1“This is my servant; I strengthen him,
Isaiah 42:1-9
this is my chosen one; I delight in him.
I have put my Spirit on him;
he will bring justice to the nations.
2He will not cry out or shout
or make his voice heard in the streets.
3He will not break a bruised reed,
and he will not put out a smoldering wick;
he will faithfully bring justice.
4He will not grow weak or be discouraged
until he has established justice on earth.
The coasts and islands will wait for his instruction.”
5This is what God, the Lord, says —
who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and what comes from it,
who gives breath to the people on it
and spirit to those who walk on it —
6“I am the Lord. I have called you
for a righteous purpose,
and I will hold you by your hand.
I will watch over you, and I will appoint you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light to the nations,
7in order to open blind eyes,
to bring out prisoners from the dungeon,
and those sitting in darkness from the prison house.
8I am the Lord. That is my name,
and I will not give my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
9The past events have indeed happened.
Now I declare new events;
I announce them to you before they occur.”
God Created Us for Incredible Things
We are not God.
God formed us out of dirt.
God gave us his image.
He blew the breath of Life into our soul.
Our nature does not get any more extreme. We are both dirt and God’s image.
Many times in Christian circles, we focus a lot on the “dirt” part of our image. And yet, as leaders, you do some pretty incredible things. You’ve seen people who are not followers of Jesus do really incredible things.
Unfortunately what we ignore when we emphasize the “dirt” part of us is the “God’s image” part of us.
God has created us for incredible things.
God Does and Doesn’t Share His Image
So this bring us to Isaiah 42:8. God doesn’t share his glory with another. True statement. The context takes us deeper into what God means.
Isaiah 42:1-9 is about God’s servant. Ultimately this Servant is Jesus. He alone perfectly upholds the vision of this Servant.
This is where we see “I am the Lord. That is my name, and I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.”
God isn’t saying he won’t share his glory with us. God is saying, “Don’t go anywhere else to find My glory. The created order is not my glory. My glory comes only through holding my hand.”
Actually, what you find in this passage is that God is quite willing to share his glory with others.
Glory is often used as a feeling word. We’ll say, “God was glorified” in a worship set or a sermon. Really, glory has its concept in marketing.
What Is Glory?
Glory is making the invisible beautifully visible.
When God is glorified, it means he has made his invisible characteristics beautifully visible. God did this through his Son.
However, he also does this through us. Because we are co-hiers with Jesus, what he perfectly represents through this Servant is available to us as well.
God did create the heavens and stretched them out.
He did spread out the earth and what comes from it.
God did give breath to the people on the earth.
He does give breath to us now and his spirit to us now.
And this same God wants to take us by the hand and give us his righteousness. Outward accomplishments aren’t the only way God’s glory is seen. God will change you into his image when you take hold of his hand. A watching world sees an invisible God when he makes himself visible through your life.
God made you and set you apart for an incredible purpose. Sacrifice is Leadership. And Sacrifice is how you come to leading others towards his image.
The goal is to lead you to engage with God’s Word so you can Hear & Follow Jesus in the everyday…especially in your leadership. Sign up for daily emails at the button below to receive the content in your inbox. You’ll receive a 1-minute email read with a link to a 5-minute blog read each day.