More than forgiven
Notes
Transcript
Scripture
Scripture
21 “Remember these, O Jacob,
And Israel, for you are My servant;
I have formed you, you are My servant;
O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me!
22 I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions,
And like a cloud, your sins.
Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”
23 Sing, O heavens, for the Lord has done it!
Shout, you lower parts of the earth;
Break forth into singing, you mountains,
O forest, and every tree in it!
For the Lord has redeemed Jacob,
And glorified Himself in Israel.
24 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
And He who formed you from the womb:
“I am the Lord, who makes all things,
Who stretches out the heavens all alone,
Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;
25 Who frustrates the signs of the babblers,
And drives diviners mad;
Who turns wise men backward,
And makes their knowledge foolishness;
26 Who confirms the word of His servant,
And performs the counsel of His messengers;
Who says to Jerusalem, ‘You shall be inhabited,’
To the cities of Judah, ‘You shall be built,’
And I will raise up her waste places;
27 Who says to the deep, ‘Be dry!
And I will dry up your rivers’;
28 Who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd,
And he shall perform all My pleasure,
Saying to Jerusalem, “You shall be built,”
And to the temple, “Your foundation shall be laid.” ’
More than forgiveness
More than forgiveness
As if we had never sinned
A Song of Ascents.
1 When the Lord brought back the captivity of Zion,
We were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
And we are glad.
4 Bring back our captivity, O Lord,
As the streams in the South.
5 Those who sow in tears
Shall reap in joy.
6 He who continually goes forth weeping,
Bearing seed for sowing,
Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,
Bringing his sheaves with him.
Oh that our sins were as easy to recover from as wakening from a dream.
And yet, that is the case
Joseph and Mary. - How could he marry her, even if he forgave her, that question would always be there. She would be someone he didn’t know.
But then - like awakening from a dream.
We did it. Those sins that plague us will always torment us.
Joseph’s brothers were still plagued, decades after the event. They were sure that Joseph would get revenge.
So also we are with God. We will not come to him because he is too holy and we are too sinful. We won’t trust him. How can he be good when our sins are too numerous?
He blots out transgression - he calls us righteous, when we are not - and he can do this by uniting us to Christ, the Israel of God.
The curse is taken away by his sufferings and death.
And the blessings of the covenant are given by his obedience
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
And the purpose of it is that we might be reconciled to God. From his perspective, our sins are washed away and they are no more.
Now we must lay our fear at the foot of the cross and believe his word.
Return to me, for I have redeemed you,
16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.
20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.
God himself is reconciling the world to himself.
He went to the cross that we might KNOW that he took upon himself the curse that lay upon me.
That I might approach him boldly and without fear, as a loved child.
Now - he says, return to me, for I have redeemed you.
What do we have to do anymore with idols?
If God is for us, who can be against us?
17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;
His words, though, are not empty vibrations in the dark, but creative and powerful, bringing the reality into being.
And he does this by the power of his words:
The power of the Word
The power of the Word
A Psalm of David.
1 Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones,
Give unto the Lord glory and strength.
2 Give unto the Lord the glory due to His name;
Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.
3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters;
The God of glory thunders;
The Lord is over many waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful;
The voice of the Lord is full of majesty.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars,
Yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes them also skip like a calf,
Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the wilderness;
The Lord shakes the Wilderness of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth,
And strips the forests bare;
And in His temple everyone says, “Glory!”
10 The Lord sat enthroned at the Flood,
And the Lord sits as King forever.
11 The Lord will give strength to His people;
The Lord will bless His people with peace.
God created and upholds all things with his words.
The babblers guess, the wise men prattle, but only God brings the reality to pass.
He does as he pleases.
This is the difference between the prophets of paganism and the prophets of God.
False prophets use magic to seek to guess what God is going to do. Sometimes trickery is involved, sometimes demonic spirits (more so before Christ, and more so at the end of the age).
They are known by comparing what they say to the doctrine of the bible. If they seek to lead one away from the rest and peace of the gospel, they are false prophets.
In Isaiah’s time, prophets were a big business. Through demonic influence and the signs and wonders that God allowed them to work, they were able to fool people by telling them what they wanted to hear.
Isaiah was accused of treason for pronouncing judgment. Jeremiah was thrown in prison for pronouncing judgment.
The popular message was “We are the people of God. We are particularly blessed. Quit speaking to us about sin, and especially the sins of the nation.
And laws were passed making it illegal to speak about the sins of the nation...
But God’s word is established. The words of the diviners drove them to madness. The wise men of the age were proven to be foolish. The counselors driven into hiding, and the prophets of God - weak, persecuted, poor, outcast - were vindicated. Their words were established, because God did it.
These words that the prophets spoke were not like natural words. These words accomplished what God sent them to accomplish.
When the word was made flesh, he spoke, and it was done.
The paralytic - rise, your sins are forgiven.