“A New Covenant for a New Year”

Good Morning Redemption Church. Happy New Year. It is a new year that the Lord has made. Let us praise him and honor him. I can think of no better way to bring in the new year than in the house of the Lord, worshiping with God’s people. If you are new here, my name is Noah Toney. I am one of the pastors here at Redemption church. At Redemption church, we exist to proclaim the gospel and make disciples for the glory of God. We are in a new year, but our vision and purpose remain the same. We desire to give God glory through gospel proclamation and disciple-making.

Usually, on the first Sunday of the year, I want to cast the vision for the year. But we anticipated we would likely be short this morning because of New Year's Eve. This means that we will do our vision casting next Sunday. Please take advantage of this! Next Sunday, I will take time and lay out the direction and goals for the church in this new year. Since I am not giving the vision for the year, I have decided that I am going to pick up where I left off on Christmas eve. I enjoyed Isaiah 42 so much that I want to continue to work through it. If you have your bibles, please turn to Isaiah 42:1-9

Recap

If you were here for our Christmas Eve Service. We learned about the Servant of the Lord. The book of Isaiah can be broken into two distinct sections. Section one, chapters one through thirty-nine, describes humanity’s problem. We are broken, and we refuse to worship God rightly. When given a chance to worship Yahweh or to worship ourselves or some other idol, over and over again, Israel chooses to worship idols. Isaiah says in 1:2, “children I have reared up and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. The ox knows its owner, and the donkey knows its master's crib, but Israel does not know my people do not understand.” [1]In other words, because of sin the relationship between God and man has been broken. This is the problem. Thankfully God does not leave us there. Section two of Isaiah, chapters 40-66, gives us the solution. Enter the Servant of the Lord. This brings us to Isaiah 42:1-9. If the book of Isaiah presents Israel as the problem, there needs to be a new Israel who will come and save God’s people. The person that God sends to save his people is called the Servant of the Lord. We know that this servant of the Lord is Jesus Christ. What is his character? What does Isaiah tell us about the savior? On Christmas eve we looked at only the first four verses.

1. Jesus comes as a servant

2. Jesus is God’s answer to humanity’s greatest problem

3. Jesus has God’s spirit

4. Jesus makes all things right

5. Jesus comes in humility

6. Jesus comes for the weak

7. Jesus’s mission will be accomplished.

This week we continue on learning about this Servant of the Lord.

Scripture Reading

5 Thus says God, the LORD,

who created the heavens and stretched them out,

who spread out the earth and what comes from it,

who gives breath to the people on it

and spirit to those who walk in it:

6 “I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness;

I will take you by the hand and keep you;

I will give you as a covenant for the people,

a light for the nations,

7 to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

from the prison those who sit in darkness.

8 I am the LORD; that is my name;

my glory I give to no other,

nor my praise to carved idols.

9 Behold, the former things have come to pass,

and new things I now declare;

before they spring forth

I tell you of them.”

Verse five: Yahweh creates and sustains life

“Thus says God, the Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it:”

Verse five continues this declaration from God to the servant. I want you to listen to the grandeur of these words. This is God declaring his own words. He says he created the heavens and stretched them out. This is graphic language in Hebrew. It depicts God creating the heavens like a man throwing up a tent. I was thinking about this, have you ever put up a tent? It is usually not easy. I always struggle to get the poles bent into place and get the zippers on the right side. I look like a fool trying to put it up. But God, he throws the heavens with all the millions of stars up as if it is nothing. God, he creates the cosmos with less effort than a man throwing up a tent. It is God who is the sovereign creator who stretches out grass over the great plains like a carpet; he adorns his creation with mountains and valleys, snow-capped peaks, and barren desserts. All of the creation is His. Yahweh is, first and foremost, the creator. This is how we are presented God first in the bible. It is black and dark until God speaks and creates light, and for the first six days, God is creating.

Not only does he create, but Yahweh gives life. It is one thing to create physical matter. But to take the dirt of the ground and give life. To breathe the breath of life into his creation. This is something entirely different. Mediate upon the creation and think about this. If the first chapters of Genesis, God only gives life. He never takes life. God delights in giving life. He looks over his creation and sees the creatures of the deep, and he says it is good. He sees the birds of the air and says it is good. He sees all creatures crawling on the face of the earth and says it is good. God delights at watching the earth teem with life. And when it comes time for God to create man, “ then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”[2]

God reaches down and picks up the dirt of the ground, the Adamah, and he breathes his Nepish into it and thus creates Adam. God is the creator and the sustainer of life. Right now the very breath in our lungs is from God alone. He is upholding every living creature on this earth right now by the word of his power.

Verses six and seven: the servant’s task

“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness.”

This is the divine mission of the servant. This mission has many facets.

