INTRODUCTION
- Last week, when we started this series, I said that the entire Bible was about Jesus. Sometimes, He sits under the surface of the page; other times, He is hidden between the lines, but this week, we will see Jesus jumping out of the page of the text.
- Our text today will illuminate yet another reason why we have no savior without Jesus as our Lord.
- Isaiah 53:5 helps us to see why Jesus can lay claim to the only way to get to God.
- Isaiah 53 is one of the four passages in Isaiah known as the Suffering Servant Poems.
- These poems describe the mission and the suffering of the "servant of the Lord," Jesus.
- In traditional Jewish interpretation, the "servant" is often understood to symbolize the nation of Israel itself.
- This interpretation views the servant as collectively representing the people of Israel, who have suffered oppression and exile throughout history but are ultimately vindicated by God.
- The suffering servant, in this view, is a metaphor for the trials endured by the Jewish people and their perseverance in faithfulness to God's covenant.
- From a Biblical Christian Perspective, Isaiah 53, especially verse 5, is seen as a messianic prophecy foretelling the coming of Jesus Christ.
- The suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus are seen as the fulfillment of the prophecy.
- Jesus carried the sins of the world, offering himself as a sacrifice to bring about salvation and reconciliation between God and humankind.
- Therefore, this verse plays a significant role in atonement and redemption.
- Today, we are going to dive into the issue of atonement!
Isaiah 53:5 (NET 2nd ed.)
5 He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins; he endured punishment that made us well; because of his wounds we have been healed.
SERMON
I. Atonement defined.
- As we delve into the first point of our message, "Atonement Defined," it's essential to understand the meaning that the concept of atonement weaves within the biblical narrative.
- Over half the time this term is used in the Bible is found in the Book of Leviticus, where it describes the role of a sacrifice to cover the people's sins.
- The primary thought of atonement is you owe a debt, and someone else paid it for you.
- At its core, the word "atonement" conveys the idea of reconciliation, of making amends or reparations for an offense or a wrong.
- In the context of Scripture, atonement is the divine provision through which humanity's broken relationship with God is restored.
- Atonement encompasses not just the forgiveness of sins but the removal of sin's pollution and the restoration of harmony between the Creator and His creation.
- The roots of atonement stretch deep into the Old Testament, where the sacrificial system outlined in the Law of Moses provided a shadow of the ultimate atonement to come.
- Animals were offered as sacrifices to God, symbolizing the substitutionary atonement for the people's sins.
- However, these sacrifices were but a foretaste, pointing towards a more perfect, once-for-all atonement that was to be accomplished not by the blood of goats and calves but by the sacrifice of the Son of God Himself.
- The nation of Israel had a Day of Atonement.
- This was a day on which Israel fasted, cleansed to the sanctuary of impurity, and dealt with their sin through blood rituals and by sending a goat (the scapegoat) into the wilderness.
- The goat had Israel's guilt laid upon it (Leviticus 16:8-22) and was released into the wilderness.
- The sacrifices of the Old Testament were a shadow of what Jesus would bring to us.
Hebrews 10:1–4 (NET 2nd ed.)
1 For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship.
2 For otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers would have been purified once for all and so have no further consciousness of sin?
3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year.
4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
- Isaiah 53:5, our focal Scripture, paints a vivid picture of this atonement in prophetic brushstrokes.
- The passage speaks of one who was "pierced for our transgressions" and "crushed for our iniquities."
- This clearly depicts the vicarious suffering of Jesus Christ, the Messiah, who took upon Himself the full weight of humanity's sins.
- Through His suffering and death, Jesus absorbed the wrath of God that was rightfully ours, offering Himself as a perfect sacrifice to bridge the chasm sin had created between God and man.
- This act of atonement is multifaceted.
- It is judicial, satisfying the demands of God's justice.
- It is relational, restoring our fellowship with God.
- It is healing, bringing wholeness to our brokenness.
- By His wounds, we are forgiven and brought into a new life of peace and reconciliation with God.
- Let's go back to our passage again.
Isaiah 53:5 (NET 2nd ed.)
5 He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins; he endured punishment that made us well; because of his wounds we have been healed.
II. The Atoner.
- The Suffering Servant Poems of Isaiah point to Jesus.
- As Hebrews tells us, the blood of goats and bulls cannot take away our sins.
- All the sacrifices in the Old Testament "set aside" our sins until the Atoner enters the scene.
- The Old Testament gave a glimpse of how God sees sin.
- We tend to write it off and not take God's commands seriously whenever we want what we want.
- When our will clashes with God's will, our will often pushes God aside.
- We really do not see how much our sin hurts God.
- Imagine living in the Old Testament when you had to bring your best animals to sacrifice for your sins.
- For some, the financial loss would hurt, which might get people to see the issue.
- But what if, in our day, God said you had to offer up your pet cat or dog as a sacrifice for your sins?
- If we love our pets, would that get us to see the severity of the issue of sin?
- There is zero chance I would sacrifice my cats for anything.
- When you read the Suffering Servant Poems in Isaiah, the light of them shines brightly on Jesus.
- God had a plan to sacrifice His perfect Son to atone for our sins once and for all!
- This is yet another reason that Jesus is the only way to God.
