A Brief Meditation for the Month

June 2019

Some of the sweetest words for mortal ears to hear are found in the book of Isaiah the prophet. God said to his people of old, “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine,” Isaiah 43:1. How striking are the words, “thou art mine.” The great God of eternity is here testifying to his ownership. He is speaking as both creator and redeemer. He owns because he has created, formed, redeemed, and called, in order to own. However, God does not just own, but he wants those who are thus owned, to be aware of the fact. Therefore, he says, “Fear not:…thou art mine.” God knows when his poor people are often afraid as they journey through their earthly pilgrimage, and his way of encouraging them is to remind them that they belong to him. He has created them, giving them life and existence, and he has formed them as it has pleased him with their unique, individual traits and personalities. In addition, he has redeemed them; purchased them when enslaved in their sins and delivered them from the curse and condemnation of a broken law. Through the operation of the blessed holy Spirit, he has called them to himself, not just through the outward call of the gospel, but through the effectual inward call, to which they have been made willing to respond. Yes, he has taken wretched, guilty, undone and unworthy sinners, who have rebelled against him as their creator and Lord, and brought them to himself.

When such a merciful God says to a redeemed sinner, “thou art mine,” we must appreciate the wonder in the words. If these words apply to you my dear friend, consider the great price that was paid for it to be so. The apostle Peter reminds us of the facts. He wrote, “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold,…but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,” 1Peter 1:18–19. We are all familiar with the saying, “talk is cheap,” but these three words, “thou art mine,” are not cheap talk. They are exceedingly far from it. When the blessed Saviour, the Son of God in our nature, says to a poor trembling sinner, “thou art mine,” he had to first say, as he did in the agony of Gethsemane, “O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done.” Matthew 26:42. Christ Jesus had to submit himself to the punishment for your sins and mine. He said, ever so willingly, “I lay down my life,” John 10:15 & 17. He had no sin of his own to be punished, but he laid down his spotless life in order to atone for the sins of his unworthy people. Listen to his words from the cross, “I thirst,” John 19:28. Again, he cried with a loud voice, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34. Not until he could triumphantly cry out, “It is finished,” John 19:30, could he say to any sinner, “thou art mine.” When the solemn work of atonement was completed, and sin was punished upon him as our substitute, the Saviour could then look with divine delight upon those for whom he suffered and say, “thou art mine.”

What an incomprehensible privilege it is to belong to one with such amazing love in his heart! When God says, “thou art mine,” it is infallibly true. It is immutably true for all eternity. When the Lord Jesus Christ speaks tenderly to you, for whom he suffered and died, saying, “thou are mine,” it is to remind you, that you belong entirely to him, and that he has taken full responsibility for you. Because you belong to him, he cares for you and he will never lose you.

G. G. Hutton.