SPECIAL NOTE FOR THIS SERMON:
The week prior to this service we had planned the Lord's Supper, but due to unforeseen circumstances we were not able to partake in the Communion ordinance. Rather than preaching another Communion sermon and disrupting the preaching schedule, God laid on my heart to combine the beginning of this series with the Communion theme, I believe it worked very well as a transition sermon into the Christmas season, while including the Communion element.
SERMON BRIEF
Date Written: November 24, 2012
Date Preached: November 25, 2012
Church: OPBC (AM) Sunday
FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS
Series: Approaching the Manger
Sermon: Tracing Messiah!
Text: Isaiah 53:2-6 [HCSB]
Introduction:
We have come to the point in our year where we begin to focus on the Christmas season. We have several weeks before Christmas day arrives, but during this time we focus on the birth of Christ and how His birth, life and sacrifice changed the world!
Today we are here because this story happened some 2000yrs ago… But the story did not begin then, in fact, like I have said on MANY occasions from this very pulpit…
God’s plan for Jesus was not a last minute substitute… or back up plan… God’s plan for Jesus, born of a virgin, becoming the sacrificial lamb for all of humanity… it was formed before the world even began!
God’s plan all along was Jesus… and the story of Jesus does not begin with the writing of the Gospels OR the life of Jesus here in this world. The story of Jesus begins and comes to us from the very earliest of books in the Bible…
In the book of Genesis… the book of the beginning… Jesus is alluded to by God in his curse to the serpent. In Genesis 3:15 (HCSB) – SHOW NOW
15I 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.
Jesus comes thru the seed of Adam and is the ultimate STRIKE against Satan… God in the Garden of Eden predicts Jesus’ victory over Satan… But the wording in this verse also guarantees the struggle and battle that Satan will throw out before being conquered…
In Gen 12 when God calls out Abraham to be His servant, God made a covenant with Abraham to bless the world through His seed… this was a direct and intentional pointer toward the coming Messiah!
Jesus, the One who is to come was to whom God is referring in this passage! Through the seed of Abraham, Jesus will come to this world and God will bless the world because of Jesus!
Gen 18:18 (HCSB) show now…
18Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him.
But the Bible does not stop there in its announcement of the coming Messiah…
Gen 49:10 (HCSB) show now…
10The scepter will not depart from Judah or the staff from between his feet until He whose right it is comes and the obedience of the peoples belongs to Him.
Here God is telling the people that their Messiah will come thru the tribe of Judah, and that HE will never lose power! Jesus WAS born into the tribe of Judah!
As we continue to journey thru the OT looking for the coming Messiah we find our next stop is, the book of Numbers where Messiah is prophesied to come through the tribe of Judah and the family of Jacob…
Numbers 24:17, 19 [HSCB] show now…
17I see him, but not now; I perceive him, but not near. A star will come from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel…” 19One who comes from Jacob will rule…
A star will come from Jacob… the One who comes from Jacob will rule… point to Jesus! Point to Jesus being Messiah!
In Jeremiah 33:15 (HCSB) we can read where God is telling Jeremiah that the Messiah is coming… the description here points directly to Jesus! Through the seed of Judah, specifically the seed of David!
Jeremiah 33:15 (HCSB) show now…
15In those days and at that time I will cause a Righteous Branch to sprout up for David, and He will administer justice and righteousness in the land.
But the Bible does not only tells us about the family Jesus is to come through… which is very important because God had promised Messiah thru this very family… the family of David!
But the other thing we can see Scripture doing here is telling us what the Messiah would be like… 1st Messiah would be a prophet, like Moses!
We find this in…
Deut 18:15 (HCSB) show now…
15“The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me [this was MOSES speaking here] from among your own brothers. You must listen to him...
This is confirmed in the NT through the words of the followers of Jesus…
Acts 3:22-23 (HCSB) show now…
22Moses said: The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from among your brothers. You must listen to Him in everything He will say to you. 23And everyone who will not listen to that Prophet will be completely cut off from the people.
But Jesus Himself also confirms His calling as a prophet through His life and actions AND he did NOT have to proclaim anything as the people proclaimed to be a prophet…
Matthew 21:11 (HCSB) show now…
And the crowds kept saying, “This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth in Galilee!”
