THE PROMISE OF CHRIST'S COMING

Introduction

-{ISAIAH 59}

-I read a story about a multi-millionaire businessman who greatly changed the lives of a sixth-grade class in a poor downtrodden housing area. This was an area where most of the students would not finish formal schooling.

He had been asked to speak to a class of 60 children in the sixth grade. What could he say to inspire these students, most of whom would drop out of school? He wondered how he could capture their attention.

He scrapped his notes and decided to speak from his heart.

“Stay in school,” he encouraged them, “and I’ll help pay the college fees for every one of you.”

At that moment the lives of these students changed. For the first time they had hope. Said one student, “I had something to look forward to, something waiting for me. It was a golden feeling.”

Nearly 90 percent of that class went on to graduate from high school.

-Having something to look forward to makes all the difference in the world. It can change a life from one of despair to hopefulness, from anxiety to peace. And to receive the full impact of what Christmas truly stands for, we need to understand it as an answer to a world that needed something to look forward to.

-Thousands of years ago the world, being as dark and dangerous as it is today, had no answer or recourse to its greatest sin issues.

~Last week I mentioned that the world needed the coming of Christ because the thoughts and intentions of the heart of mankind was only evil continually. And God judged the world by flood but kept alive a glimmer of hope through Noah.

-After the flood the world kept on as it did before, and there still appeared to be no answer in sight. But God, through His prophet, gave a promise of hope. He gave the world something to look forward to—something that actually would be the answer, the cure, the deliverance that was so needed.

-What we find in our passage is that the people’s sins put a barrier between them and God that they could not break through, so God gave a promise that He Himself would act on their behalf.

~~God promised a solution to humanity’s sin problem, which culminated in Christ, the reason we celebrate Christmas. May His first coming lead us to bring our sin problems to Him, avail ourselves of how He solved our greatest need, and in our dark days give us hope as we also look forward to His second coming.

-There are three parts to today’s passage that help us understand the promise that God gave of Christ’s coming:

1) The barrier that sin builds (vv. 1-8)

{Isaiah 59:1-8)

Isaiah 59:1–8 ESV

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness. No one enters suit justly; no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity. They hatch adders’ eggs; they weave the spider’s web; he who eats their eggs dies, and from one that is crushed a viper is hatched. Their webs will not serve as clothing; men will not cover themselves with what they make. Their works are works of iniquity, and deeds of violence are in their hands. Their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their highways. The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths; they have made their roads crooked; no one who treads on them knows peace.

-The Israelites were complaining that God didn’t seem to hear their prayers or act on their behalf. They expected God to be at their every beck and call and went He didn’t seem to follow their ideas they murmured and grumbled against Him.

-God assured them that His hand for action is not short—He is more than capable to act on their behalf. He also assures them that His ears aren’t deaf—He hears every word that they utter. The problem does not lie with God, but the problem lies with them.

-God tells them plainly that their sin created this barrier between their fellowship. Because of their unrepented sin, God would not act on their behalf. Because of their unrepented sin, God would not listen to them.

-God then goes on to read the indictment of all that they have done that created this barrier. They were murderers, they were liars, they spoke other forms of wickedness, they perverted the law and the court system, they did all sorts of mischief and mayhem, running swiftly to all sorts of evil and iniquity.

-All their sin created this barrier between them and God, and it did them harm. God likens it to eating the egg of a poisonous snake, which then poisons them.

-But this barrier was impenetrable for the sinners. I liken it to the Berlin Wall that separated the East from the West—the Communists from the Capitalists. The common people on either side could not get to one another, and they themselves could not rectify the situation. It was a harsh reality that they lived with.

-And so it is with sin. As you see the description given by God through the prophet you notice that things hadn’t changed much from Noah’s day untold thousands of years beforehand. And they experienced the harsh realities of their situation...

2) The experience of unrelenting evil (vv. 9-15a)

{Isaiah 59:9-15a}

Isaiah 59:9–15a ESV

Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom. We grope for the wall like the blind; we grope like those who have no eyes; we stumble at noon as in the twilight, among those in full vigor we are like dead men. We all growl like bears; we moan and moan like doves; we hope for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us. For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities: transgressing, and denying the Lord, and turning back from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words. Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice.

-The prophet gives a confession of the sins of the people, and in the confession he describes the harsh realities that sin brought to the people. Sin is a severe taskmaster that leaves people in terrible shape.

-Isaiah describes it as being in a darkness that never ends. People search and search for a way out, walking here and running there, and all that they find is more darkness.

-In v. 10, Isaiah says that they grope for a wall, they look for something to give them some stability and guidance, they are looking for some sort of escape from their pitiful situation, but they can’t even find the wall. And so they stumble and trip and fall and injure themselves, because there is no spiritual or moral light to guide them—they are unable to deliver themselves from the state that they are in.

~ Imagine walking into a cave and seeing all of the cliffs, pit-holes, and drop-offs and seeing the danger and possibilities of death and then someone turning off all the lights and imagine the fear that now grips your heart because you know the danger but you can’t see to avoid it. Now imagine never have having light to see the danger to begin with and imagine the experience of the sinner.

-He also likens the experience of sin to being as dead men. Even though they might be in the prime of their life, even though they might have the strength of their youth, nevertheless they are so incapable of doing anything about their sad states, it’s as if they were dead.

