Not Your Father’s Oldsmobile

“Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; don’t be humiliated, for you will not be disgraced. For you will forget the shame of your youth, and you will no longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood. Indeed, your husband is your Maker — His name is Yahweh of Hosts — and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth. For the Lord has called you, like a wife deserted and wounded in spirit, a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,” says your God. “I deserted you for a brief moment, but I will take you back with great compassion. In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but I will have compassion on you with everlasting love,” says the Lord your Redeemer. “For this is like the days of Noah to Me: when I swore that the waters of Noah would never flood the earth again, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you. Though the mountains move and the hills shake, My love will not be removed from you and My covenant of peace will not be shaken,” says your compassionate Lord.” (Isaiah‬ ‭54‬:‭4‬-‭10‬ ‭HCSB‬‬)

In the late 80’s Oldsmobile had a problem. A BIG problem. What had once been a mainstay of the General Motors lineup was quickly becoming blasé, outdated and old fashioned. A new generation of car buyers was not interested in their new lineup of automobiles and Oldsmobile executives went looking for an advertising campaign that could turn things around. The team of advertisers charged with the task came up with an entire advertising campaign that included the tag line, “Not your father’s Oldsmobile.” And if you know anything about car company history and their products, you know the advertising campaign and slogan didn’t work. But the colossal failure made the campaign slogan famous and remarkably memorable.

Why on earth would I choose a failed but memorable car advertising campaign as the title for my message out of Isaiah? Simply because the message that advertising team was trying to convey is so spot on for what was actually needed to save Oldsmobile – times were changing and our product must change with it. But the ad campaign’s failure was just an example of what was truly plaguing not just the automobile industry but nearly everything in the American culture – things were changing. And they really were. In ways that were deeper and more profound than we could even imagine.

What is so dramatic about Isaiah’s words that would make me borrow an automobile advertising slogan to illustrate “times are changing” for God’s people? As I mentioned last week, Isaiah spent the previous thirteen chapters (Isaiah 40-53) describing for us the purpose, plan and the completed work of God’s Suffering Servant. Now, he describes the results of the Servant’s completed work –  man’s redemption and the restoration of our relationship and fellowship with God. This is not just true of Isaiah, but of the entirety of scripture. 

So, how is Isaiah 54 and 55 different? How is this effort “not our father’s” effort of religious restoration? We continually strive to make our lives good enough to merit God’s forgiveness and to secure our place in heaven – in whatever form that takes in our minds. Look at EVERY human religion and you’ll find this same formula being used. Human efforts to achieve knowledge, enlightenment, moral or ethical growth, political, economic and social utopia and even scientific dominion to overcome our personal failures and secure our future hope. Our only hope for tomorrow lies in our own ability to fix our broken world.

But Isaiah (and all of scripture, actually) tells us, that’s just not possible. Man can’t fix the problem, only God can. So, to borrow and adapt the advertising slogan for our purposes – not your father’s old religion. Isaiah tells us that we can’t fix our broken relationship with God through our own feeble, insufficient and self-righteous efforts. Only God can do it and He has! He is describing it for us in our focal passage: “Don’t be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; don’t be humiliated, for you will not be disgraced. For you will forget the shame of your youth and you will no longer remember the disgrace of your widowhood.”

Last week, Isaiah’s analogy was that of a barren woman who has suddenly been blessed with more children than the fertile married woman. In fact, the barren woman was told to make room for the large number of children God would give her. This week, his analogy starts out as that of a woman shamed as a young wife and disgraced as an old widow. The ideas seems to be that all of her life, from her youth until she becomes a widow in her old age, is covered by God’s grace as provided by the Servant’s completed work of redemption. Simply put, every aspect of life is covered by God’s redemptive work in Jesus. It doesn’t matter if your shame before God comes from when you were an impetuous youth or your disgrace comes when you’re old and facing death. Don’t fear judgment and separation from Him, God’s grace worked out for us in His Servant is sufficient to redeem and restore. 

Next, Isaiah takes the redemptive character and nature of God on parade before His astonished readers. “Indeed, your husband is your Maker – His name is the LORD (Yahweh) of Hosts – and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; He is called the God of all the earth.” As if there was ever any doubt, Isaiah links together all of these incredible names, characteristics, attributes and expressions of Israel’s monotheistic God. He is the Creator of Genesis, the very personal and relational Yahweh of the Exodus, the transcendent and righteous Holy Redeemer of Israel and, finally, the all powerful, all encompassing sovereign God over all the earth.

That’s the God who has completed the magnificent work of mankind’s redemption. He’s not your father’s god (little “g” intentional). Things have changed! This is bigger, much, MUCH bigger than just Adam, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Joshua, or even David. This is about THE One and Only God of the entire universe who created us, who desires to have a personal relationship with us, who has come in person to redeem us and reign over us. God may have judged them for their idolatry and disobedience, but He hasn’t abandoned them. They may feel deserted, like a rebellious young wife rejected by her husband but His everlasting love and compassion has been clearly demonstrated through the Servant’s redemptive actions. 

