RAISED AND SATISFIED

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RAISED AND SATISFIED Isaiah 53:1-12 April 24, 2011 Given by: Pastor Rich Bersett [Index of Past Messages] Introduction This week I was visiting with one of our folks here and that person said in rather surprised tones, “I’ve been studying the Old Testament, and ‘you know what? I like it!” The individual didn’t have a clue I would be preaching from an Old Testament text this morning, but it’s true—the Old Testament is fun. I think the most exciting thing in the Old Testament is the vast number of texts that speak of the New Testament to come: the promise of God to send a Messiah, dozens and dozens of perfectly precise predictions about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus who came in fulfillment of all God’s promises. Thus the New Testament complements the Old Testament by fulfilling it, while the Old Testament complements the New by forecasting it. No greater truth is declared in either Testament than the stunning event we celebrate today—the resurrection of Jesus Christ from death on the third day after he was crucified. It happened exactly as he predicted it would months before his crucifixion and death, while He was still alive. And it happened exactly as Isaiah predicted it over 700 years beforehand. Read Text of Isaiah 53 We often think of this text as the powerful prophecy of the suffering and death of Jesus, but too easily overlook the fact that it also includes one of the Old Testament’s most profound forecasts of His resurrection as well. Watch for it in verse 11. [Advance slides 2through 5 respectively when we reach vs. 10]. What we’re told in this magnificent chapter is that it was necessary for the servant of the Lord to die. In some ways, that’s as difficult for us to understand as it was for His disciples who were disbelieving every time He told them what was going to happen to Him. Why was it necessary? This is the question that is not only posed by Isaiah 53, but also answered. It’s a crucial question because all of creation wonders why the God of heaven sent His Son to earth to be a “Suffering Servant”. The angels and the prophets all wondered at these things, 1 Peter 1 tells us. If every being wonders about the incarnation, they surely wonder why, when the Son of God comes to our planet, why He had to die. The first reason this Servant of the Lord had to die is that his death was necessary for Him to be our Redeemer. Verses 4-6 make it plain: God the Son was to take the place of sinners. His suffering would be payment for their (our) sins. Surely he took up our infirmities … he was pierced for our transgressions … crushed for our iniquities … the punishment that brought us peace was upon him … by his wounds we are healed. A pastor of a metropolitan church said that an 8-year old girl had been caught shoplifting in their church’s bookstore. Her parents brought her in to apologize to the pastor. She cried as she explained that she had no money but wanted the book, so she took it. She knew it was wrong but did it anyway. He gently told her she did right by confessing and they agreed it would be fair to pay back the $5 the book cost plus three times that amount. She wiped away her tears and agreed. Then the pastor took out his wallet, found a twenty dollar bill and handed it to the girl. “I’m going to pay it for you. Do you know why? Because I care about you – and that’s just how Jesus feels about you.” Forgiven and redeemed by a substitutionary payment. The second reason it was necessary for Him to die was the Lord’s Servant wanted above all else to do the Lord’s will. But, surely it wasn’t the will of God that His Son should die unjustly, was it? We are surprised to learn what verse 10 has to say: Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer… You might be thinking this is unjust and unloving. But precisely the opposite is true. Romans 3 explains that when Jesus gave His life, He did this to demonstrate his justice because to the just and holy God sin could not go unpunished. Well, it may be just, but it’s not very loving to let His innocent Son die! Oh, but it is! Because God loved you—and me—and wanted to make us right again before Him. Rom. 3: 26 – he did it to demonstrate his justice…so as to be just AND the one who justifies the man who has faith in Christ. Yes, but it wasn’t very just and loving toward His Son! No, it wasn’t. But that’s what love costs and that’s what justice demands. Remember, Jesus and the Father are one in that mysterious but wonderful Trinitarian formula, so in a very real sense, God paid for our sins Himself. He opened the wallet of His love, removed the incarnated life of His Son, and handed Him over to cover your sins. Why? He wants you reconciled to Himself again, and that required a suffering redeemer. Thirdly, the death of the Servant set the stage for the ultimate act of God: the resurrection from death of that sacrificial servant. Consider the central place in God’s plan the resurrection of Jesus holds. By raising Him from the dead, He vindicated Jesus as His righteous servant and Son, proving that His death was not that of a criminal or religious blasphemer, but that of the righteous, forgiving and redeeming Son of God. In the resurrection He also established forever that Jesus was the Messiah, Savior of all, the promised Suffering Servant and God. When Jesus was raised from the dead, the Bible says, it was also a statement that all who trust in Him will likewise rise to eternal life in heaven with Him. Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though he dies. Then whoever lives and believes in me will never die. That promise could never stand if Jesus died as the suffering servant and stayed dead. When He rose he certified forever that His word is true I go to prepare a place for you, so that where I am you may be also. Because He rose and lives forever in the presence of God the Father, the promise He gave is confirmed. We who trust in Him will also rise and will live forever with Him. Finally, Jesus had to die to actualize God’s redeeming love. Because of His justice God could not just wave His divine hand and pronounce forgiveness. If He did, He would be loving in a human understanding, but He would not be just. Because of His love He could not bear to send us into Hell for eternity without extending His final loving gesture—His divine amnesty. That would have been just of God, but not loving. In keeping with His character, he displayed His love and His justice in the giving of His only begotten Son. Then he made it all official with the resurrection, just like He said He would 700 years before. Conclusion Let’s focus for in our closing moments on verse 11. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied. There it is, Christ will be raised after his suffering, and He will be satisfied. It was prophesied by God 700 years before it happened! He saw the light of life after He suffered and died for us. Forever our hope is sure now, because of the resurrection of Jesus. But what does it mean that he will be “satisfied”? Look at the second part of verse 11 again: By his knowledge (this is a difficult translation; it means that “by knowledge of Him”; that is, by coming into a faith relationship with Jesus) my righteous servant will justify many, (justify means to make them right—this is what Jesus did for all of us who repent and trust in him—He forgives us our sins and redeems us, reconciling us back to the Father) and he will bear their iniquities. So what would “satisfy” the Son of God, who condescended from heaven to become a man, to suffer unjustly on behalf of those who sinned against Him, Who died unjustly, even though He is the only human who ever deserved to live? What would be “satisfaction” for this One? Read verse 12. Let me ask you parents, what is the satisfaction you seek as you give your lives to raise your kids to be healthy, happy and holy? After working your career, providing all they need, giving your life for them, what would satisfy you? Wouldn’t it be that they would hear your counsel, obey you while they’re young and grow to maturity, making you proud of them? Well, let me tell you what satisfies the Lord’s Servant: when those for whom He suffered and died come to faith in Him, are forgiven and saved by His grace, and give their lives to Him in loving devotion to live with Him forever in heaven. Wouldn’t it be eternal satisfaction to our Savior that many would be saved? This was the will of the Father all along; it was why He sent His Son; it’s what He wants above all. To set us free from the bondage of our sin and judgment through Jesus Christ! Paul Harvey told the story of a little boy, whom doting parents had spoiled into a brat. The boy carried with him a sack, and in the sack there was the most pitiful kind of stirring. He had captured some tiny birds. The sound of imprisoned wing-beats slapped hopelessly at the heavy manila walls. A pitiful chirping now and then issued from the little paper prison that he swung at his side. He met an old man as he walked along. "Whatcha got in that sack?" asked the old man. "I got a sack full of sparrows!" said the little boy. "What are you going to do with them?" asked the old man. "I'm going to take them out of the sack, one by one, and tease them—pull a feather out now and then, and then I'll release them to the cat for his dinner." "How much would you sell the whole sack for?" asked the old man. The little boy thought for a moment and decided that he should put a lot of capital on the venture and dicker down if he had to, so he threw out the figure: "I'll take two dollars for the sack!" "Done," said the old man; and he reached in his pocket, pulled out the two dollars, and gave them to the lad. The lad then handed him the sack. The old man held it far more kindly than the reckless youngster had. In a moment he untwisted the coiled paper neck of the bag and pulled it open. In but a little bit, the sky connected brilliantly with the open inside of the bag and the birds were gone. And so it happened one day that God met Lucifer with a huge bag. Inside the bag were the most hopeless sounds of life struggling to be free. Humanity was bagged for brokenness. Bagged were the sounds of human children crying into stolid sacksides—the sounds of old men wailing in pain. "What have you got in the bag?" asked the Father. "The people," smirked Lucifer. "And what will you do with them?" "I will torment them one by one, and when they are all worn out with trials, I will throw them into hell." "And what will you take for all of them?" "Your only Beloved." "Done!" said the Father. And He reached down to earth and gave us the gift of His Son. And in such a happy trade-off have we come to hold the key to the resurrection and the life.     [ Back to Top]          
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