Isaiah 42:6-9 "I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; (7) To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from tAnd it came to pass in those days,he prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. (8) I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. (9) Behold, the former things are come to pass, and new things do I declare: before they spring forth I tell you of them."
We started the chapter with these words, "Behold my servant, whom I
uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth." We are still looking at
the servant of God, whose name is Jesus. You might say, "Why would
He be referred to as a servant?" Let's look at Jesus' answer to that
question:
(Matthew 20:27-28) "And whosoever will be chief among you,
let him be your servant: (28) Even as the Son of man came not to be
ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."
We read Paul's inspired words concerning Jesus, "But made himself of no
reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men." (Philippians 2:7) God says we are to behold His
servant; therefore it behoves us to think upon Jesus and the beautiful things
He said and done while on this earth.
He came to serve and do those things which had never been seen before. He gave
hope (light) to the Gentiles. You and I can attest to that fact. We have been
blessed to see and know that indeed Jesus Christ is the very Son of God.
Jesus came to open the blind eyes and do "new things" never seen
before. Remember when Jesus opened the eyes of the man who was born blind. It
was declared, "Since the world began was it not heard that any man opened
the eyes of one that was born blind." (John 9:32) There is so much
to be said in these verses. "The former things are come to pass."
What things are these? Though they are too numerous to list in this place, the
one that comes to my mind is one we saw a few weeks ago. "Therefore the
Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a
son, and shall call his name Immanuel." (Isaiah 7:14) Then in Luke
chapter 2:1, we read "And it came to pass in those days..." The
former things spoken came to pass. There are many more prophecies in the Old
Testament that came to pass in the conception, birth, life, death, burial, and
resurrection of our Lord. I haven't touched on verse 8 yet, but the Lord
willing we will look at that verse the next time. Let us be reminded
today that our Lord came to this earth, accomplished that which He came to do,
and is now seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding on our behalf.
We aren't finished with these verses, but I pray today we will have time to
reflect upon the gift of God: His only begotten Son!