Too Light a Thing...

I love the book Isaiah. Sure, it's long and confusing, but every time I read something from it my view of God seems to be blown up to a more titanic size while I shrink in comparison, which is a desired result for sure. I came across this little mind-bender a few weeks ago, I hope it messes with you as much as it did me. I'm taking this from the English Standard version of the bible.

Isaiah 49: 5-6

And now the LORD says, he who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him; and that Israel might be gathered to him— for I am honored in the eyes of the LORD, and my God has become my strength— he says: "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth."

Oh, prophesy. I'm going to do my best to relay what I believe the text is pointing to here (side note: you should read the whole chapter, it's tasty stuff). This is found in a section of Isaiah known as the "servant songs", which foretell the coming of the Messiah, and were fulfilled within the life, death, and resurrection of Christ (which is crazy to think about in and of itself).

To get to what blew me away, however, let's venture out of the timeline for a moment and view history as a whole up to this point. God existed in eternity past, and knows everything that is to happen for eternity to come (if you figure that one out, let me know). Therefore, we can assume that he knew full well when he created mankind that we would reject Him for lesser gods, pursuing our own fleshly desires and forsaking our first love. He also, then, had a preconceived plan of redemption for His people, to bring them back into intimacy with Him. Initially, he chose the Israelites. God raised up leaders and manifested Himself within pillars of fire and smoke, chose to have His glory dwell within a temple, etc. These were just tiny snapshots of an infinite God (try out Isaiah 6 for a slightly bigger, yet still not even full, picture).

Now, I'm not Jewish. I'm about as pasty-white as they come, blonde hair, blue eyes. How is it that I have access to the God of the universe, then? Well, here's the incredible part: God chose to glorify Himself by saving me. It's as if he said "I'm way too big of a God to just save one little group of people, let's go after all of them!" Therefore, because it was "too light a thing" to rescue only Israel, you and I can now be recipients of the redemptive grace of God through his servant and son, Jesus Christ. The very fact that He chose to give mercy to me, an undeserving wretch of a sinner, also gives me the chance to glorify Him through my life on earth. And the beauty of it is that it all points back to a heavenly Father with a plan from before time to redeem and rescue! If that doesn't get your blood boiling, you may proceed to your local cardiologist's office.