Isaiah's Prophecy Of The Coming Messiah

Now is right around the time of year when I start looking forward, and I start thinking about Halloween, Thanksgiving, and of course Christmas. We center our lives on a 365 day year. And interspersed in that year are various celebrations and holidays that help us ground our lives. As Christmas approaches, I start to think about Jesus, and the mystery of his coming into the world.

I start to think about how Christ changed my life, and how he changed my story. The mystery of Jesus Christ is the mystery of divine personality. The mystery of Jesus Christ is the story of creation itself. It tells us about the lands we live upon, about the Earth we reside on, it tells us about the sky, the stars, and the galaxies. The coming of Jesus Christ is the saga of humanity itself.

Even before I knew Jesus I sought out heroes in my life.

I looked to cinema, to media, and to books. I looked to characters in movies like the Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Star Trek to emulate. I looked to superheroes like Batman and Spiderman to understand what it meant to rise above the 9 to 5. We search for transcendence around us, we search for meaning that rises above our own little lives.

In the pages of the Bible we find the saga of mankind, and an expression of ultimate transcendence. The Bible is the #1 best selling book in human history. The Bible is a historical book, a book of poetry, it includes eye witness accounts, prophecies, letters to churches, and accounts of the creation of all things. The writings in the Bible were written down by people, people who were inspired by the Spirit of God to write down the knowledge and wisdom of God. The writings of the Bible flow together seamlessly, spanning over 3 thousand years. There is no other book like the Bible.

We can trust the Bible. Historians trust the Bible. Archaeologists use the Bible to unearth ancient treasures. Scientists have trusted the Bible all the way back to Galileo and Isaac Newton. The body of Christ trusts the word of God as our unquestionable guide to knowing Christ.

In Bible study we’ve been reading through a book of the Old Testament called Isaiah. Isaiah is a book that seems to bridge the gap between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Isaiah’s revelation time and again points to the future coming of Jesus into the world.

Listen to this scripture from Isaiah chapter 53 verses 1-6:

"Who has believed our message?

To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?

My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,

like a root in dry ground.

There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,

nothing to attract us to him.

He was despised and rejected—

a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.

We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.

He was despised, and we did not care.

Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;

it was our sorrows that weighed him down.

And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,

a punishment for his own sins!

But he was pierced for our rebellion,

crushed for our sins.

He was beaten so we could be whole.

He was whipped so we could be healed.

All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.

We have left God’s paths to follow our own.

Yet the Lord laid on him

the sins of us all."

Do you believe this? Do you believe the message of the gospel is for you? Do you have a personal intimate relationship with our Lord and King Jesus Christ?

Each of us will see Jesus face to face. We could reach out and touch his hand. Jesus is alive right now. Jesus is alive right now. He is seated on his throne, ruling and reigning in heaven. He is also here with us right now. And he knows your name.

He knows my name. Yet he has given me a new name, and put my name in the Book of Life. Is your name in the book of life?

Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian anymore than being in the garage would make you a 72 Chevy.

Either we believe in Jesus, or we are lost in our sins. I know what it means to be lost. And so did Israel. Time and again in the Old Testament books we read about the struggles of Israel, how they would come to the Lord, turn from their sins, and then a generation later they would turn away. In the wilderness they saw the miracles of God first hand but it didn’t matter, they still complained and fell away, they failed to grow.