Crushed for Our Iniquities; Just the Facts: Jesus Is Alive - Mark Dever

From: Capitol Hill Baptist Church [chbc@capitolhillbaptist.org]
Sent: Tuesday, January 08, 2008 7:06 AM
To: vpierre@rooseveltchurch.org
Subject: CHBC - Sermon Summaries - Luke 24 & Isaiah 52:13-53:12
| |   |

 Editor's note: This email contains 2 sermons summaries. The audio of these sermons can be downloaded for free at chbcaudio.org.   

January 6, 2008
Isaiah 52:13-53:12
Crushed for Our Iniquities
Dr. Mark Dever

The prophetic book of Isaiah makes clear that the future of mankind would turn on a person namely a Messiah-King who was God’s special Servant and would offer Himself as a penal substitute on our behalf. How can these two be one in the same? How would a holy God restore and save sinners? These verses provide the answer.

Jesus knew and relied on this passage to explain His earthly ministry. From history we know Jesus was the first to meld the prophecies of the suffering Servant and the ruling King described in the Old Testament.

*1) The Servant is appalling (52:13-15).

• (52:13-15).
  The horrible description in v. 14 is fulfilled in the cross. Verse 15 speaks to Christ’s sacrifice for all nations not Israel alone. Prophecy is often presented in the past tense to emphasize its certainty.

Non-Christian is this the savior/teacher you would construct for your religion? Christian is this the Jesus around whom you are ordering your life and sharing with those around you? What are you doing toward that end?

*2) We despised the Servant (53:1-3).

• (53:1-3).
  The message presented strikes many as incredible (v. 1; see John 12:38). The Servant is unexpected and unattractive; He is not marketable in human terms. We are implicated in His rejection (v. 3).

If Jesus is your example, Christian, why are you surprised by rejection? By your treatment at work? Jesus’ own contemporaries turned away from Him, and we do the same. He chose us because we never would have chosen Him.

*3) God laid our sins on the Servant (v. 4-6).

• (v. 4-6).
  This is the longest meditation in the Bible on how a Holy God will save sinners; this is the answer to the riddle of the Old Testament. Mankind would recognize that the Servant was stricken by God but few would realize He alone did not deserve it. The Servant is an active part of this plan (v. 12). The suffering servant brought us salvation (v. 5). Through celebration of the Passover and the Day of Atonement in Israel, God showed the world His might and holiness and highlighted the need for a God-appointed substitute for sin. We need someone to save us from ourselves.
  

· You have sinned and are responsible for that sin.

You have sinned and are responsible for that sin.· Someone has already paid for your sin and will redeem you if you will only accept His claims and turn from your sin.

Someone has already paid for your sin and will redeem you if you will only accept His claims and turn from your sin.The answer to your guilt is not explaining it through external circumstances, but by owning it and entrusting it to Jesus.

*4) The Servant accepted His substitutionary death (v. 7-9).

• (v. 7-9).
  Note the Servant’s humble acceptance of His role; Jesus was obedient to death because it was God’s plan. The Servant had no wickedness or violence to account for Himself; remember how Pilate declares Jesus guiltless before His execution.

If this Righteous One was so humble in the face of injustice, how much more humble should we be? We should not think so well of ourselves when we forgive others when we consider how much God has forgiven us.

*5) The Servant will be satisfied (v. 10-12).

• (v. 10-12).
  The Servant’s death is effectual. The essence of wisdom in Scripture is knowing God yourself and bringing others to know Him. The Servant’s death is an atoning penal substitute, accepted by God, and the Servant is then exalted. The Servant’s life can be summarized as suffering, then glory.

Note how this passage presumes the resurrection of the suffering Servant. You must grapple with the resurrection to believe Christianity.

Jesus is not waiting to be satisfied by us; He has already found joy in His sacrifice. What greater thing can God do than the Cross to demonstrate His love?

Jesus taught us these verses spoke of Himself. The only true satisfaction you will find is in Christ.

December 16, 2007
Luke 24
Just the Facts: Jesus is Alive
Dr. Mark Dever

Today we discuss the most basic and perhaps surprising fact about Jesus and Christianity itself. Some think Jesus’ resurrection was purely spiritual, or that meaning is found only in the fact that people believe He was resurrected. Is Christianity just another philosophy, or is it a result of God’s historical actions in human history?

*I. An Open Tomb.

*v. 1-12 The women, and later Peter, find the tomb empty. The first surprise is the removed stone the stones were intentionally heavy to avoid grave robberies. Then, Jesus’ body is not found. Even as angels announced Jesus’ birth, they proclaim His resurrection. Jesus had predicted His resurrection twice already in Lake.

What caused the transformation of the frightened disciples during Jesus’ trial and execution into the changed men who all gave their lives spreading the gospel? What would affect that kind of change? A very real, physical resurrection of a dead man.

Friends, this chapter concludes Luke’s gospel in more ways than one. Without the resurrection, the cross is a tragedy and the incarnation we celebrate at Christmas is pointless. The resurrection is the essence of what we believe. It is evidence that Christ’s sacrifice was accepted by God and we have hope.

*II. The Open Scripture and Opened Minds.

*v. 13-32 Jesus’ ministry continues as He opens the disciples’ eyes at last. Going through Scripture, He demonstrates that the Christ was to suffer before His glorification.

Christianity is not a religion of mere feeling and wonder; it is one of understanding, which is why Jesus explains things to His followers. Christianity alone explains why the world is the way it is.

Jesus is the center of the Old Testament foreshadows of Him are everywhere. You cannot understand one without the other.

v. 33-28 This gives us a picture of what the resurrection body will be not a ghost or apparition, nor simply revivification of a corpse.

Jesus describes to the disciples their mission: to spread the news of what God has done. They preach in His name, for He is the sponsor of our salvation in a very real sense, at great personal cost to Himself.

v. 45 Again, Jesus opens their minds. Even an understanding of the gospel is a gift, and nothing to boast in. If God’s Word is to prosper in our own lives He must plow our hard hearts.

*III. An Open Heaven.

*.v. 49 This passage shows Jesus ascending and His disciples awaiting. We get more of a background on this day in Acts 1. Acts 2:33 describes why the Ascension matters it was the deal of Jesus’ divinity, the demonstration that He fulfilled all the promises that preceded Him.

The disciples have joy because they witnessed the completed mission of the Messiah their worst fears have been defeated, and their greatest love fulfilled.

If we have come to believe this message, then we must tell it to those around us everyone God brings into our lives. If the good news of Jesus is meant for the whole world, what are you doing to get it there? 

View this message as HTML in your browser
Forward this message to a friend
Change your email preferences or Unsubscribe