December 20: THE UNDISCOURAGED FAITH OF JESUS (part 2)

He will not fail nor be discouraged, Till He has established justice in the earth; And the coastlands shall wait for His law. Isaiah 42:4

Before Jesus returns to the earth to retrieve His bride, He will have a people from every nation that understand, believe, and live according to heavenly standards. Ever since the fall of Satan (Luke 10:18) and the subsequent fall of man (Genesis 3:6), the deceiver has worked to convince people that the law of God is impossible to keep, and the punishment for breaking it is arbitrary.

The word translated coastlands is a common Hebrew term referring to the ends of the earth. At the time of Isaiah, it literally meant every land that touched the Mediterranean, as the “Great Sea” (Daniel 7:2) was considered the center of their world. A more literal translation of today’s verse finishes thus: Till He shall cause the nations to possess [or inherit] His law; that is, the revealed will of God. (see also Deuteronomy 8:1; Psalm 19:7; 111:7; Proverbs 3:1).

“In Isaiah’s day the spiritual understanding of mankind was dark through misapprehension of God. Long had Satan sought to lead men to look upon their Creator as the author of sin and suffering and death. Those whom he had thus deceived, imagined that God was hard and exacting. They regarded Him as watching to denounce and condemn, unwilling to receive the sinner so long as there was a legal excuse for not helping him. The law of love by which heaven is ruled had been misrepresented by the archdeceiver as a restriction upon men’s happiness, a burdensome yoke from which they should be glad to escape. He declared that its precepts could not be obeyed and that the penalties of transgression were bestowed arbitrarily.” Prophets and Kings by EGW (p.311)

To have the faith of Jesus (Revelation 14:12) signifies a deeper understanding of His character than one’s initial faith in Jesus. It is to follow faithfully in His steps, spreading the consolation that is at the core of His law of love. To have the testimony of Jesus (Revelation 1:2,9; 12:17; 19:10) means to come into possession of a faith like His; one that is not discouraged by the world’s push-back or negativity. Without a deep-held belief that there would be people who would respond to Him as their sin-bearer, He could not have carried Redemption’s Plan to the cross. His followers are to carry Redemption’s Plan – with courage and hope – to suffering souls wherever they may be found. They are waiting…

As more and more eyes are opened to the truth of God’s character, support for the counterfeit doctrines of Satan will continue to dry up (see Isaiah 42:15; 44:27; Jeremiah 50:38; Revelation 16:12).

I will bring the blind by a way that they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, And crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, And not forsake them. Isaiah 42:16

Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent. Acts 17:30