- He is the only perfect sacrifice who paid the penalty for our sins.
- This is consistent with the sacrificial system of the Old Testament.
- The sacrifices offered had to be without spot or blemish.
- Jesus is the only perfect sacrifice, perfect in that He was the only one without sin and who NEVER broke one of God's commands!
- When you examine Isaiah 53:5, the reason the servant (Jesus) was put on the cross and suffered during and before the cross, was not because of what He did, it was because of what we did.
- This is the heart of the Song of the Servant; here, we learn why Jesus suffered, that it was not for himself but for us that he suffered.
- Note the emphatic recurrence of the word "our," as in our griefs, sorrows, transgressions, peace, and healing.
- The atoning significance of the suffering is expounded here.
- First, we see that Isaiah tells us the servant was wounded because of our rebellious deeds.
- The word wound means being pierced.
- Rebellious deeds are evil deeds or the violation of a law, duty, or moral principle.
- Whenever we fight against God's will, that is an act of rebellion.
- Second, we see Jesus was crushed because of our sins.
- To crush means to be kept down by the unjust use of another's authority or power.
- The entire proceedings that put Jesus on the cross fit that description.
- A sin is an act or feeling that transgresses something forbidden or ignores something required by God's law or character, whether in thought, feeling, speech, or action.
- This is a deeper explanation of rebellion.
- Right here is the vital heart of Christianity.
- The case of Adam's race was hopeless.
- All had sinned and fallen short of God's glory.
- The penalty for sin is death, and the justice of God requires that the penalty be paid; otherwise, all of the human race would have been lost forever.
- But there was no one who could pay for it.
- What was the solution?
- God Himself stepped into the human race and, in the person of his Son, paid the penalty himself upon the Cross!
- Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift!
- No wonder Satan executed every cruelty possible upon Jesus because without the sacrifice of Jesus in paying the penalty of human transgressions, Satan would have achieved his purpose of the total destruction of Adam's race.
- Let's go to our passage once more.
Isaiah 53:5 (NET 2nd ed.)
5 He was wounded because of our rebellious deeds, crushed because of our sins; he endured punishment that made us well; because of his wounds we have been healed.
III. The gift of atonement.
- Suppose you had to go to the hospital and incurred a $400,000 bill that your insurance would not cover.
- Let's make it more fun by saying you could not declare bankruptcy and that you do not have and will not have the resources to pay the bill.
- Then, you were told that you had to pay $10,000 per month until the bill was paid.
- How would you feel?
- Folks, this scenario is what everyone faces, only worse.
- We had a debt we could not pay.
Romans 5:6–8 (NET 2nd ed.)
6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 (For rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person perhaps someone might possibly dare to die.)
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
- Back to the scenario: How would you feel if someone came in and paid your hospital bill free and clear??
- The debt we owe because of our sins is greater than anything we can pay, and our eternal destiny depends on that debt to be paid.
- While we were yet sinners, Jesus died for us and paid the debt!
- Isaiah tells us that Jesus endured punishment that made us well!
- When Jesus was being subjected to humiliation and punishment, you are what kept Him from quitting or somehow ending the process.
- Jesus endured so you could be made well, to be made whole again!
- By His wounds, we were HEALED!
- The word healed means to provide a cure or to be sewn back together and mended!
- The gift does some great things for us!
- As we've seen, atonement is far more than a mere transaction; it is a gift of immeasurable worth, freely offered to us by God through Jesus Christ.
- This gift brings forth several transformative realities into the lives of all who receive it.
- First, it bestows upon us the gift of peace.
- This isn't merely the absence of conflict but a profound sense of well-being and harmony with God.
- The punishment that brought us peace was upon Him; through His suffering and death, Jesus has opened the way for us to experience peace with God—a peace that transcends understanding, guarding our hearts and minds (Philippians 4:7).
- Second, the gift of atonement brings healing.
- "By his wounds, we are healed."
- This healing is comprehensive, touching every aspect of our being—spiritual, emotional, and physical.
- Sin's deep scars, the wounds we carry from our past, the brokenness that seemed beyond repair—all are made whole in the atoning work of Christ.
- This healing is a process, often taking place over a lifetime, yet it is a promise to all who are in Christ, a testament to His power to restore and make new.
- Furthermore, the gift of atonement reconciles us to God.
- It removes the barrier of sin that separated us from Him, allowing us to enter into a relationship with our Creator.
- This reconciliation is not based on our merit or efforts but solely on God's grace through Jesus' atoning sacrifice.
- We are adopted into God's family, called His children, and given the privilege of intimate communion with Him.
- Lastly, the gift of atonement empowers us for a new life.
- It frees us from the bondage of sin and death, enabling us to live lives that reflect the love and holiness of God.
- We are no longer slaves to sin but are empowered by the Holy Spirit to walk in newness of life and bear fruit that glorifies God.
CONCLUSION
- Understanding atonement in this light propels us to deeply appreciate the magnitude of what has been accomplished on our behalf.
- It challenges us to respond in faith, to receive this gift of grace, and to live in the reality of the freedom and healing it brings.
- Atonement is not just a theological concept to be understood but a divine reality to be lived out daily in our walk with God.
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