Higher

“To whom then will you liken God….?

It is he who sits above the circle of the earth,

and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;

who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,

and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;

who brings princes to nothing,

and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness”

(Isaiah 40:18a, 22-23).

Who can stand against us? My frail little body caught up in the physical body of the Lord Jesus, the Risen Reigning King. King of all power. United with the Creator God, for he who is joined to the Lord becomes one spirit with him (1 Cor. 6:17). My body, the church body, the home for the God before whom nations are but a drop in the bucket (1 Cor. 6:19; Jn. 14:23; Isa. 40:15-17).

For we follow in the same footsteps by the same Spirit of our Carpenter King. Isaiah describes our King:

“I gave my back to those who strike,

and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard;

I hid not my face

from disgrace and spitting.

But the Lord God helps me;

therefore I have not been disgraced;

therefore I have set my face like a flint,

and I know that I shall not be put to shame.

He who vindicates me is near”

(Isaiah 50:6-8a)

“I have set my face like flint”—Jesus son of Adam walks down the Jerusalem streets in his rough sweat-stained garment. The Judean sun glances against the gleaming shields and red capes of the glory of Rome, the utmost political power.

Like flint—Jesus born of a virgin questioned who-is-this? can-it-be? nah-yes-who-knows? reputation against the prestigious religious leaders, the wealthy Sanhedrin. He, outcast and unaccepted by the majority, walks past the gleaming white marble temple of the ancient wonder of Herod’s temple. Like flint, against all the glory of the accepted religious establishment.

Like flint—Jesus the carpenter walks down the Jerusalem streets and the demons shriek out in hellish tones, “We know who you are, the Holy One of God!” The forces of evil dance around, plague, fiery darts through the tongues of religious leaders, the tongues of Peter and his best friends (Mat. 16:23). Could Jesus, full of the Spirit, see the kingdom of darkness envelope? But like flint, against all the hurricane forces of Evil, legions of darkness, and the beautiful, hell-bound Archangel himself.

Our God is higher—our God who in flesh set his face like flint, overlooked, rejected, unseen, so small in face of Rome, Religion, and Evil.

Like flint—for us. To the cross, to victory. Descended, to be higher. And my quivering little steps and questions are in his heart, and his heart is mine. The persecutions of ISIS, the international horrors, the hurricanes, the injustices of broken systems in schools and courts, hearts and souls and bodies broken by the abuse of Evil. But we are in this Son of Man, Son of God before the throne. Even now, his same flint courage of trust in the Father, trust in the Most High God, is mine. Not for me, not by me, but in his name, his character, his life, in union, my frail little physicality steps up. Strength. Flint. He has won. He has. I trust.

Our God is higher.

Who can stand against us in him?  

*In what specific circumstance is the Lord filling you with courage that he is higher? 
*Celebrate his triumph and victory for you today!