There are a great deal of OTHER verses from the OT that confirm and describe the Messiah, and the NT confirms this to be Jesus of Nazareth…
This morning I want us to focus in on one particular Messianic prophecy that reveals the true nature of WHY Jesus HAD to come… He came to die for our sins…
Turn in your Bibles with me to Isaiah 53 and we will read v.2-6. I am reading from the HCSB and it will also be on the screen…
SHOW Isaiah 53:2-6 on screen now… follow along as I read…
2He [this is a reference to Messiah] grew up before Him like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. He [Messiah] didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at Him, no appearance that we should desire Him[Messiah]. 3He [Messiah] was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering [Messiah] who knew what sickness was. He [Messiah] was like someone people turned away from; He [Messiah] was despised, and we didn’t value Him. 4Yet He Himself [Messiah] bore our sicknesses, and He [Messiah] carried our pains; but we in turn regarded Him [Messiah] stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5But He [Messiah] was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on Him[Messiah], and we are healed by His [Messiah] wounds. 6We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him [Messiah] for the iniquity of us all.
Now you notice that I have inserted the word Messiah to reveal the identity of the masculine personal pronouns used by Isaiah…
You see in this passage God was using Isaiah to describe the coming Messiah! However, this morning I want us to look at it from another perspective… today I want us to take out the personal pronouns and the word “Messiah” where Isaiah was implying “Messiah” and I want us to INSERT the name “Jesus”… let’s do that and then read these verses with that change!
SHOW Isaiah 53:2-6 AGAIN on screen now… follow along as I read…
2He [this is a reference to Jesus] grew up before Him [God] like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. [Jesus] didn’t have an impressive form or majesty that we should look at [Jesus], no appearance that we should desire [Jesus]. 3[Jesus] was despised and rejected by men, a man of suffering [Jesus] who knew what sickness was. [Jesus] was like someone people turned away from; [Jesus] was despised, and we didn’t value [Jesus]. 4Yet [Jesus] bore our sicknesses, and [Jesus] carried our pains; but we in turn regarded [Jesus] stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5But [Jesus] was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; punishment for our peace was on [Jesus], and we are healed by [Jesus] wounds. 6We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished [Jesus] for the iniquity of us all.
When we look at the this prophecy it speaks LOUDLY about what Jesus came and accomplished! Pointing to Jesus as the ONE who fulfilled the prophecy about the Messiah!
SHOW 1st Isaiah 53:2 partial verse on screen now…
Jesus] grew up before Him [God] like a young plant and like a root out of dry ground. Jesus came born of a virgin, and grew up like any other young boy… like a young plant!
SHOW 2nd Isaiah 53:2 partial verse on screen now…
[Jesus] had no form or splendor that we should look at [Jesus], no appearance that we should desire [Jesus].
Jesus was NOT born of royalty or position… Jesus was born into obscurity and there was NOTHING about Him that the outside world may have seen as special!
SHOW 1st Isaiah 53:3 partial verse on screen now…
3[Jesus] was despised and rejected by men, Jesus was a man who was accepted by few but rejected by the leaders and religious leaders of the day, and the people turned against Him calling for His death!
SHOW 2nd Isaiah 53:3 partial verse on screen now…
a man of suffering [Jesus] who knew what sickness was. Jesus was a man who knew suffering and sickness… He was God clothed in flesh but endured the pain of this world and ultimately endured the suffering of the Cross!
SHOW 3rd Isaiah 53:3 partial verse on screen now…
[Jesus] was like someone people turned away from; Jesus was not only rejected by those who did NOT like Him or what He taught, but those who professed their love for Jesus and allegiance to Him… they turned away from Him as well…
SHOW 4th Isaiah 53:3 partial verse on screen now…
[Jesus] was despised,
Jesus was hated by the religious leaders… it was not just a hate of his teaching, but these men hated and despised Jesus enough that they wanted Him dead!
SHOW 5th Isaiah 53:3 partial verse on screen now…
and we didn’t value [Jesus].
Jesus was the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, but those who KNEW Him and professed their love for Him did NOT understand what they had… they did not know until He was gone just how special He is!
