CHRIST IS OUR SUFFERING SERVANT (Outline)
October 12, 2008 --
PENTECOST 22 --
Isaiah 53:10-12
INTRO: In our day-to-day activities we may look at certain decisions as life or death. From time to time we may think about weighty matters such as our own life and mortality. Today we gather around God’s word to learn that our weighty matters are not life and mortality but are really life and immortality. As believers we remember that we have been given God’s gift of eternal life. Christ came to this world as our suffering servant. Jesus came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many. Out of love God gives us immortality. "For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord"(ROMANS 14:7,8). In all things we belong to the Lord.
CHRIST IS OUR SUFFERING SERVANT.
I. Christ died for the sins of the world.
II. Christ rose for the life of the world.
I. CHRIST DIED FOR THE SINS OF THE WORLD
A. Verse 10 begins with the small word “Yet”. This word connects today’s section with previous verses.
1. Verse 9 states “he had done no violence…no deceit was found in his mouth”.
2. “He was assigned a grave with the wicked”. Jesus died according to God’s will, verse 10a.
3. Verse 10b. Jesus was the payment for the wrongdoing of mankind, God’s guilt offering.
B. Jesus did not offer payment for his sins because he did not sin. Jesus died for the sins of the world.
1. Jesus is the righteous servant, perfect guilt offering for the unrighteous and imperfect, v. 11b.
2. Verse 11c. Jesus’ guiltless and innocent death carried the sins of the world to the grave.
3. This sin bearing, guilt offering is so important it is repeated again in verse 12c.
C. Verse 12b. Jesus’ death on the cross between two criminals was guilt offering the world needed.
D. Maybe there is a certain sin that is nagging your conscience today. Satan likes to try and make us think that there are certain sins that even God would not forgive. Christ is our suffering servant. Jesus loves to show mercy. By his death Christ buried all of our sins in his tomb. Christ paid the price once and for all, perfectly, and completely. Jesus paid the price for us. "Christ gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father"(GALATIANS 1:4). God’s will is that none should perish. God’s will is that his Son would take the place of sinful mankind. God’s will is that believers would not have to suffer the bitter taste of death. Paul considered his time as “the present evil age”. God still rescues us from our present ever more evil age.
E. The Lord God Almighty is concerned with our spiritual and eternal welfare. Our eternal salvation has been purchased and paid for by the very blood of Christ. Over the years of being saved we may have for-gotten that joy which is ours because of God’s free, full forgiveness. The joy of forgiveness is a joy we are anxious to share with others. God was not choosy in his forgiveness. He did not pick only certain people to forgive. "Jesus Christ, the Righteous One is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world"(1 JOHN 2:2). Sad to say the whole world does not benefit from the sacrifice of our suffering servant, Jesus the Christ. All too many deny Christ. Thus they lose the benefit of God’s forgiveness. We are reminded all the more that it is only by grace that we are saved.
F. We want to remember that we cannot save ourselves. The price of salvation is too costly. No payment is ever enough. Really we cannot even decide to save ourselves. God’s grace alone saves. Our efforts, our desires cannot and do not earn eternity. Eternity is freely provided purely by God’s free forgiveness. "When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins"(COLOSSIANS 2:13). Dead in sins = unable to do anything at all. In the deadness of our sins the Lord comes and saves us through the forgiveness of sins. What a beautiful description to remind us just how much God does to save us who cannot save ourselves.
CHRIST IS OUR SUFFERING SERVANT is not going to be a headline in any newspaper. Those who serve do not often make headlines. As our suffering servant Christ died for our sins + the world’s sins.
II. CHRIST ROSE FOR THE LIFE (LIVES) OF THE WORLD
A. Thankfully, joyfully we rejoice that the suffering servant, Christ, did not remain in the tomb.
1. Our text expresses the thought of Jesus’ resurrection. Verse 11a. Jesus suffers and is buried.
2. Then Jesus sees the light of life. Jesus rises from the dead and fulfills his Father’s will.
B. Verse 12a. The Lord speaks of the blessings that will come because of Jesus’ resurrection.
1. Our text uses the words “great, strong”. These words can also mean “many, numerous”.
2. Many will have a portion of eternal life. Numerous will be given the benefit of Jesus’ victory.
C. Verses 10b. Was Jesus married? No. Then who are the offspring of the suffering servant?
1. The offspring of the suffering servant are the believers also known as the children of God.
2. Jesus refers to this verse in John. The kernel of wheat dies and produces many seeds.
3. Jesus lived, died, and rose again. Jesus did not bypass his Father’s will, verse 10c.
D. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead has been challenged from the very beginning. When the tomb was empty the guards were told to spread the rumor that Jesus’ body had been stolen. Paul had to defend against this same false teaching in the church at Corinth. Jesus did come and die and did come back to life according to the will of his Father and for the benefit of mankind. "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone"(HEBREWS 2:9). We now taste life rather than death. We pass from this life through death right into immortality. God’s Son tasted death for us. Again, the atoning sacrifice of the suffering servant was done for the whole world. Many still deny or reject.
E. The resurrection of Jesus from the grave is God’s guarantee that our resurrection is also certain. We know this truth of Scripture and confess the saving fact only by the grace of God. Grace is God’s unde-served love alive in our hearts. "Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life"(JOHN 3:14,15). Jesus was lifted up on the cross and gave up his life. Jesus’ body was placed in the tomb but lifted up on the third day. Forty days later Jesus was lifted up to sit at the right hand of God to intercede for us. Now everyone who believes in him have eternal life. It is by grace that believers are saved.
F. As believers our lives are changed in this sin-darkened world. Maybe you have been a believer for a long time. Having been saved for a great number of years, the believer might forget the joy of being saved. It is important to remind ourselves of that great joy that is ours from being born again. Many today live in despair wondering what will happen next in this uncertain world. It is all more important for us as believers to display the peace, joy, hope, and encouragement that are ours by faith through God’s free forgiveness. "Jesus Christ, gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good"(TITUS 2:14). Being eager to do what is good for others is truly needed in our society. Today too many only do what is good for themselves.
CONC.: CHRIST IS OUR SUFFERING SERVANT. The Lord sought us when we did not seek him. The Lord called us out of darkness. God sent his Son to be our suffering servant to die for our sins and also for the sins of the world. Our suffering servant rose so that we would have life and immortality. Jesus also rose for the lives of the world. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you"(1 PETER 3:3,4). Our eternal inheritance (retirement) is kept safe in heaven for each of us and every believer because CHRIST IS OUR SUFFERING SERVANT. Amen. Pastor Timm O. Meyer
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BIBLE STUDIES: TUES. -- 6:00pm (Min) + 7:30pm (Med) @ NCF / 10:55am @ Redeemer (Sun)
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PENT. 22 readings:
ISAIAH 45:1-7;
1 THESS. 1:1-5a;
MATT. 22:15-22;
(PSALM 96)
