OUR FATHER WHO PLANNED TO SAVE THE GENTILES ALL ALONG

The book of Isaiah chapter 49 verse 5 says this;

And now the Lord says—he who formed me in the womb to be his servant to bring Jacob back to him and gather Israel to himself, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord and my God has been my strength—

This incredible verse captures the Lord Jesus about to speak of something that His Father said to Him. He prefaces what His Father said by summarizing the context in which the Father said these things to His Son.

He lists the items that reveal His own status prior to His Father speaking;

• His father formed Him in the womb
• His Father made Him a servant
• His role was to return Jacob to the Father
• He was to gather Israel to the Father

Jesus said that He was assigned these tasks because He was honored before the Lord and that in undertaking these tasks, God had given Him the strength to do so.

It is then in verse 6 that the Lord Jesus reveals the astonishing thing that His Father said to Him;

he says: “It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept.

I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

This statement by the Father increased the revealed scope of the Lord Jesus' mission to include the gathering of the elect from among all the gentiles on the earth.

Amen.

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