The Master’s Plan of Sacrifice:
A FOREORDAINED SENDING
Perth Bible Church, Palm Sunday April 5, 2009 Rev. Todd G. Leupold
INTRODUCTION:
VIDEO: “Palm Sunday Intro”
Yes, the King is here . . . but who sent Him? When was this all actually decided and planned? For what purpose? What were the expected results?
As we celebrate the Passion and Resurrection of Christ this year, it is my desire for us all (myself included) to better understand these events in light of God’s divine plan and sovereignty. At the center of all of these events is the Sacrifice of Christ upon the cross of Calvary. While many have chosen to look at these events as God’s ’last ditch effort’ to save humanity after a series of so-called misses, Scripture is very clear that this is far from the truth. Rather, God’s perfect and divine revelation recorded in Scripture, outlines these events as being exactly according to The Master’s Plan of Sacrifice that He established before time and has been unfolding perfecting throughout the ages.
This season, then, we will explore the Scriptures to see how the precise Sending of Christ, His coming as our Savior, the work of His Salvation, and the Service for which He has saved and empowered us have all progressed exactly as The Master had planned from before time and His Word has prophesied. Our focus this morning, will be upon the Master’s Foreordained Sending of the Son for Sacrifice.
PRAYER
As planned from The Beginning, Jesus was sent in order to . . .
I.) EMBODY GOD BEFORE MANKIND
Jesus, the incarnate God-man, enabled all humanity to see and understand God in a more familiar and tangible way. Jesus was, as some have put it, “God with skin on.”
In addition, He represented for us what a human life would look like if it were perfectly aligned with the Spirit and character of God.
Matthew 1:21-23 She will give birth to a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins." Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet (Isaiah 7:14): See, the virgin will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and they will name Him Immanuel, which is translated "God is with us."
Matthew 4:12-17 When He heard that John had been arrested, He withdrew into Galilee . . . This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah (9:1-2): Land of Zebulun and land of Naphtali, along the sea road, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles! The people who live in darkness have seen a great light, and for those living in the shadowland of death, light has dawned. From then on Jesus began to preach, "Repent, because the kingdom of heaven has come near!"
Luke 4:17-20 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him, and unrolling the scroll, He found the place (Isaiah 61:1-2) where it was written: The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him.
From the beginning, Father God planned for the day He would send His Son Jesus to embody His goodness and holiness before humanity.
II.) EXPERIENTALLY RELATE TO HUMANITY
Second, Jesus was sent – according to plan – in order to experientially relate to humanity.
That is, to experience what we experience and demonstrate to us that He truly does understand our trials and struggles.
Isaiah 53:2-9 He grew up before Him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or splendor that we should look at Him, no appearance that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering who knew what sickness was. He was like one people turned away from; He was despised, and we didn’t value Him. Yet He Himself bore our sicknesses, and He carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him, and we are healed by His wounds . . . He was taken away because of oppression and judgment; and who considered His fate? For He was cut off from the land of the living; He was struck because of My people’s rebellion. They made His grave with the wicked, and with a rich man at His death, although He had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully.
Psalms 22:1-7 My God, my God, why have You forsaken me? Why are You so far from my deliverance and from my words of groaning? My God, I cry by day, but You do not answer, by night, yet I have no rest. But You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. Our fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You rescued them. They cried to You and were set free; they trusted in You and were not disgraced. But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by people. Everyone who sees me mocks me; they sneer and shake their heads:
In accordance with these prophesies, Jesus did indeed experience and suffer the fullness of what it means to live as a human in a world that has been corrupted and thrown into darkness by sin.
III.) BE A MEDIATOR BETWEEN MAN & GOD
Third, the Son was sent in order to present Himself as the only possible mediator between an indisputably guilty humanity and a perfectly just LORD and Judge.
Isaiah 40:1-3 "Comfort, comfort My people," says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and announce to her that her time of servitude is over, her iniquity has been pardoned, and she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins. A voice of one crying out: Prepare the way of the LORD in the wilderness; make a straight highway for our God in the desert.”
Isaiah 42:1 "This is My Servant; I strengthen Him, this is My Chosen One; I delight in Him. I have put My Spirit on Him; He will bring justice to the nations."
Isaiah 59:16 “He saw that there was no man--He was amazed that there was no one interceding; so His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness supported Him.”
The only reason anyone can have to approach the judgment seat of Christ with confidence is to be able to do so with Jesus by His side as our personal advocate.
IV.) SERVE AS A KINSMAN REDEEMER
To serve as a Kinsman Redeemer, one must be . . .
A.) a Kinsman
A close blood-relative.
