God’s questions to Isaiah at the end of his vision show us that He longs to work in partnership with people: ‘Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?’ (Is 6:8) God does not need to work with people; His work of creation shows us that. (Ps 33:9) But the truth is that He chooses to invite us into partnership with Him. Atonement is made for Isaiah (Is 6:7) and has been made for us through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross (2 Cor 5:21); the impossible and impassable chasm between the holiness of God and the sinfulness of mankind has been bridged. Because of this, we are invited to join in God’s mission to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:18-20) and to pray for labourers to go into the harvest fields (Matt 9:37-38).
It’s a terrifying thought that God has no Plan B, other than seeking to continue the mission of Jesus through His church by the power of the Holy Spirit. We are His answer; we are the means by which He seeks to pass on the message of salvation. There is no greater question than ‘who will go for us?’ May we, like Isaiah, be so filled with a vision of God that our response is the same as his: ‘Here am I. Send me.’
