Look

APRIL 2, 2024

 “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.” (Isa. 45:22)

Men and women of every nation, race, kindred, and tongue throughout history have been looking in vain to their various idols in search of the answer to their soul’s great need. They have looked to their philosophies, theories, false religions, organizations, etc., but in vain do they search out the devices of human wisdom and invention. We are all creatures of God, and as His offspring, we must look to the God of all families of the earth for that which He alone can provide. The great void that is felt by all men universally can only be filled by obeying the voice in our text. God says to all, regardless of nationality, culture, skin color, or class, “Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth.”Unless persuaded otherwise, all men everywhere will instinctively do a horizontal, rather than a vertical search. They will look all around, and even within, but not until the Lord calls out, “Look unto Me!” will they think to look up. They are like the man in Mr. Interpreter’s house, whose eyes were fixed on the ground around him where he was raking together straw and dust, and who would not look up to him who was offering him a celestial crown. Look up! Look up! This is the command.

How happy we ought to be that God’s command to look and live is proclaimed to all nations of the earth. Through the preaching of the Gospel God is calling out in every language known to man, “Look unto me, and be ye saved!” Today, whoever you are, wherever you are “if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart.” The Divine instruction could not be simpler, nor could it require less effort:“Look.” The result could not be more glorious: “Be ye saved.” If you were to ask some religious folks how to be saved, they would need a week to tell you all you must do. But the Holy Spirit uses only one word of four letters: “LOOK!”

The instruction is simple for sure, but what means this word “look” in reference to God? It includes many things; as for instance, it admits the reality of His person. The invisible God becomes as real as that which you see with your eyes. To look unto God is to acknowledge Him as a Divine Person who sees you and knows your need. It is to address yourself to Him in prayer with confidence that from Him alone can salvation come, and to regard Him as the only possible Savior. “There is none else,” says our great God and Savior. Jonah confessed that “Salvation is of the Lord,” (Jonah 3:9) and the Lord’s Apostle concurs: “For neither is there salvation in any other.” (Acts 4:12a) The “look” which God invites anticipates that He will grant the blessing asked for. Once more, it is not a glance, but rather a steady continuous look. This is the look of faith, and there is but one object unto which it looks, and that, with a fixed gaze, for “there is none other name under heaven whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12b)

God, who says to lost sinners “Look unto Me,” also provides us with every incentive to do so. First, of all, He (God) commands us to look. This means that we (even sinners that we are) may look to God, and what’s more, we can rest assured that what He demands of us He will enable us to do. Second, we are encouraged to look unto God because of the sure and wonderful promise He makes. “Look unto me, and be ye saved!” He will never go back on His Word. Notice a third powerful motivation for taking heed to the appeal is that He declares His Godhead. “For I am God.” All things are possible to Him. The sinner’s condition is desperate, but God’s mercy is equal to our salvation. We were all dead in sins, children of disobedience, and were by nature children of wrath, “But God, who is rich in mercy… even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ.” In the latter part of Verse 21 just before our text, God describes Himself as being “a just God and a Saviour.” This is His very character! He is both just and a justifier of sinners.

Finally, that which makes this invitation so encouraging is the length and breadth of it. “All the ends of the earth.” Each seeking soul may be sure that the invitation is for him. None are excluded, except those who exclude themselves. The text is in the present tense: “Look unto me.” The promise is in the same present tense: “and be ye saved.” In the moment that one looks the effect is immediate. The present time is yours, no other time is yours to use. “Today is the day of salvation; now is the accepted time.” Why should you not at once be saved? Just obey this one command, LOOK! LOOK!