SHOW 1st Isaiah 53:4 partial verse on screen now…
4Yet [Jesus] bore our sicknesses, and [Jesus] carried our pains; We are sick in the sin that has enveloped our lives… Jesus has come to provide a cure for the sickness that we know as sin… Jesus died for our sake and has offered to bear our sin burden taking away the pain and guilt AND condemnation of sin!
SHOW 2nd Isaiah 53:4 partial verse on screen now…
...but we in turn regarded [Jesus] stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted... As great as Jesus has proven to be over the years, many in our world, just as in the 1st century Jesus was seen as stricken and forsaken by God on the Cross of Calvary!
People mocked and ridiculed Jesus on the Cross and believed that he was being punished by God, when in reality it was just the opposite… God was allowing Him to be a part of His salvation plan!
SHOW 1st Isaiah 53:5 partial verse on screen now…
5But [Jesus] was pierced because of our transgressions, crushed because of our iniquities; Jesus was placed on the Cross of Calvary because of OUR sin… Jesus was sent to DIE because of the iniquity in our hearts and the sinful selfish nature of our soul!
Jesus was sent to do what we could not do for ourselves! Because of our sin and selfish nature, we were lost… but Jesus gave of Himself because of God’s love for His creation!
SHOW 2nd Isaiah 53:5 partial verse on screen now…
punishment for our peace was on [Jesus], Jesus was placed on the cross to take OUR punishment! Jesus took our punishment to bring us OUT of sin and into peace with God.
SHOW 3rd Isaiah 53:5 partial verse on screen now…
and we are healed by [Jesus’] wounds. Jesus was crucified on the Cross and it is by the shedding of His blood and death on the Cross that we can be saved from our sin!
We can be spiritually HEALED in an instant because of the work of Christ on the Cross of Calvary! Because Christ was willing to be wounded for us… we can know God’s salvation!
SHOW Isaiah 53:6 verse on screen now…
6We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished [Jesus] for the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah knew that humanity was cursed by sin… and we ALL have strayed like sheep without a shepherd!
Clear the screen at this point…
Paul tells us in Rom 3:23 that ALL have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory… here Isaiah tells us that we ALL stray away from Jesus and we ALL turn to our OWN way… This is what the Bible calls sin! This is why Jesus had to come…
When we go BACK to the Garden of Eden, we find Adam and Eve in the garden and they were given instruction from God, but like sheep, they wandered and chose to go their OWN way! They disobeyed and sin entered into the world!
SIN is the reason Messiah was needed… Sin is the reason Jesus came to this world! OUR sin was the reason Jesus was nailed to the Cross… OUR Sin was the reason why Jesus had to die!
Jesus came for ONE purpose, to offer salvation to the creation God had lost to sin… The creation God loved so much, that He wanted to redeem! Jesus was God’s answer for that redemption!
We deserved the guilt…
We deserved the shame…
We deserved the punishment…
BUT… God made a way… IN Jesus!
Today, as we begin tracing our way toward the Manger in Bethlehem and as we begin to celebrate our Christmas season, I want us to know that we have an opportunity to see just how wonderful God’s gift of Jesus is for us!
The story of Jesus in the book of Luke is wonderful, but it is NOT the complete story because the story of Jesus is an ETERNAL story… one that God wrote before the foundation of this world!
Today as we look forward to celebrating the birth of our Savior, let us look back to God’s sending Messiah in the form of a baby to rid us of the sin that destroys our soul! Let us look back to the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross!
Today let us look back and remember the LOVE of God in the person of Jesus Christ! PRAY!
Put INVITATION HYMN on Screen now…
Offer a time of personal inspection for believers to prepare for Lord’s Supper…
Offer a time of confession and surrender for those outside God’s family…
After Invitation is completed…
Now everyone please take your seats… this morning we will be participating in one of the 2 ordinances Jesus instructed and detailed for His believers… we call this the Lord’s Supper!
This will be what I would describe as an ACTIVE participation… When we call you forward, all believers who have been baptized with a full immersion believer’s baptism… I am going to ask you to step out and come down to receive the elements of the Lord’s Supper.
There will be 2 deacons on your side of the auditorium, proceed to the middle aisle, come to the front, gather the elements and return to your seat via the outside aisle. When you return to your seat wait for further instructions…
PROCEED WITH THE LORD’S SUPPER…
