Triumph Over Trials Sermon V: Suffering By God's Servant For Our Redemption Series

SUFFERING BY GOD’S SERVANT FOR OUR REDEMPTION - PROPHESIED AND EXPLAINED

In the classic, “Alice in Wonderland”, the king says to the rabbit, “Begin at the beginning, and go on until you come to the end, then stop.”

In our quest for answers to questions about suffering, we haven’t gotten to the end yet, so we won’t stop - but suppose we take the king’s advice and begin at the beginning.

“In the beginning God” . . . created mankind for fellowship with Himself and with each other, but, sin caused expulsion of the first human beings from Paradise, with the consequence of separation from God’s Presence - spiritual death.

Because of sin’s consequence, God’s work of atonement became operative in human history so that the perfect fellowship broken by sin could be restored, and, Paradise regained.

Central in the teaching of the Scriptures is the fundamental doctrine of atonement – which literally means what it says: at-one-ment – the basic idea being to make two as one . . . bring together two persons at odds . . . reconcile differences . . . remove a barrier of separation . . . regain something precious that has been lost . . . restore a broken relationship.

God’s love would not allow the relationship to remain broken. So, even before creation, due to His foreknowledge, God had planned a way for mankind to be saved from the inevitable consequence of sin.

However, since God is righteous, He could not just ignore sin and continue to be righteous. How then could this breach in fellowship be bridged?

As much as the first human beings might have wanted to, nothing they could do would be possible to heal the breach. With God all things are possible! Even so . . . the problem was: how could God remain just (righteous) and be the justifier (the One forgiving sin and imparting righteousness to the one forgiven).

Since the wages of sin is spiritual death – eternal separation from God and the suffering that would go along with it – only by the suffering and death of a go-between (redeemer) could the debt of a sinner be paid and the breach in fellowship healed!

The sufferer (the one paying the debt for the sins of the guilty) must be, in accordance with Jewish legal precedent, sinless. Thus, the verdict of the Triune God was that God Himself would pay the price! Hence the Incarnation of God in Jesus (John 1:14)! Now hear this:

Many centuries prior to His coming as the God-man Christ Jesus . . . the Savior of all who repent and receive God’s forgiveness . . . the Redeemer of sinners who needed a go-between to pay their debt and set them free --- Job, in a moment of enlightenment, after suffering multiple losses, saw the light at the end of the tunnel and declared with prophetic certainty: “I know that my redeemer lives, and that . . . he will stand upon the earth.”

Fast forward 5 centuries after Job’s declaration but 5 centuries before the Incarnation: Suffering by God’s servant for our redemption was prophesied and explained by Isaiah - in one of his four poems – Isaiah 53:2-12 . . .

Recall for a moment Philip’s encounter with an Ethiopian who was sitting in his chariot reading this very Scripture from a copy of the Scroll of Isaiah. When asked, who IS this sufferer about whom the prophet is speaking, “Philip preached unto him JESUS” (Acts 8:27)!

Jesus willingly offered Himself as a substitutionary atonement for repentant sinners - for our sins . . . our suffering . . . the sake of our salvation! Jesus did so by fulfilling His Messianic role as the Suffering Servant.

Jesus suffered from rejection. It appeared to people he grew up with that he had little potential to amount to anything - not only because of his Nazareth roots but also his unattractiveness. Something about Him was repulsive, so folks did not want to have anything to do with Him. The popular notion was: A person like this must be getting from God just what he deserves! But no, not at all, Isaiah explained:

Surely! A transitional word in this poem, “surely” sets the stage for a new way of thinking about this despised person whose presence was shunned - and thoughts of whom were dismissed.

Surely! When folks realize Who He is and why He came, the perception of Jesus will change drastically because their eyes will be opened and they will see: All that the Servant endured was not because of His own sins but because of the sins of others!

Surely! Mature folks will see that the infirmities, sicknesses, diseases, pains, sorrows, sufferings and burdens which Jesus picked up of His own free will - and carried to the Cross - were ours!