Jesus Our Promised Messiah

Jesus our Promised Messiah

Matthew 11:1-6

John the Baptizer was now in prison for preaching about the Kingdom of God. He sent his disciples to ask Jesus question: “Are you really the Messiah we’ve been waiting for, or should we keep looking for someone else?” (Matthew 11:3 NLT)

This question was in contrast to what John had said when he saw Jesus coming toward him and John the Baptizer shouted out to the gathered crowd: “Look! There is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29 NLT)

We really can’t blame John the Baptizer for having doubts about Jesus being the promised Messiah. John was in prison and if Jesus were the Messiah Jesus would get him released from prison. John had wrong expectations of Jesus. His wrong expectations caused him to doubt.

We all tend to be doubters about certain things in life. Some doubting may be good and some may not be good.

Have you received any e-mails from someone in South Africa saying: “I had 30 million left to me as an inheritance, but can’t get it for certain reasons. But I am willing to share a portion of it with you but I will need to transfer it to your bank in America. Please send me your bank account number.” I get several of those kinds of e-mails every month.

You have reason to doubt that e-mail promise.

Doubts come and go in the normal Christian life. The only problem is if the doubts stay and don’t go. There’s nothing wrong about having questions about life. Jesus didn’t condemn John for asking questions?

Carollyn’s stepfather, Allan Robinson was sick in the hospital. He questioned the fact if he was really saved. He had lived for Jesus most of his life. Weak from sickness he doubted. With encouragement from Christian friends and family, he got back on track and again fully trusted the Lord.

Is Jesus our promised Messiah or should we continue to look for another?

Behind doubts is the god of this world, Satan. From the beginning of creation to now Satan has been tempting all humankind to doubt God.

God provided for the first family a home in the Garden of Eden. They lived in a fruit lover’s paradise. They could eat of all the fruit of all the trees except one – the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

The Sin and Fall of Man:

Genesis 3:1-3 The Devil in the form of a serpent tempted Eve to disobey God her creator and taste of the fruit of good and evil. Through their disobedience the first family gave the human race the nature of inherited sin.

When sin divided the world man became the bond-slave of the devil, the victim of God’s judgment against sin, an alien from God’s family. The seed of the woman should restore the fallen culprit to all, and more than all that had been lost through sin. The first-born prophecy declares that in fullness of time a deliverer should arise, offspring of the family of man.

One of the first promises God gave the human race following the fall of man was the promise of a coming Redeemer and Messiah. God spoke to the Serpent in Genesis 3:15 “From now on, you and the woman will be enemies, and your offspring and her offspring will be enemies. He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” It is much better to have a bruised heel than a crushed head. The coming Savior and Redeemer would suffer but in suffering the Serpent Devil would be conquered.

Romans 5:12,17 summarized the Genesis account of the fall of man: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned. For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ.”

Satan is the Great deceiver. He has many names - Devil, fallen angel, Serpent, Great Deceiver and his first name was Lucifer, an arch angel of the Lord. Lucifer wanted to be on equal with his creator and rebelled against God and was thrown out of heaven and became the god of this world.

In Genesis 3 the Serpent was the Devil in disguise. Satan’s one mission since his fall from the grace of God has been to cause all human beings, God’s creation, to turn from the true God and turn to false gods. Satan works in the heart and soul of people to lead them to disobedience.

Ephesians 2:1-2, “As for you, (Paul is writing to Christ followers in the church at Ephesus) you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is not at work in those who are disobedient.” Without Jesus in their heart people are spiritually dead and under the control of the god of this world. The natural result of being under the control of Satan is disobedience.