When I was in middle school, I had an aquarium full of tropical fish. One of my favorite types of fish was the orange swordtail. The difficult part of adoring these particular creatures is that their young are born live, and the adult fish eat them. In order to protect the precious little baby fish, I would have to separate the fry in a rectangular net on one corner of the tank. Catching the tiny, agile babies is not easy.
The fact is that I had to get personally involved in the protection of the new swordtails. When one of the females was pregnant, I knew I had to get off the school bus quickly and run into the house to check on the situation each afternoon. I certainly could not design an eye-catching poster to hold up in front of the aquarium that warned, “Swim behind the castle little fish . . . swim!” Fish cannot read. It was pointless to kneel down in front of the tank and yell loudly, “Hide behind the plant . . . hurry!” Fish cannot hear us. The only way to help the swordtail babies was for me to roll up my sleeve and dip my arm into the sometimes algae-ridden water full of slimy fish and all their waste. Yes, if I was to save the fry, I had to invade their world.
Similarly, God crashed into our world to save us. When we were overcome by our sin and had no way to escape the curse, our God entered this space/time continuum. We are helpless without His personal intervention. He rolled up His sleeves, and entered a world of pain, sorrow, and mess to rescue us by His own hand. He put on human flesh and endured all the discomfort and longing earthly life brings. Then – in one particular season of time – He suffered more spiritual, emotional, and physical pain than we could ever imagine, as He willingly took on the sin of the world at the Cross. With His own body – with His own being – He saved us.
The great prophet Isaiah asked, “Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” (Isaiah 53:1, NASB) What poignant words! What critical consideration! All of life boils down to this . . . do we believe the message of the God who revealed His own arm in the mission of saving us? This question is paramount, for its answer differentiates biblical Christianity from all other religions and worldviews. Whereas the various religions of the world involve the work of humans to one degree or another in their salvation, true Christianity says that God saves – and the rolling up of our own sleeves is useless. His holy, strong arm is the one that redeems us from the pit of sin and hopelessness.
I can see the devil and the powers of Hell shaking in their boots as God Almighty begins to roll up His sleeve! Jesus, the God-Man, comes to redeem His people! As the tiny swordtails were placed safely in the net by my own hand, so we are drawn out of the kingdom of darkness and placed safely in the kingdom of God by God’s own hand.
The question is, “Do you believe this message?” The Hebrew word for believe in Isaiah 53:1 is the root from which we get the widely used term, “Amen.” Belief means that we truly agree. We stake our very life on it. We hear the message and we say, “So be it!” It is right! The arm of our strong and gracious Jesus has been revealed! When He rolls up His sleeve, I am safe!