Universality and Singularity
Date: January 1, 2012 Scripture: Isaiah 45:22-25
Proposition: Christ’s salvation is found in Him alone, but offered universally.
Title: Universality and Singularity by Pastor Myron Heckman
(Click to Listen to the Sermon Audio or Right Click for “Save As” Download)
We’ve celebrated Christmas, with a crescendo of preparation and planning, decorating, shopping, cooking, gathering, eating, opening, and…returning. Now things are winding down – and today can feel like an aftermath, an anti-climax. It’s as if the flames have burned high, and now we have embers.
But we still have something to complete about Christmas – Christmas has consequences – wonderful consequences. It is our salvation to take hold of and live out.
We have a text today that tells us two important things about the salvation Christ brings. These are two things that give a great focus for our faith.
“ Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That to Me every knee shall bow,
Every tongue shall take an oath.
24 He shall say,
‘ Surely in the LORD I have righteousness and strength.
To Him men shall come,
And all shall be ashamed
Who are incensed against Him.
25 In the LORD all the descendants of Israel
Shall be justified, and shall glory.’”
I) There are two rails upon which the train of God’s salvation runs.
We see them in this passage –
A) One rail is the singular way of salvation – it is in Yahweh God and in Him alone.
B) The second rail is the universal nature of the Gospel call –it is for all people, and for all the nations.
Let’s review these two rails that run through this text:
V 22 Look to me, and be saved – singularity (look to Me)
Salvation means deliverance. It’s deliverance from our just condemnation. It’s deliverance from the domain of Satan and death. It’s deliverance into the Kingdom of God.
All the ends of the earth! – universality. (all the ends)
For I am God, and there is no other. Singularity.
Vs 23 “I have sworn by myself” – God says, because there is no one else by whom He might take an oath. So He takes an oath in His own name.
“That to me” – singularity
Every knee shall bow, every tongue take an oath – universality. (every)
The themes continue on in vv 24-25
“Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength
To Him men shall come, and all shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him.”
The Lord is the dividing line for the destiny of all.
“In the Lord all the descendants of Israel
Shall be justified, and shall glory.”
God has a particularity –“I am God and there is no other.”
And He has universality: “Look to me, all the ends of the earth.”
Those two declarations give a focus and a power to our lives, our faith and our message.
II) These two dynamics continue in the New Testament
A) The Christmas story told of both these truths.
The Christmas angel said to the shepherds:“I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.” Right from the start the idea was good news of deliverance to all people.
And the angel went on to say: “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior.” There was a specific Savior born to us.
B) Jesus gave us the Great Commission – Go into all the world and preach the Gospel. It is not restricted by ethnicity, by sex, by age, by geography.
And He narrowed down the means of salvation in John 14:6, “I am the way the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except though me.”
C) The Book of Acts is a record of the Gospel breaking out of the confines of one ethnic group, the Jews, and being offered to all. God has mercy for the Gentiles, too.
That message brought an explosion of response among Gentiles.
But the Apostles also affirmed the way is Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
D) The New Testament ends in Revelation with the same dual dynamic:
Revelation 22:13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
Revelation 22:17 “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”
This free offer is not to lose sight of God’s sovereignty, God who says:
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” But we do not presume to know how and why and when God chooses – we simply take what he says: Go and make disciples of all nations.
III) There are two major considerations in these two truths.
A) The universality of God’s salvation is not universalism, the belief that all will eventually be brought into heaven.
The Bible does not teach that – it teaches heaven and hell as eternal places. Everlasting places.
While universalism has enormous appeal to our sentiments, as evidenced by prominent evangelical pastor Rob Bell’s recent adoption of that doctrine, universalism does not have staying power. It will flourish for a time and then fade because it means that what happens in this life does not have ultimate meaning.
The “one per center” who bribed his way to riches and crushed the laborer uncaring under his feet – he’s going to heaven.
The “99 per center” who lied and cheated his way through life – he’s going.
The elite celebrity who mocked the ways of Jesus Christ and led millions in her path– she’ll make it eventually. The common woman who maintained respectability but whose goal was her own glory – she too will make it. What happens in this life affects only what is in this life. It is not of ultimate meaning. And that is the weakness of universalism.
But here we are talking about something different – universality. God is God for all the nations. For the whole earth. His claim is on all.
