Joy Series, Part 3
Genesis 3:15 – Isaiah 53:12
Introduction
“A Joyous Prediction”
Want to share with you a photo I found this week, “King Size Bed”
- Recap of last 2 week’s messages:
- 1. What steals joy the fastest? The afflictions others bring upon us (gossip)
- We all face accusations and rumors; esp. as you do the work of the Lord
-- Don’t let the devil turn your focus from the One who commands your loyalty
- Remember that even in that, God desires our worship and our focus to be on Him
- The juicier the gossip is … the less likely it is to be true
- 2. How do I get joy?
- Jesus’ teaching in John 15:11, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you”
- We were taught these things that we might have HIS joy within us …
- Now, we have a LOT to cover this morning and prayerfully you are ready
- Open your Bibles to Genesis 3
- This morning we focus on a joyous prediction that is discussed throughout OT
- Ask yourself this, “How long does God’s promise of joy take to come true?”
- Many ask this question from day to day over every little thing; esp. in stress
- How long God … How long do I have to continue to endure this nonsense?
- How long God … How long will I have to wait for your joy to be revealed?
- How long God … How long do you plan on keeping me in suspense on this?
- All these kinds of things are asked during the Christmas season … without fail
- Things happen that enhance or tear apart our joy; but God brings joy that TOTAL
- APP: If you are a student of the Word of the Lord one thing should LEAP out
-- The word of God revealed a promise for thousands of years; and it came true
- We talked in our Genesis study that everything God created was good
-- Nothing however, was created to just be the be all end all; but created to glorify
-- The first two chapters of Genesis show us a perfection of creation; the garden
-- It is a peace that we can’t imagine today: Hebrew word here is “Shalom”
- And then, we see that sin enters and literally shatters the perfection of creation
-- This sin breaks apart everything including every our relationship with God
-- Instead of finding joy in the Creator; we are drawn to the creation FOR our joy
- For example, instead of finding joy in God because He created the food we have
-- We find joy in the food just because it tastes good and we want more of it
-- This leads to gluttony and our getting fat and happy based on our own desires
-- It is in this simple example that we can see how far we have fallen and failed
- This, in essence, brings us to the focus of our message today; God’s ultimate joy
- This morning we will walk through the OT and show the revelation of true joy
- Pray
Point 1 – The Prophecy Begins
- Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”
- God reveals that a man will be born who will crush the work of evil
-- Nothing more is revealed here, only that a man will be born to crush
- Now, this is about as broad as we can get – every man here was born of woman
- The generalities are really broad; but God’s word speaks very clearly
- He will bring forth a man to undo what evil has now destroyed (creation = good)
- Turn to Genesis 12
Point 2 – The Lineage Revealed
- Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
- When it comes to all that is done that ruined the relationship, God reveals a fact:
- God will bring a blessing through Abram to resolve this fractured relationship
- He will bring forth a man that will be a descendant of Abraham
- Something critical here: anything out of the line of Abraham will be a … Jew
- So we know now that the revelation of this man to be born is of Jewish descent
- Turn to Genesis 17
Point 3 – He will come from Kings
- God’s promise to Abram …
- Genesis 17:6-8, “I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”
- Notice how the prophecy takes a little more shape; but is still pretty vague
-- First: Man born of woman
-- Second: A Jew (one of Abraham’s descendants)
-- Third: He will come will be of the lineage of the Kings of Israel
- IMP: At this point, Israel has no kings; the first King is still hundreds of years away
- The man who will crush (Gen 3) the head of sin will be in line of Abraham and be a King
-- Remember: They are years away from the Promised Land; not a king in sight!
