Incomparable

“This is what the Lord says—
    Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord Almighty:
I am the first and I am the last;
    apart from me there is no God.
⁷ Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it.
    Let him declare and lay out before me
what has happened since I established my ancient people,
    and what is yet to come—
    yes, let them foretell what will come.
⁸ Do not tremble, do not be afraid.
    Did I not proclaim this and foretell it long ago?
You are my witnesses. Is there any God besides me?
    No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.”

⁹ All who make idols are nothing,
    and the things they treasure are worthless.
Those who would speak up for them are blind;
    they are ignorant, to their own shame.
¹⁰ Who shapes a god and casts an idol,
    which can profit nothing?
¹¹ People who do that will be put to shame;
    such craftsmen are only human beings.
Let them all come together and take their stand;
    they will be brought down to terror and shame. (Isaiah 44:6-11 NIV)

Just after the words of our lesson, the prophet Isaiah tells a little story. A man goes into the woods and cuts down a tree. Maybe a cedar or a cypress or an oak or a pine. He cuts up the tree, and here’s what he does with it: “Some of it he takes and warms himself, he kindles a fire and bakes bread. But he also fashions a god and worships it; he makes an idol and bows down to it” (Isaiah 44:15). Do you understand what’s happening? “Half of the wood he burns in the fire;… From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships” (Isaiah 44:16-17).

Does this make sense? Does it make sense to cut down a tree, use half the wood for firewood, then make the other half into an idol and worship it? No! Isaiah writes, “No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, ‘Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals…. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?” (Isaiah 44:19). Can someone make his own god? No way! Idolatry is incredibly foolish.

So why do we do that? No, we don’t, do we? We don’t have idols today, do we? Well, people still go into the forest. They cut down trees. Then, instead of carving the wood into an idol, we make it into little pieces of paper that get printed with 10s and 20s and 100s, and what do we do? Worship it. Live for it. What am I talking about? Money. Or we kill a pig or a cow and take its leather hide and form it into a round ball. Then people try to kick it into a goal. But you can’t use your hands, and people hardly ever actually make goals. And we worship it. We live for it. What am I talking about? Soccer. Do you realize that the biggest event in the world is happening this afternoon? Up to 1.5 billion people are expected to watch the World Cup championship game.

We’re so used to all this that it seems perfectly normal, doesn’t it? If we were to go back in time to those idol-worshipers, we would say, “This is stupid. Why are you doing this?” They would say, “What do you mean? Everybody does this.” If those idol-worshipers were to come to our society and see how we live, they would say, “Why are you doing this?” We would say, “What do you mean? Everybody does this.” Every culture is blind to its idols. Imagine if aliens were to come to Tulsa and look at our city. What would seem to be most important to us? The tallest skyscrapers are almost all banks. The most impressive buildings are sports stadiums. And the other thing they would really notice are all the highways for our cars. What do we worship?

God knows. There is nothing more important to God than our hearts. “This is what the LORD says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty; I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.” Huh. According to the LORD, how many gods are there? One. Who comes in second place? Nobody. There is no second place. Why? God is incomparable. There is no one, nothing, like him. “I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.”

We learn a lot about God from his names. God is “Israel’s King.” Israel refers to the people of God. In the Old Testament, who were the people of God? The Israelites. Now that Jesus has come, who are the people of God? Christians. So who is our King? God. God rules all things. Do you believe that? God wants you to. God controls all that happens. Do you trust that? God wants you to. God has your life in his hands. Do you rest in that? God wants you to. God is our King!

And our Redeemer. This is a precious word in the Bible. Do you have a definition in your mind for “redeem”? To “redeem” means to “buy back.” Like buying back someone from slavery or buying someone out of debt. What has God redeemed us from—bought us back from? Sin, death, and the devil. How? Not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood, and with his innocent suffering and death. Who else has done that for you? Just our incomparable God.

He is the LORD Almighty. That is a great combination. The name “LORD” with all capital letters is the special name for God in the Old Testament. The LORD is the “compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Exodus 34:6). Doesn’t that sound great? And he’s Almighty. God is compassionate and gracious, and he has the power to do absolutely everything. Our God is “Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty.”

Here’s what he asks us today, “Who then is like me?” What’s the answer? No one! What we should really say is, “God, you are incomparable.” God highlights one more special thing about himself, “Who then is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and lay out before me what has happened since I established my ancient people, and what is yet to come—yes, let them foretell what will come.” God highlights his Word. Who has recorded for us all that has happened in the past? God. Who has prophesied what will happen to us in the future? God.