B) That the Gospel of salvation is in Jesus Christ alone is a controversy.
It is a singularity. That raises a controversy in the human heart, it is a scandal – “It’s too narrow, too bigoted, too arrogant”. Can this claim stand among the tall trees of the world’s religions? Can it stand against the prevailing modern philosophy of Rationalism – that is, that human intellect is the arbiter of all truth?
Why is salvation only in Jesus? It’s because Jesus is uniquely the Savior.
Only He died on the cross that we might be forgiven.
Only He rose from the dead that we too might rise to eternal life.
Who else has done that? No one!
Only He is the one and only Son of God and Son of Man.
He fully human, like you and me, but also fully God.
Who else is like that? No one!
And so in the name of Jesus Christians find their identity. The most basic belief of Christians is the belief in His name (I John 5:13)
We are baptized in His name, we gather in His name, we receive others in His name, we do mighty works in His name, we must be ready to be persecuted for His name’s sake.
One day every knee will bend at the name of Jesus.
And there is no better statement of the commitment we are to make that that which Peter gave on the day of Pentecost:
Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:26)
That is still our message today.
Your salvation is in Christ alone.
The old formulation of the Reformers stands – Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
And the word “alone” is crucial to the meaning. It is not simply salvation by grace though faith in Christ, but salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
Application: This understanding of the universality and the singularity of salvation in Jesus Christ gives a focus and power to your own faith.
1) It is a focus for your own salvation:
The offer is to you.
You are not somehow outside the circle of God’s gracious offer.
You say you are not worthy? Of course you aren’t. No one is worthy.
But you are a “whoever” and the invitation extends to you.
And where do you find your salvation?
It is in Christ alone.
2) It is the focus of our mission –
The offer is to all- we send the message to all kinds of places – to our children, to our friends and family, to strangers we don’t know. We send it to Truro in our church plant sponsorship there and to Cana Segura in our church planting partnership there.
We are delighted to support and pray for and be interested in our Alliance missionaries in many countries, including in places that don’t welcome it.
This is a call to worldwide missions.
And the message of missions is always Jesus Christ as Savior.
One Savior, with an invitation to the world.
Title: Universality and Singularity by Pastor Myron Heckman
(Click to Listen to the Sermon Audio or Right Click for “Save As” Download)
We’ve celebrated Christmas, with a crescendo of preparation and planning, decorating, shopping, cooking, gathering, eating, opening, and…returning. Now things are winding down – and today can feel like an aftermath, an anti-climax. It’s as if the flames have burned high, and now we have embers.
But we still have something to complete about Christmas – Christmas has consequences – wonderful consequences. It is our salvation to take hold of and live out.
We have a text today that tells us two important things about the salvation Christ brings. These are two things that give a great focus for our faith.
“ Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
23 I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That to Me every knee shall bow,
Every tongue shall take an oath.
24 He shall say,
‘ Surely in the LORD I have righteousness and strength.
To Him men shall come,
And all shall be ashamed
Who are incensed against Him.
25 In the LORD all the descendants of Israel
Shall be justified, and shall glory.’”
I) There are two rails upon which the train of God’s salvation runs.
We see them in this passage –
A) One rail is the singular way of salvation – it is in Yahweh God and in Him alone.
B) The second rail is the universal nature of the Gospel call –it is for all people, and for all the nations.
Let’s review these two rails that run through this text:
V 22 Look to me, and be saved – singularity (look to Me)
Salvation means deliverance. It’s deliverance from our just condemnation. It’s deliverance from the domain of Satan and death. It’s deliverance into the Kingdom of God.
All the ends of the earth! – universality. (all the ends)
For I am God, and there is no other. Singularity.
Vs 23 “I have sworn by myself” – God says, because there is no one else by whom He might take an oath. So He takes an oath in His own name.
“That to me” – singularity
Every knee shall bow, every tongue take an oath – universality. (every)
The themes continue on in vv 24-25
“Surely in the Lord I have righteousness and strength
To Him men shall come, and all shall be ashamed who are incensed against Him.”
The Lord is the dividing line for the destiny of all.
“In the Lord all the descendants of Israel
Shall be justified, and shall glory.”
God has a particularity –“I am God and there is no other.”
And He has universality: “Look to me, all the ends of the earth.”
