“Lift up your eyes to the sky,
Then look to the earth beneath;
For the sky will vanish like smoke,
And the earth will wear out like a garment
And its inhabitants will die in like manner;
But My salvation will be forever,
And My righteousness will not wane,” (51:6).

Today I was struck with the way this chapter began; another call to “Listen.”

“Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness,
Who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock from which you were hewn
And to the quarry from which you were dug,” (51:1).

And I found myself wondering, how many times had Isaiah penned “listen, hear, give ear, pay attention, remember, consider;” how many times did he summons his readers/listeners to stop and contemplate the Word of the Lord? A quick, although not exhaustive, search through the NASB translation records at least 85 times the book of Isaiah called the people to listen, hear, give ear, pay attention, remember, and consider.

This should definitely heighten our awareness of the importance of this book. For while the Lord had much to say about His people’s redemption out of Babylonian captivity, He was pointing them beyond the temporal, beyond what they could merely see with their eyes. Every word of Isaiah is an imperative call to listen, to hear, to give ear, to pay attention, to remember, and to consider the message of His Everlasting Salvation.

For His Everlasting Salvation would not only rescue them out of Babylonian captivity and restore them back to Jerusalem, His Everlasting Salvation would rescue His people from unrighteousness and sin, restoring their relationship with Holy God, forever.

Consider His Everlasting Salvation

In this portion of Isaiah’s letter, God calls His people to remember their beginning; prompting their memories that it had all started with His promise to Abraham and Sarah, once again reminding them that His call had always been a call to faith.

“…Look to the rock from which you were hewn
And to the quarry from which you were dug.
² “Look to Abraham your father
And to Sarah who gave birth to you in pain;
When he was but one I called him,
Then I blessed him and multiplied him,”

And again He calls them to pay attention to His Truth; they had nothing whatsoever to do with being hewn from the Rock. His Everlasting Salvation was always about what only He could do, for only God can do the amazingly, astonishingly impossible.

The disciples were amazed at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” ²⁶ They were even more astonished and said to Him, “Then who can be saved?” ²⁷ Looking at them, Jesus said, “With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:24-27).

And the amazing, astonishing, impossible Truths in the miracle of His Everlasting Salvation are beautifully depicted in this chapter.

• In His Everlasting Salvation there is:
  • Everlasting Justice and Light (51:4)
  • Everlasting Hope and Strength (5:5)
  • Everlasting Righteousness (51:5-8)
  • Everlasting Security (51:7-8)
  • Everlasting Joy and Gladness (51:9-11)
  • Everlasting Comfort (51:12-13)
  • Everlasting Freedom (51:14)
  • Everlasting Protection (51:15-16)
  • Everlasting Forgiveness and Restoration (51:17-23)

Because He is Eternal, because He Is Good, because of His Lovingkindness, because He is Faithful to His Word, because He is the Everlasting Rock from which His people were hewn, and because He alone can save, He called His people to listen, to hear, to give ear, to pay attention, to remember, and to consider the Truth of His Everlasting Salvation. And He calls us to exactly the same thing.

• Because He is Eternal, His Salvation is Everlasting.
  • Before the mountains were born
    Or You gave birth to the earth and the world,
    Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. (Psalm 90:2).

• Because He is Good, His Salvation is Everlasting.
  • For the Lord is good;
    His lovingkindness is everlasting
    And His faithfulness to all generations, (Psalm 100:5).

• Because of His Lovingkindness, His Salvation is Everlasting.
  • But the lovingkindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him,
    And His righteousness to children’s children, (Psalm 103:17).

• Because He is Faithful to His Word, His Salvation is Everlasting.
  • The sum of Your word is truth,
    And every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting, (Psalm 119:160).

• Because He is the Everlasting Rock from which we are hewn, His Salvation is Everlasting.
  • “Trust in the Lord forever,
    For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock,” (Isaiah 26:4).

How do we respond to His Everlasting Salvation?

His Everlasting Salvation is impossible to fathom and beyond our ability to fully comprehend, but it is so necessary that we listen, hear, give ear, pay attention, remember, and consider this daily. And that takes time, every day.

We need to daily listen to His heart, to hear what He has to say, to give our ear to His Spirit’s voice, to pay full attention to His teachings, to remind ourselves of His promises by daily taking time in His Word and in prayer to consider His Glorious Truths revealed in every book, chapter, and page of His Everlasting Word.

The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever, (Isaiah 40:8).

For, “All flesh is like grass,
And all its glory like the flower of grass.
The grass withers,
And the flower falls off,
²⁵ But the word of the Lord endures forever.
And this is the word which was preached to you, (1 Peter 2:24-25).

Time with Him in His Everlasting Word will continue to remind us that His Everlasting Salvation cannot be earned, it is only by His amazingly, astonishingly impossible Gift of Grace that we can be saved by faith.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life,” (John 3:16).

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord, (Romans 6:23).

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, (Ephesians 2:8).

And as we listen, hear, give ear, pay attention, remember, and consider His Everlasting Salvation, let us ask Him to strengthen our resolve to obey, that daily we might be given the joyous opportunity to prove our love for His Everlasting Word.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock,” (Matthew 7:24).

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments,” (John 14:15).

But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves, (James 1:22).

May we never cease to give Him praise for His amazingly, astonishingly impossible Gift, so undeserved yet so richly given in Jesus Christ our Savior; for only in Him have we received His Everlasting Salvation.

He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, ⁶ whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life, (Titus 3:5-6).

Let’s Grow Together!