First, the servant is called in righteousness. “I have called you in righteousness.” One thing that sticks out in Hebrew, is the singular pronoun. You could read this and think he is talking about Israel. But in reality, the you, is the first person singular. It lets you know that this verse is still talking about the one servant. Jesus is called in righteousness. He is special. When the bible uses the word Righteous, or righteousness there are two ways to understand it. First, sometimes it means right living. It means you live a godly life. It does not mean moral perfection, but generally you live a righteous life. The second meaning refers to moral righteousness. It is a objective standard of perfection, that puts you in right standing with God. Moses was a righteous man, meaning he lived a godly life. But this better servant of the Lord, his righteousness is from God alone. Christ Jesus is robed in God's righteousness. Every way that God the father is righteous Jesus Christ is righteous he is the standard by which righteousness is judged. it is because Jesus is the righteous servant that we can be robed in Christ righteousness.

Secand, God pledges to preserve the Servant. “I will take you by the hand and keep you.” God speaking to the servant promises to preserve him. He promises to take him by the hand and to keep him. How amazing this would have been for Jesus to read. What would it have been like for Christ to open the scroll of Isaiah and read about himself and how God is holding him by the hand and keeping him. Would it make his heart flutter? Would it calm his anxiety? Did it bolster his faith? It is because God preserves Christ that Christ can say to his disciples, “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”[3]God preserved the Son, so that the Son might preserve us.

Third, the servant is given as a sacrifice for God’s people. “I will give you as a covenant for the people.” This servant has a high task. God loves this servant, he delights in him as a father. How difficult is it for the father who loves his eternal son, to give him up as a sacrifice. Moses is often refers to as God’s servant. But when Moses needed a sacrifice for the Passover he was to take the lambs and put their blood upon the door post. When God needs a sacrifice to establish a covenant with his people, he sends his own son and slays him on our behalf. So that we might have fellowship with God. This is the New Covenant. The Old Covenant established by the first servant Moses was flawed. It could never be accomplished. Listen to Galations 3:19-29, “Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.”[4]In other words, the Law of the Old Covenant was given to restrain our sin, and to show our need for a savior. The OId Covenant was given as a guardian until Christ came. But when the suffering servant comes, he brings a new and better covenant.

Fourth, the servant comes to save the nations. This new covenant is categorically different from the Old covenant. The old Covenant was primarily for ethnic Israel. The new covenant is a light to the nations. It is like God told the sun to shine on the earth for the first time. Now people from every tribe an nation can come and know God. Jesus stands up and says, “I am the light of the world.” He is quoting this.

Fifth, the Servant comes to save the captives. “to open the eyes that are blind, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, from the prison those who sit in darkness” Where the gospel goes there is no more captivity. Jesus came and he opened the eyes of the blind. He healed the lepers. These are physical miracles that have greater significance. We are blind before Christ comes into our hearts and we see. If you are a Christian. Do you remember the moment you saw christ for who he is? Think about that moment and cherish it. Every person in the kingdom of God needs to see Christ. He saves the prisoners from the dungeons. These might not be physical dungeons, but where Christ goes we are always free from spiritual dungeons. There is no power or scheme that can cast down the spirit of Christ. “For freedom Christ has set us free: let us never again submit to the yoke of slavery.”

Verse Eight: God’s glory laid upon the servant

“I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.”

The Westminster catechism starts with one of the most famous lines in Protestantism. “What is the chief end of man?” “Mans chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” One of the scripture references for the catechism is this verse right here. God delights in glorifying himself. For a man, this would be vain, but why does God delight to glorify himself? Because he is worthy. He is the only thing that is truly worthy of our affections. Idols of sticks and stone, Idols of entertainment, money, sex ,power, these are just vain things that cannot compare with the glory of God. The paradox of this verse, is that God does not give his glory to idols, but the servant he is worthy of the same glory as the father. The father is speaking about how he shares His glory with no one because he is God. Yet at the same time, God lays his glory upon the Son. For the same reason that the Father has glory. The Son is worthy. Jesus in a humbling passage of John 17:4 said,“I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” God the father shares his glory with no one, except God himself. This is why the jews crucified Jesus. They understood him to be making claims that he is equal to the Father. Jesus is the very glory of God.

Verse Nine: the servant makes all things new

“Behold, the former things have come to pass, and new things I now declare; before they spring forth I tell you of them.”

God reveals his will to his servant. God speaks to the son and he reveals his will to him. Remember Moses was famous for talking to God as one might talk to a friend. The Servant of the Lord. God speaks directly to Jesus Christ. The servant, he knows God’s plans. He knows God’s will. And it still baffles me that Jesus went to the cross. He knew the price that would be paid and he went anyway. Jesus’s whole life was in obedience to the plans of the fathers. Last week I challenged us to learn from the humility of Jesus. This week let us learn from his obedience. We do not know the secret councils of God’s will, but we do have the bible as a light and a guide. Let us learn to walk in faith and live our live’s in submission to God in all things.

Lastly, the Servant makes all things new. God is taking the servant, and he is springing forth change. This word, “forth” is the Hebrew word Samah, for sprout. It is the same word for when God planted a garden for man. It is as though the suffering servant Christ is a new tree that has been planted. He is the firstborn of creation that is restoring the new Eden. Like Romans 11. Jesus is the true Israel that all other branches are grafted into. It is though the servant’s work all things are being made new.

[1]Isaiah 1:2 [2]Genesis 2:7 [3]John 10:28 [4]Gal 3:19-29

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