Lord Jesus, Amen.
