Submission as His Servants
Isaiah’s servant songs (chs. 41-54) along with the gospel of John have stood throughout my life as consistent sources of inspiration, orientation and re-orientation. These poems describe and prophesy the way of Yahweh’s servant. The servant’s profile that develops throughout finds fulfillment in Isaiah’s ministry, Israel as God’s people, righteous ones, and especially the Messiah.
Submission in the kingdom of God stands for more than a servant’s compliance to his master’s commands. Submission means being owned together as a family by the Redeemer (i.e. redemptive family)—and blessing others. Human ownership of other humans de-humanizes and brings destruction. The Creator owning His image bearers brings freedom and fulfillment.
The Hebrew word for “redeemer” reflects the concept of kinsman redeemer. A kinsman redeemer’s role in the Old Testament was to help the family (i.e. tribe) recover its losses of various kinds: human, judicial, economic, property, and with Yahweh’s help, national and spiritual losses (The IVP Bible Background Commentary, OT, 279).
One way that our individualistic culture stunts our imagination involves our understanding and application of redemption. We view through a personal lens things like property, rights, finances, salvation, and spiritual growth. Just consider the different feel for us of saying redemptive family property instead of “personal” property (also redemptive family vs. “personal” rights, finances, salvation, and spiritual growth). Yet this reflects the heart of the good news from the beginning through the Servant Songs and the New Testament—we are not our own but bought with a price (1 Corinthians 6:19–20). God’s ownership of our lives means that we can live as redemptive family.
As we care for others, let’s remember how stewardship of our own servanthood involves right belonging to our Master (Creator and Father) and His redemptive family.