“In a surge of anger I hid My face from you for a moment, but I will have compassion on you with everlasting love,” says the Lord your Redeemer.” (Isaiah‬ ‭54‬:‭8‬ ‭HCSB‬‬)

I hid my face from you for a moment… what seems like forever, is just a moment in the scope of things. We are made in God’s image. While an entire series of lessons can be drawn from that Biblical truth, let me take a minute to draw upon one of them. We are spiritual beings, made in the image of our Heavenly Father. We have a body, but we are spiritual beings. We are so much more than just the sum of our physical parts. This is often where our modern culture goes astray. Our culture emphasizes the importance of a person’s physical existence and his or her identity built around those factors, almost to the exclusion of all else.

So, we are spiritual beings with a body, not physical beings with a spirit. That impacts how we must approach and deal with life and all of its opportunities, challenges and problems. If we only deal with the physical aspects of life, we miss the most important aspect – our spiritual life and its overwhelming impact on our well being. This is why the Hebrew concept of “shalom” is about a person’s wholeness and is far more than just the modern concept of peace. You can know and experience the peace of God even in the midst of physical distress and anguish.

That’s why a proper understanding of what you are, who you are and whose you are is so critical to human happiness. When you begin to understand that you are so much more than just a physical being, you begin to understand some things better. When you begin to realize who you are in light of God’s purpose and plan, you begin to find yourself and your purpose and calling in life. And when you finally begin to recognize that you are created in your Father’s image, then you begin to find that life is really all about your relationship with Him. Then your self worth and the intrinsic value of everyone you meet is changed. It changes you, it changes them and it impacts everything else in your life.

Side note: Overwhelming evidence for seeing yourself as primarily a spiritual being can be found in the pervasive nature of religion in every human culture. Even people who dispute the importance of religion and religious belief have religious beliefs that are disguised and overlooked in their lives. Everyone has a god, most often it is ourselves. It is only when we properly relate to the One, True God who created us that we can begin to experience the wholeness He intended for us to have in our physical and spiritual lives. 

Finally, our focal passage closes with a promise. Like the promise made to Noah, God’s wrath against the sin of mankind has been satisfied in the sacrifice of His Servant. When Noah saw the rainbow in the sky, He knew that God’s promise would be kept. Listen closely to the promise He gives in the completed work of the Servant Redeemer: “‘For this is like the days of Noah to Me: when I swore that the waters of Noah would never flood the earth again, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you or rebuke you. Though the mountains move and the hills shake, My love will not be removed from you and My covenant of peace will not be shaken,’ says your compassionate Lord.” (Isaiah‬ ‭54‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭HCSB‬‬)

Each day you will encounter people who are deaf to the promises of God. They are blind to the spiritual needs they are experiencing. They have been told that personal happiness is found in the pursuit of physical pleasure, the accumulation of wealth, finding your so-called soul mate or whatever/whomever you’ve decided is missing from your life. Well, there is something missing and it’s likely not what they were expecting. What’s missing is the compassionate love and covenant peace that only a faith relationship with God can bring.

They think that religion is religion is religion. It doesn’t matter which one you choose, just pick the one that feels right to you. But it DOES matter because what God is doing, as demonstrated in this passage, is “not your Father’s” old religion. God is doing something that HAS NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE. He’s taking that old religious playbook and throwing it away. It’s not about ritual. It’s not about human endeavor and achievement. It’s not even about moral obedience, believe it or not. It is about trusting God and His promises and then walking by faith into their fulfillment.

So, are you willing to recognize that what you always thought was true about religion was just plain wrong? Religion is all about man’s attempt to discover and please God so you can be a deserving recipient of His blessings. Walking with Christ is to discover that you’re a sinner and you will never please God or deserve His blessings. You can’t possibly do what’s needed, but then you find out that God has already done everything necessary. That changes everything! This is certainly “not your father’s Oldsmobile.”

When that hits you, and it does hit you like a ton of bricks, then you suddenly get it! You DON’T deserve God’s love, but He sent it anyway. Not because you deserved it, but because you didn’t and never could. Catch His words here: “Though the mountains move and the hills shake, My love will not be removed from you and My covenant of peace will not be shaken.” When God does what is needed to redeem us, we cannot lose His love and His peace (or wholeness) in our lives will not be shaken. When you live by faith in the fulfillment of His promise, then no matter what shakes your life or rattles your confidence, His love is steadfast and His peace will sustain and uphold us. 

Do you have that kind of love and peace in your life? If not, you can. Trust His Redeemer, the Servant – Jesus, and you will find that your life is built on a rock. Everything around you might be tenuous and shaky but His love will not be removed and His peace will not be shaken. Trust Him. Walk with Him. See His promises fulfilled in you.

He’s not your father’s Oldsmobile…