- Turn to Genesis 49
Point 4 – The Tribe is Revealed
- Now, we get into a very odd family dynamic in the book of Genesis
-- IMP: Pretty standard: The eldest son gets everything and the others get remnant
- Jacob brings together his 12 sons to talk with them; remember eldest gets it all
- Rueben is the first born of Jacob, but he calls him unstable (like water) v4
- Simon and Levi are both violent; Jacob says he would never sit under them v5
- Then, Jacob gets to his fourth son in line; Judah
- Genesis 49:8, “Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father’s sons will bow down to you.” (awkward)
- Imagine being in this family meeting and as an elder you will bow down …
- Genesis 49:9, “You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son.
Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?
- APP: The meaning here is simple: DO NOT mess with Judah, he is a lion!!
-- Judah is not someone you want to mess with; he will strike back and win
- Genesis 49:10, “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.”
- A man is born, in the Abrahamic line; from the tribe of Judah, in the line of Kings
- At the very least, if we know the Bible this is referring to King David
- Yet (IMP): King David will not be born for at least another 1,000 years!!
-- What we see however between now and then is death, destruction, and sin
-- We see the continued effects of sin on this land; but God’s promise is revealed
- Now, we get to another piece of the puzzle; take a look at the prophet Balaam
- Turn to Numbers 24
Point 5 – He will crush the heads …
- Balaam is a bit of a scoundrel, but God uses him to deliver His promise to
-- What we see here is that God uses people who are imperfect (say amen?)
- Numbers 24:17, “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the people of Sheth.”
-- Let’s remember that the king here is paying Balaam for this prophecy …
- The scepter will come from Judah, tribe of Jacob, and will crush your head
- APP: King, someone is coming that will be victorious over you
- Covenant God makes in Gen 3, 12, 49, and now into Numbers is consistent
- God speaks the same thing through different lineages and now we come to Duet
- Turn with me to Deuteronomy 18
- Deut 18 promise: Moses says something that is just amazing
-- (v15) “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet from among you”
-- (v18) “I will raise up for them a prophet (priest, king) like you”
- This person raised up will rescue us from sin and death and destruction
- However, in OT those offices are always separate; but in Jesus they are 1
- IMP: The only way to really validate God’s word/promise is to read it; period
- When we start to see how consistent God is we can have hope in the Word
- Turn to 2 Samuel 7
Point 6 – King David’s Lineage Confirmed
- 2 Samuel 7:12-16, “When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors (great explanation of death), I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son. When he does wrong, I will punish him with a rod wielded by men, with floggings inflicted by human hands. But my love will never be taken away from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. Your house and your kingdom will endure forever before me; your throne will be established forever.”
- There are 2 very critical things revealed here:
- 1) There is a promise to David about the sons of his body (his descendants)
-- Solomon builds the temple even though God had to discipline him and Saul
-- Even through David’s rebellion and screw-ups, God is still faithful to Himself
- 2) Yet, from the line of David a scepter will come that will reign and rule forever
-- Kings come and go; even the Pharaohs who called themselves “morning and evening star” are gone today; but this King will never give up his RULE
- What we have: Messiah will be born of woman; he will be a Jew; he is out of tribe of Judah; he comes from line of David; he will destroy all that hurts mankind
- But, at this point we don’t know how He will be victorious; how will he win?
- Turn to Isaiah 7
Point 7 – A Joyous Sign Revealed
- Isaiah 7:14-15, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right”
- Isaiah is telling people that God will give them a sign to give them hope (joy)
- Curds and honey are the diet of a peasant; kings would eat meat, marrow, etc.
- Jesus is one who is intimately acquainted with being poor; not one of great wealth
- Jesus was the son of a carpenter; born in a manger; not one with money/wealth
- Turn to Isaiah 9
Point 8 – Who is the King to be born?
- Isaiah 9:1, “Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the nations, by the Way of the Sea, beyond the Jordan”
- This is a direct reference to northern Israel; a place of much death and destruction
- If an invading army was coming in to conquer this land; here is the entry point
- However, notice the honor that is given here; Galilee (Jesus’ ministry was …?)
- Isaiah 9:2-5, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. For as in the day of Median’s defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. Every warrior’s boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire.
