Apart From Me There Is No Other

Have you ever been singing in worship a song like My Jesus, I love thee and wondered if it was "ok" to sing a song directly to Jesus? Right now I am reading through the book of Isaiah and recently ran across Isaiah 43:11. The text states, “I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.” Isaiah then goes on to show that there is none like God, calling him Israel’s king, redeemer, and Lord. Later in 44:8 Isaiah says, “There is no other rock.” Clearly God stands alone, as there is no other like him. In Acts 4:11-12, Peter speaking of Jesus calls him “the stone builders rejected, which has become the capstone” and then concludes with “salvation is found in no one else.” No wonder the Jews wanted to kill Jesus. Christ claimed in his ministry to be Israel’s only salvation, king, redeemer, Lord, and the rock.

A few years ago, a friend of mine went to visit a Jewish synagogue. While there, he talked with a rabbi who defensively spoke of Christ saying, “It’s not like we think Jesus was evil, he just wasn’t the Messiah. Jesus was a good man, just not God.” My friend in his youth responded bluntly “Then why did you kill him?” These are harsh words that convey a powerful truth. The fact is that if Jesus claimed to be our savior but was only a man, he was not good but rather either crazy or evil. This Jesus actually did deserve death! However, if Jesus is truly God, then the death of Jesus was the greatest human mistake in history. If Jesus is God, then he had a right to speak as he did and accept praise as he did. So, the next time you sing that song My Jesus, I love thee, know that it’s ok to be singing a song of prayer and praise to him. The reality is that JESUS IS LORD, AND THERE IS NO OTHER.