Isaiah 45:23
By myself I have sworn,
my mouth has uttered in all integrity
a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow;
by me every tongue will swear. (NIV)
Today’s Reading: Isaiah 45:1-25 and Philippians 2:5-11
In, Isaiah 45 God is giving Isaiah a message to Cyrus, the King of Persia. Despite being a pagan ruler of a Gentile nation, God is anointing Cyrus to do God’s work. God calls Cyrus by name even though Cyrus does not acknowledge Yahweh as God (vs. 4). God’s plan for Cyrus is that he will restore Israel from exile and God’s purpose for this is so that “from the rising of the sun to the place of its setting people may know there is none besides me” (vs 6).
There is a consistent theme that God drives home in this chapter – there is none greater than the Lord Almighty. God formed the light and created the darkness (vs. 7). God brings prosperity and creates disaster (vs 7). God is the Maker of all things and the created are not to quarrel or question His actions (vs 8-12). He is the Lord Almighty (vs 13). He has revealed Himself to Israel and His word always comes true (vs. 18-21). “And there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me” (vs 21).
Now that God has established that He alone is the Almighty God and His word is true, He gives an instruction and a prophecy. The instruction is for all the earth to come to Him so that we can be saved. The prophecy is that regardless of your decision to come to Him or not, one day you will acknowledge that He is God Almighty and bow before Him.
“‘Turn to me and be saved,
all you ends of the earth;
for I am God, and there is no other.
By myself I have sworn,
my mouth has uttered in all integrity
a word that will not be revoked:
Before me every knee will bow;
by me every tongue will swear.
They will say of me, “In the Lord alone
are deliverance and strength.”‘
All who have raged against him
will come to him and be put to shame.
But all the descendants of Israel
will find deliverance in the Lord
and will make their boast in him” (vs 22-25).
Whereas Cyrus did not know and acknowledge God as the Almighty God, Jesus did. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul tells us the mindset of Jesus. Jesus not only knew the Almighty God but his very nature is God and he is equal with God. Possessing all the power that was used to create the heavens and earth, Jesus made himself nothing and took on the nature of a servant. He humbled himself by becoming obedient to his creation – even death – and died for us on a pagan cross (Phil 2:5-8).
If it is not shocking enough that Jesus is equal with God, Paul drives the message home in the next sentence:
“Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:9-11).
Paul is telling us to look back at Isaiah 45. Remember who God says he is? He is the Almighty God that has no equal. He is the Maker of heaven and earth. There is none like Him. Paul says Jesus is Him! Jesus is that same Almighty God. When all is said and done, one day you will acknowledge that Jesus is God Almighty and bow before him. Jesus is not just a great prophet or anointed teacher. He is the Lord, King of Kings, Yahweh himself.
John saw and recorded the moment that all who ever lived will stand before the Almighty God to be judged in Revelation 20:11-15. Regardless of your decision to come to Jesus or not, on that day you will acknowledge that Jesus is God Almighty and bow before Him. It will be better for you to bow to him today rather than wait for that day. For those that confess that Jesus is Lord today, they will receive the Lord’s inheritance and become children of the Almighty God (Rev 21:7).
Christ in the Old Testament 
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