Leviticus 25:48-49 “he has the right of redemption after he has been sold. One of his brothers may redeem him. His uncle or cousin may redeem him, or any of his close relatives from his clan may redeem him. If he prospers, he may redeem himself.”
B.) able To Redeem
Strong enough in will and desire to sacrifice for another.
Ruth 4:4-6 I thought I should inform you: Buy it back in the presence of those seated here and in the presence of the elders of my people. If you want to redeem it, do so. But if you do not want to redeem it, tell me, so that I will know, because there isn’t anyone other than you to redeem it, and I am next after you.""I want to redeem it," he answered. Then Boaz said, "On the day you buy the land from Naomi, you will also acquire Ruth the Moabitess, the wife of the deceased man, to perpetuate the man’s name on his property." The redeemer replied, "I can’t redeem it myself, or I will ruin my own inheritance. Take my right of redemption, because I can’t redeem it."
Jeremiah 50:34 Their Redeemer is strong; the LORD of Hosts is His name. He will fervently plead their case so that He might bring rest to the earth but turmoil to those who live in Babylon.
C.) able to pay the righteous demands
In full possession of that which is required to buy back one’s enslaved kin.
Leviticus 25:27 he may calculate the years since its sale, repay the balance to the man he sold it to, and return to his property.
Isaiah 59:20 The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those in Jacob who turn from transgression. This is the LORD’s declaration.
Only Jesus the Christ could be a kinsman redeemer for all humanity who believe, since He must meet these requirements and . . .
V.) PRESENT HIMSELF AS A PERFECT & INFINITE SACRIFICE
We this example first and most graphically in the Book of Beginnings.
Genesis 22:10-14 Then Abraham reached out and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the Angel of the LORD called to him from heaven and said, "Abraham, Abraham!" He replied, "Here I am." Then He said, "Do not lay a hand on the boy or do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, since you have not withheld your only son from Me." Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in the thicket. So Abraham went and took the ram and offered it as a burnt offering in place of his son. And Abraham named that place The LORD Will Provide, so today it is said: "It will be provided on the LORD’s mountain."
God declared it was not necessary for Abraham to sacrifice Isaac because only God’s Son could be an acceptable sacrifice for the sins of all humanity!
Leviticus 17:11 For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have appointed it to you to make atonement on the altar for your lives, since it is the lifeblood that makes atonement.
Isaiah 53:7-12 Like a lamb led to the slaughter . . . He was cut off from the land of the living; He was struck because of My people’s rebellion. They made His grave with the wicked, and with a rich man at His death, although He had done no violence and had not spoken deceitfully . . . He submitted Himself to death, and was counted among the rebels; yet He bore the sin of many and interceded for the rebels.
VI.) DESTROY THE WORKS OF THE ENEMY
Through The Master’s Plan of Sacrifice, Jesus the Christ was sent not only to redeem humanity from the enemy, but to utterly destroy the enemy all of his works as well!
Genesis 3:15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.
Isaiah 25:7-9 On this mountain He will destroy the burial shroud, the shroud over all the peoples, the sheet covering all the nations; He will destroy death forever. The Lord GOD will wipe away the tears from every face and remove His people’s disgrace from the whole earth, for the LORD has spoken. On that day it will be said, "Look, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He has saved us. This is the LORD; we have waited for Him. Let us rejoice and be glad in His salvation."
Psalms 110:1 The LORD declared to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool."
VII.) ESTABLISH AN ETERNAL & RIGHTEOUS KINGDOM
Nor was destruction of the enemy to be the end of the plan. No, our loving and merciful God planned from the beginning that, after having accomplished all else, Jesus would be sent to establish an eternal and righteous Kingdom on the earth for all who have chosen Him!
Isaiah 9:6-7 For a child will be born for us, a son will be given to us, and the government will be on His shoulders. He will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. The dominion will be vast, and its prosperity will never end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from now on and forever. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
Micah 4:1-7 In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s house will be established at the top of the mountains and will be raised above the hills. Peoples will stream to it . . . They will beat their swords into plows, and their spears into pruning knives. Nation will not take up the sword against nation, and they will never again train for war. But each man will sit under his grapevine and under his fig tree with no one to frighten him . . . Then the LORD will rule over them in Mount Zion from this time on and forever.
SO WHAT?
All of this careful planning and exacting fulfillment in every detail without error, unfolded from the beginning of time to the present, was carried out at unimaginable sacrifice just so that each of us may have an opportunity to live eternally in a glorious relationship with the LORD God Almighty that none of us deserves or could possibly achieve on our own. WOW!
Let us celebrate this as Jesus taught us:
COMMUNION:
His Body, broken that our being may be made whole.
His life-blood, spilled on a cursed tree of sacrifice so that our lives might be redeemed from slavery to sin and death.