He asks us again, “Is there any God besides me?” What’s the answer? “No, there is no other Rock; I know not one.” The Bible is not ashamed to teach monotheism. Have you heard that big word before? Monotheism is the belief that there’s only one true God. Is that true? Yes! Could you or I go into the woods and cut down a tree and make an idol comparable to God? No! Could you or I use ChatGPT to create a god as good as our God? No! God is incomparable.

So why do we always look for something else? For something more? In our Sunday Bible study, we’re studying the book of Judges in the Old Testament. In the book of Judges, God’s people would trust in him for a while, but then they would see what all the unbelieving people around them were doing. So what would they do? Join them. Worship idols. The whole Bible is the story of how we human beings keep turning away from God. Not just once. Over and over again.

In the Bible, it’s called paganism. The other cultures around ancient Israel were pagan. They believed in lots of gods: Baal, Asherah, a bunch of others. Their worship involved sexual immorality and the worship of the stars. What other culture is like that? What other culture says there are lots of different ways to “god”? What other culture praises sexual immorality? What other culture looks to nature or science or the stars to find meaning? What other culture is like that? Ours, isn’t it? Paganism isn’t an ancient thing. It is alive and well in America.

So we’ve got to hear what the Bible says: “All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless.” If you or I follow idols, what are we? Nothing. If we create a god or gods of our own choosing, what are we? Nothing. And the things we treasure are worthless. If you win the World Cup, but don’t have Christ, that’s worthless. If you own the biggest skyscrapers, but don’t have Christ, that’s worthless. If you have the most friends, but don’t have Christ, that’s worthless. “All who make idols are nothing, and the things they treasure are worthless.” What would God look at in your life and say, “Worthless. Worthless. Worthless.”

“People who do that will be put to shame…. Let them all come together and take their stand; they will be brought down to terror and shame.” What is the end result of not believing in the one and only God? “Terror and shame.” If my heart is set on my personal success, what will that result in? “Terror and shame.” If you pour all your energy into sports or music, even if you become the best in the world, what will that result in? “Terror and shame.” If we decide to go along with what everybody else is going, “Terror and shame.” Because God is incomparable.

Jesus told a parable about this (see Matthew 13:24-43). He compared the world to a field in which he sowed good seed. But someone else came and sowed bad seed. Who was that? The devil! So crops and weeds grew together in the field. Someone asked whether the weeds should be pulled out. Jesus said, “No, you might hurt the good crops.” What’s Jesus telling us to expect? Expect believers and unbelievers to live all mixed together on earth. Don’t ever think that everyone is going to become a Christian. On the flip side, don’t ever think that everyone is going to turn away from Christ. As long as the earth endures, there will be wheat and weeds on earth.

Until when? Harvest time. The wheat will be gathered in, and the weeds will be burned. What day is that talking about? Judgment Day. I was at the Bixby Tag Agency this week. On the wall were a bunch of random license plates. One had a sticker on it that said, “Do you know where you’re going on Judgment Day? Heaven or South Memorial Drive.” Except hell is worse. Hell is way worse than driving on South Memorial Drive. Who your God is impacts your eternity.

Because here’s the greatest difference between God and idols: God’s grace. If I were telling that parable about the weeds and the wheat, do you know what I would have said about the weeds? “Get rid of them right now!” But not Jesus. “The Lord … is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). Instead of punishing us for our sins, Jesus died in our place. Instead of giving us what we deserve, Jesus suffered death and hell for us. Who then is like Jesus? No one. Is there any God besides Jesus? No. He’s incomparable.

Here are two ways to look for this in your life. First, trusting in idols is tiring. Remember how we started with the guy cutting down a tree and shaping it into an idol? How did he feel when he was done? Tired. It is exhausting to build your own god. “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:31). Trusting in idols is tiring. Trusting in the Lord gives your heart hope.

Here’s one more: Idols are always taking. Look at your life from time to time. What is it that’s always taking? A sport? Work? An expensive hobby? A relationship? Chances are one of those things is your idol. Idols are always taking. Our incomparable God? He gives. Forgiveness? It’s a gift through Jesus’ death on the cross. Eternal life? It’s a gift through faith in Jesus. Peace? It’s a gift to those who trust in him. Do you see the difference? Idols take. The one true God gives.

There is no god like our God. In a world full of idolatry, “do not tremble, do not be afraid.”Your God is the King, the Redeemer, the Almighty LORD! You are witnesses of God’s grace to a tired, empty world. Is there any God besides him? No, there is no other Rock; I know not one. Can you say that with me? “There is no other Rock; I know not one.” Our God is incomparable.

(To listen to this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior podcast, please click HERE. To watch this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior YouTube channel, please click on the link below.)