God Swore – No More Anger

Isaiah 54:9 [MSG] “This exile is just like the days of Noah for me: I promised then that the waters of Noah would never again flood the earth.

I’m promising now no more anger

, no more dressing you down. For even if the mountains walk away and the hills fall to pieces,

My love won’t walk away from you

,

my covenant commitment of peace won’t fall apart

.” The God who has compassion on you says so.

An Australian comedian, Natalie Tran, recently made a funny video on youtube called, “Don’t get angry”. Playing the different characters herself in the video, a friend says to her, ‘Hey Nat, I have to tell you something but you have to promise me, you won’t get angry?’ To which Nat replies sarcastically, ‘Yeah, sure…I promise I’ll get angry…’I can’t help but laugh because of the truth in the last statement and then also smile at the truth that really, the only One who can truly promise not to get angry no matter what we say or do is God! And He HAS promised!

The Bible declares it is impossible for God to lie and that His Word is truth. (Hebrews 6:18, John 17:17) But like Nat’s friend, God knew we would need reassurance. So instead of simply saying, ‘I won’t get angry’, God actually swore – He took an oath - He made an EVERLASTING promise to us that because of Jesus He will NEVER again be angry with us. God says, ‘I have sworn’… Isaiah 54:9 [CEV] I once promised Noah that I would never again destroy the earth by a flood.

Now I have promised that I will never again get angry and punish you.

Isaiah 54:9 [NASB] “For this is like the days of Noah to Me, when I swore that the waters of Noah would not flood the earth again;

So I HAVE SWORN that I will not be angry with you

nor will I rebuke you.

The most beautiful thing about this promise is that it hasn’t been made out God’s mercy or pity for us, but it is based on His unshakeable righteousness and justice. (Romans 3:26) In Isaiah 53 before Isaiah 54 where God makes these promises, the reasons why this can be so, are outlined in the work of His Son, Jesus Christ on the Cross. Isaiah 53: 3-12 [MSG] He [Jesus] was looked down on and passed over, a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand…the fact is, it was our pains

He carried

– our disfigurements,

all the things wrong with us.

We thought He brought it on Himself, that God was punishing Him for His own failures. But

it was our sins

that did that to Him, that ripped and tore and crushed Him – our sins!

He took the punishment, and that made us whole. Through His bruises we get healed

... We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.

And God has piled ALL OUR SINS, EVERYTHING we’ve done wrong on Him, on Him. 

He was beaten, He was tortured, but He didn’t say a word. Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered and like a sheep being sheared, He took it all in

silence

. Justice miscarried, and He was led off – and did anyone really know what was happening? He died without a thought for His own welfare,

beaten bloody for the sins of my people.

They buried Him with the wicked, threw Him in a grave with a rich man, even though He’d never hurt a soul or said one word that wasn’t true. Still, it’s what God had in mind all along, to crush Him with pain. The plan was that He give Himself as an

offering for sin

so that He’d see life come from it – life, life, and more life. And God’s plan will deeply prosper through Him. Through what He experienced, my righteous One, my Servant, will make many ‘righteous ones’,

as He Himself carries the burden of their sins….He took on His own shoulders the sin of many

, He took up the cause of all the black sheep. To punish sin in Jesus’ body and today also punish us for any sin would be a violation of God’s justice and holiness, and He is a just God. (Romans 3:24-26) God has sworn - He has taken an eternal oath, He has promised to us based on the perfect removal of all our past, present and future sins through Jesus Christ – that no matter what we do, say or think, He will never be angry with us. (Isaiah 54:9)  All anger towards sin was exhausted in our substitute, Jesus Christ on the Cross. No present or past sin can be seen on us now when we approach and spend time with God. Jesus’ righteousness now clothes us forever. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

God wants you to have the absolute assurance in His love for you that He will never be angry with you and only ever show you kindness.  Amen.