Those two declarations give a focus and a power to our lives, our faith and our message.
II) These two dynamics continue in the New Testament
A) The Christmas story told of both these truths.
The Christmas angel said to the shepherds:“I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.” Right from the start the idea was good news of deliverance to all people.
And the angel went on to say: “For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior.” There was a specific Savior born to us.
B) Jesus gave us the Great Commission – Go into all the world and preach the Gospel. It is not restricted by ethnicity, by sex, by age, by geography.
And He narrowed down the means of salvation in John 14:6, “I am the way the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except though me.”
C) The Book of Acts is a record of the Gospel breaking out of the confines of one ethnic group, the Jews, and being offered to all. God has mercy for the Gentiles, too.
That message brought an explosion of response among Gentiles.
But the Apostles also affirmed the way is Jesus Christ. Acts 4:12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
D) The New Testament ends in Revelation with the same dual dynamic:
Revelation 22:13 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”
Revelation 22:17 “Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.”
This free offer is not to lose sight of God’s sovereignty, God who says:
“I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.” But we do not presume to know how and why and when God chooses – we simply take what he says: Go and make disciples of all nations.
III) There are two major considerations in these two truths.
A) The universality of God’s salvation is not universalism, the belief that all will eventually be brought into heaven.
The Bible does not teach that – it teaches heaven and hell as eternal places. Everlasting places.
While universalism has enormous appeal to our sentiments, as evidenced by prominent evangelical pastor Rob Bell’s recent adoption of that doctrine, universalism does not have staying power. It will flourish for a time and then fade because it means that what happens in this life does not have ultimate meaning.
The “one per center” who bribed his way to riches and crushed the laborer uncaring under his feet – he’s going to heaven.
The “99 per center” who lied and cheated his way through life – he’s going.
The elite celebrity who mocked the ways of Jesus Christ and led millions in her path– she’ll make it eventually. The common woman who maintained respectability but whose goal was her own glory – she too will make it. What happens in this life affects only what is in this life. It is not of ultimate meaning. And that is the weakness of universalism.
But here we are talking about something different – universality. God is God for all the nations. For the whole earth. His claim is on all.
B) That the Gospel of salvation is in Jesus Christ alone is a controversy.
It is a singularity. That raises a controversy in the human heart, it is a scandal – “It’s too narrow, too bigoted, too arrogant”. Can this claim stand among the tall trees of the world’s religions? Can it stand against the prevailing modern philosophy of Rationalism – that is, that human intellect is the arbiter of all truth?
Why is salvation only in Jesus? It’s because Jesus is uniquely the Savior.
Only He died on the cross that we might be forgiven.
Only He rose from the dead that we too might rise to eternal life.
Who else has done that? No one!
Only He is the one and only Son of God and Son of Man.
He fully human, like you and me, but also fully God.
Who else is like that? No one!
And so in the name of Jesus Christians find their identity. The most basic belief of Christians is the belief in His name (I John 5:13)
We are baptized in His name, we gather in His name, we receive others in His name, we do mighty works in His name, we must be ready to be persecuted for His name’s sake.
One day every knee will bend at the name of Jesus.
And there is no better statement of the commitment we are to make that that which Peter gave on the day of Pentecost:
Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:26)
That is still our message today.
Your salvation is in Christ alone.
The old formulation of the Reformers stands – Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
And the word “alone” is crucial to the meaning. It is not simply salvation by grace though faith in Christ, but salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
Application: This understanding of the universality and the singularity of salvation in Jesus Christ gives a focus and power to your own faith.
1) It is a focus for your own salvation:
The offer is to you.
You are not somehow outside the circle of God’s gracious offer.
You say you are not worthy? Of course you aren’t. No one is worthy.
But you are a “whoever” and the invitation extends to you.
And where do you find your salvation?
It is in Christ alone.
2) It is the focus of our mission –
The offer is to all- we send the message to all kinds of places – to our children, to our friends and family, to strangers we don’t know. We send it to Truro in our church plant sponsorship there and to Cana Segura in our church planting partnership there.
We are delighted to support and pray for and be interested in our Alliance missionaries in many countries, including in places that don’t welcome it.
This is a call to worldwide missions.
And the message of missions is always Jesus Christ as Savior.
One Savior, with an invitation to the world.
posted by Jerry | 12:45 PM
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