•Isaiah 52:13-53:12
•This Glorious Redemption
13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely;
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
14 As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
15 so shall he sprinkle many nations.
Kings shall shut their mouths because of him,
for that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.
(Isaiah 52:13-15, ESV)
1 Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
(Isaiah 53:1-3, ESV)
4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
(Isaiah 53:4-6, ESV)
7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.
(Isaiah 53:7-9, ESV)
10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
(Isaiah 53:10-12, ESV)
•Main Point
• These verses describe the way in which God was going to redeem His people
• They are sheep gone astray
• The Servant will die on their behalf
• He will make satisfaction for their failures
• Through His faithful obedience, through His death for sinners, He will become exalted above all others, bringing many back to God
Application Points
• This Glorious Redemption
• We have seen how God would redeem His people returning them to their homeland
• Yet their relationship with God is the real problem
• This is a problem for every human being
• Isaiah has shown us today that this is the case with humanity
• When we live our lives going our own way…we find ourselves getting further from the source of all good things
• How can we hope to find what is good when we commit so much evil?
• If we say we are good…we know God is capable of probing not only our actions but our deepest parts
Application Points
• This Glorious Redemption (2)
• “We need to tell people they are good!”
• We must not neglect that we are sinners
• We must see ourselves for who we are in our helpless state
• The Apostle Paul makes these arguments in the first three chapters of Romans
• He sums it all up by stating the following….
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”
(Romans 1:28-32, ESV)
“9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have
already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
(Romans 3:9-18, ESV)
Application Points
• This Glorious Redemption(3)
• All of us must shut our mouths before the holy and righteous Lord of all
• All we can do is join Isaiah before the throne of God, falling on our knees…”Woe is me, I am undone!”
• This is the state of humanity
• Our relationships with God, each other, nature, and ourselves…broken
Application Points
• This Glorious Redemption (4)
• As husbands who fail to love their wives as Christ loves the Church (Eph. 5:25, Colossians 3:19)
• As wives who fail to submit and respect their husbands (Eph. 5:22, Col 3:18)
• As parents who exasperate their children (Eph. 6:4, Col. 3:21)
• As children who disobey and dishonor their parents (Eph. 6:1, Col. 3:20)
• By failing to love God with all of our hearts, minds, souls, and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matt. 22:34-40, Mark 12:28-34, Luke 10:27-28)
Application Points
• This Glorious Redemption (5)
• What more can we say in response to our own guilt?
• Shall any of us dare to stand before the incorruptible One?
• Shall any one of us stand with our fist clenched before the Awesome Lord of all?
• Despite absurdity of it, we have all done it, and we still do it
• We are like those who, instead of trembling before the might of God, have turned aside from Him
• How can any of us be spared?
• Can any of us read about the ancients and their faithlessness and think we do or have done better?
• We have not, we do not
Application Points
• This Glorious Redemption (6)
• Behold yourself, behold your sin, behold your destruction
• Your destruction comes from a righteous and holy God whose decrees and whose judgments, are just, and right, and good…all of which you have broken
• He comes against all who break them
• It is good for God to judge us, He can do no other against such a wicked people
• We are the unholy people God sets His majestic gaze upon and sees us in all our stains
Application Points
• This Glorious Redemption (7)
• Have we been brought low enough?
• Do you sense the judgment coming?
• Do you sense the darkness from within and without and find no rest and no peace and no hope?
• For the one in whom we are to find our hope brings our judgment
• The One who can give us rest comes to rouse us to battle
• The One ho can give us peace comes with a sword
Application Points
• This Glorious Redemption (8)
• This is what Isaiah has declared to us over and over again…yet
• God has promised to do something
• The servant will be obedient and faithful
• He will follow the destiny, even thought hat destiny leads to death
• This Servant, will carry our sins, our griefs, our sorrows, upon His shoulders
• God has promised through this servant…we would be healed
• This Servant has come
• His name is Jesus of Nazareth, who is the Christ
• He is the Holy Arm of God revealed against sin and destruction
“21 For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. 23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
(II Peter 2:21-25, ESV)
18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
(Romans 5:18-21, ESV)
My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
(I John 2:1-6, ESV)
Application Points
• This Glorious Redemption (9)
•In all these ways we see how the Apostles all understood Jesus to have accomplished what Isaiah proclaims
• This is grand news
• If Jesus is truly the Servant who has suffered, then we must take Him seriously in what He has taught us about God, about ourselves, and the commandments He has given
• What Christ does is even more grand
• He not only takes away our iniquities and declares us righteous, but through Him we are able to follow God and live changed lives for God’s glory
Application Points
• This Glorious Redemption (10)
• If we should struggle with sin…we glorify our God who has given us His Servant who bears our griefs and sorrows
• We are never alone
• This is the case with Jesus Himself
• Though He suffered, He is exalted
• It will be no less for those who are in Christ, who trust in his accomplishments, and seek to follow Him in this life
• A complete atonement and redemption which is fully sufficient for who we are, where we are, and what we are
• The Servant who takes away our sins, and through whom God’s justice is satisfied through Him
• This Servant of God, Jesus Christ, is our Redeemer revealed, bringing about this glorious redemption
Application Points
• The Gospel of Christ
• Origins
• Fall
• Redemption
• Glorification
