•Isaiah 41:1-20
•The Only Redeemer
1 Listen to me in silence, O coastlands;
let the peoples renew their strength;
let them approach, then let them speak;
let us together draw near for judgment.
2 Who stirred up one from the east
whom victory meets at every step?
He gives up nations before him,
so that he tramples kings underfoot;
he makes them like dust with his sword,
like driven stubble with his bow.
3 He pursues them and passes on safely,
by paths his feet have not trod.
4 Who has performed and done this,
calling the generations from the beginning?
I, the LORD, the first,
and with the last; I am he.
5 The coastlands have seen and are afraid;
the ends of the earth tremble;
they have drawn near and come.
6 Everyone helps his neighbor
and says to his brother, “Be strong!”
7 The craftsman strengthens the goldsmith,
and he who smooths with the hammer him who strikes the anvil,
saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
and they strengthen it with nails so that it cannot be moved.
(Isaiah 41:1-7 ESV)
8 But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
the offspring of Abraham, my friend;
9 you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
and called from its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are my servant,
I have chosen you and not cast you off”;
10 fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
11 Behold, all who are incensed against you
shall be put to shame and confounded;
those who strive against you
shall be as nothing and shall perish.
12 You shall seek those who contend with you,
but you shall not find them;
those who war against you
shall be as nothing at all.
13 For I, the LORD your God,
hold your right hand;
it is I who say to you, “Fear not,
I am the one who helps you.”
14 Fear not, you worm Jacob,
you men of Israel!
I am the one who helps you, declares the LORD;
your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.
15 Behold, I make of you a threshing sledge,
new, sharp, and having teeth;
you shall thresh the mountains and crush them,
and you shall make the hills like chaff;
16 you shall winnow them, and the wind shall carry them away,
and the tempest shall scatter them.
And you shall rejoice in the LORD;
in the Holy One of Israel you shall glory.
(Isaiah 41:8-16 ESV)
17 When the poor and needy seek water,
and there is none,
and their tongue is parched with thirst,
I the LORD will answer them;
I the God of Israel will not forsake them.
18 I will open rivers on the bare heights,
and fountains in the midst of the valleys.
I will make the wilderness a pool of water,
and the dry land springs of water.
19 I will put in the wilderness the cedar,
the acacia, the myrtle, and the olive.
I will set in the desert the cypress,
the plane and the pine together,
20 that they may see and know,
may consider and understand together,
that the hand of the LORD has done this,
the Holy One of Israel has created it.
(Isaiah 41:17-20, ESV)
Main Point
• These verses describe God’s activity in redeeming His people
• Those who belong to Him will find redemption
• The purpose of this is that God’s people will know Him as their God
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Application Points
•The Only Redeemer
– This text has shown us the reality of God
– If God does not exist, then the worry that comes…is of little concern
– If God does exist then such fear is a very logical thing
– To be holy is to be different, separate, other
– We know God does exist
– The prophetic statement has been delivered and paid in the person of Jesus Christ
– We also acknowledge we live in a world where there is incredible doubt
– We see this all the time with different ideologies, sexuality, or even gender
Application Points
•The Only Redeemer (2)
– Humanity is not so different than the time of Isaiah
– Just as it was for the people in the past…they created gods for themselves…creating a whole reality for themselves
– This is the default position
– Has this been successful?
– Instead, we see an increase of violence and oppression
– The things God promised to save us from are the things which many people seem to want to run into
– They make false claims about reality in the process
– How can we overcome the constant barrage?
– How do we withstand the constant pressure to bend the knee?
Application Points
•The Only Redeemer (3)
– The answer has been mentioned already
– By God we can withstand the subjectivism of our day
– We can know and understand reality because it has been created by this incredible God
– It is not our own strength which his capable of withstanding, but the power of God in us
– He has not only promised this, but has delivered His promise in full through Christ
– Christ is the perfect one
– It leads to life, it leads to redemption, it leads to goodness, it leads to total truth over all of reality
– God has given to the poor and needy that which is necessary for life
– The life He has given through Christ is one which encompasses all things
Application Points
•The Only Redeemer (4)
– We were once in the wilderness
– He has fulfilled His promise to provide for a people like us
– He has become our Redeemer, He has become our Sustainer
– Be encouraged to not fall sway to the darkness of the world
– Turn toward the Light of Christ, and know that all the questions will be given answers, all the hardships will be given meaning, all your life will be given purpose in Him
– There is no other redemption apart from God
– He is our only Redemeer.
•Application Points
•The Gospel of Christ
–Origins
–Where we began
–Fall
–What went wrong
–Redemption
–How it is fixed
–Glorification
–Where it at leads
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