- IMP APP: The promise of the coming Messiah is simple:
- 1) Where there was destruction, peace will come to this land
- 2) Those who sought to bring destruction and war will be fuel for the fire
- 3) Where there has always been the stench of death; God brings peace and hope
- Isa 9:6-7, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,”
- Stop … Look at the reference now to this revelation of who the Messiah is
- This causes much of the problems that Jesus faced with the 1st century religions
- Man born of woman; line of Abram; in the line of Judah; in the line of David
- The scepter of power will never leave his house (this is ref to eternal rule)
- And now … He is identified as GOD!
- Isaiah 9:7 continued, “… Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this.”
- The confusion here is many read this and thought He would rule like David
-- They thought he would be a conqueror and everyone would bow down; not yet
-- But, look at the description of what this ruler WILL do! (Prince … everlasting)
- APP: Government will NEVER be able to do this for mankind
-- Law doesn’t bring about good men; it reveals we are criminals/sinners
-- “Pastor, I am not a criminal!!” Anyone break the law by speeding this week?
-- The Law of God shows us how far we have strayed from the perfection of Gen 2
-- Remember: The Law (Exodus 20) given to show us how far we have strayed
- Now, we have to solve how this God man crushes the head of the enemy
- And in so, how does this crushing set us free from death?
- Turn with me to Isaiah 53
Point 9 – How Does He Restore?
- Read Isaiah 53:1-4
- If we look at the life of Christ; we see some very interesting parallels to our own
- What we have in Him is a God, a Savior, who can totally relate to us (Pt 1 and 2)
-- Consider: He has accusers; He has back-stabbers; He has gossipers; He has deceivers; He has people who tear him apart …. Do we? Of course!
- He suffers loss; He deals with tragedy; He is cast out even by us (v4)
- APP: There is nothing we go through that we can’t identify with Him about
-- He bore our grief; He is a man who bore our sorrows; relates to fallen world
- Read Isaiah 53:5-7
- Because of what He will do, there is a restoration of what you and I owe today
-- Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death!” (This is our debt; what we owe)
- What does He do during the trial? He is silent; direct fulfillment of this prophecy (Mark 15:5; John 19:9)
- Read Isaiah 53:8
- In Jesus’ arrest, trial, and execution even the Jews will be clueless to this action
-- No one will understand the revelation coming true here!
- Read Isaiah 53:9-12
- Where was Jesus buried? In the rich man’s tomb (Joseph)
- Yet, even though He had done no wrong; it was God’s will to crush Him
- To be crushed for the sin of creation from Genesis 3 was God’s desire
- Isaiah 53, Verse 11 is the missing piece of the puzzle of the revelation
-- All of our shame, the head of sin and death is crushed by the actions of Him!
- All of our sin, rebellion, hatred, actions; Result: We are made holy and blameless
- Prophesied in the OT … Revealed in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
Conclusion
- Christmas brings about lots of longing for reunion, presents and man-made joy
- However, why do we have this longing? Why do we desire this joyous stuff?
- Because of what is behind it at the very core of our being … the REVELATION
- What is behind it is the meaning of the true joy is what we must possess
What is the Meaning?
- 1. It is that GOD would crush the head of the enemy and restore us to Himself
- Our longing, our hope, our desire is that the Bible tells us He will return
-- Not as a baby, not in a manger, not in a stable, not as a poor man
-- But, as a King who brings with Him the eternal reward that we long for
-- Christmas is not about presents; but about the ultimate present God brings
- 2. It is the fulfillment of Genesis 3 where Jesus is first spoken of
-- He brings the restoration to mankind for our inequities
- If we spend all of our time celebrating ourselves, we MISS the meaning
- Don’t fall into the trap; the Lord demands our worship b/c He is faithful
- His promise given in Genesis 3 is revealed in the birth of the Messiah
- We in turn, must stay faithful to Him and follow HIM; worship HIM
- See you Christmas morning, 10:45 right here … don’t miss it
- Pray