-Isaiah continues the poetic description of sin’s experience by saying that they growl like bears and moan like doves. This describes the emotional state of mourning and anguish and anger and lamentation. There is no justice, no peace, no hope, no light, no life in a lifestyle of sin—it is physically, spiritually, and emotionally taxing.

-The experience of unrelenting sin is every human in their natural state. There is a barrier between them and God, and their experience is harsh (even though they might not see it that way).

~We look at people and we might say WHY CAN’T THEY SEE THAT WHAT THEY ARE DOING IS WRONG? WHY CAN’T THEY STOP THE EVIL AND WICKEDNESS AND INJUSTICE AND RACISM AND THE LIKE?

~The thing is, they can’t. They don’t know how to get past the barrier. They don’t know how to get out of the darkness. There is nothing for them to look forward to.

-And this is why the promise of Christmas is so important. A humanity, separated from God, in darkness, unable to do anything about it. Thankfully…

3) God supplies our needed Savior (vv. 15b-21)

{Isaiah 59:15b-21}

Isaiah 59:15b–21 ESV

Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him. He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, so will he repay, wrath to his adversaries, repayment to his enemies; to the coastlands he will render repayment. So they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun; for he will come like a rushing stream, which the wind of the Lord drives. “And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord. “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.”

-God sees what’s going on and is obviously displeased. But in poetic language it describes God looking for someone that would be able to intercede on behalf of humanity—and He found none. As the Bible says elsewhere, THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NO, NOT ONE

~This is a reminder that the answer to sin does not lie with humanity. There is no one that is able to bring justice, there is no mortal that can help with the human condition.

-Again, using poetic language, God takes matters into his own hands. It says that God’s own arm would bring about salvation—God Himself would need to provide the righteousness that is required. And He goes on to describe the One that He would send. He goes on to describe the Savior that He would supply. This is Christmas. This is the promise. God Himself provided what was needed for man’s sin problem. And I want to quickly consider how this Savior is described. This is God’s promise to Israel and to the world about the One who would break down the barrier and give light to those in darkness.

a) He satisfies justice

-God did not find anyone who acted justly or followed His law. Therefore, God sent the One who would perfectly follow His righteous standard on behalf of humanity. This One would also satisfy God’s justice for sin as He died on the cross as the acceptable sacrifice.

b) He intercedes between God and man

-In the poetic verse, it described God as looking for an intercessor, someone who could mediate between God and man. God found no one on the earth who was up to the task.

-Jesus is the only one who could represent God to man and represent man to God, since He had both natures. By satisfying justice, He is able to intercede for those who believe.

~Jesus is also able to represent God’s interests to man—enabling man to live in holiness and righteousness.

c) He saves the unrighteous

-in v. 16 it says that God’s own arm brought salvation. While mankind was unrighteous through and through, when every intention of their heart was only evil continually, God provided deliverance from the penalty of sin and the power of sin, releasing people from their guilt and shame if they would believe upon this promised One.

d) He fights for God’s cause

-In v. 17 we have a description of a warrior king. He puts on a breastplate of righteousness, he puts on a helmet of salvation, He is clothed with vengeance against those who harden their heart in opposition to God, He wraps Himself in zeal for the Lord and His name and His reputation.

-Jesus is a warrior king who fights God’s enemies, all who would defame the Holy name of our awesome God.

-But Jesus fights on our behalf as well. Jesus fights against our enemies, tripping them up in their schemes as they shoot their fiery darts at us. And He calls his people to join Him in the fight. When Paul described the armor of God, it wasn’t merely to be on the defensive, it was for us to go on the offensive with Jesus as He storms the gates of Hell and snatches souls from sin and death’s grasp.

e) He gathers the nations to God

-For quite a long time Israel thought that God only existed for them and their earthly comfort. But they missed their calling, because they were to be a light unto the nations.

-Now, through the Savior, it says in v. 19 that the world will fear the name of the Lord, and people from the west and from the rising of the sun in the east, from all over the globe, would gather themselves to Him and give glory to God.

-Jesus’ salvation isn’t for a particular people, nation, or denomination, but for all the world to take part in, and so we give the call throughout the globe to come to the Savior that God supplied on Christmas morning.

f) He redeems the slave from sin

-v. 20 says that this Savior will be a Redeemer. A redeemer was someone who bought someone back.

~For example, in Israelite culture, if a close relative’s land fell into the hands of someone outside the family, a kinsman redeemer would buy the land back to keep it in the family.

~Or if a close family member had to sell themselves into slavery or servitude because of a debt they owed, a redeemer would pay their debt and buy them back out of slavery.

-Jesus, the Savior, is our Redeemer. We were in slavery to sin with a debt that we would never be able to pay on our own. And Jesus paid the price, and set us free, never to be a slave again.

g) He makes an unbreakable covenant

-At the beginning of v. 21 God says that He would make a covenant with people through this Savior. A covenant was a binding agreement that had certain conditions.

~Jesus told His disciples that He was setting up a new covenant with His blood. Jesus took our sins on Him and died, and for those who believe they are given Christ’s righteousness. This is an eternal covenant that cannot be broken. Once you are in covenant with God in Christ it is forever.

h) He gives God’s Word and Spirit

-In v. 21 God says that this Savior would speak the very words of God and put those words into the heart of His people so that they too would speak those words and live those words.

~And it says that the Spirit that is upon this Messiah would also be upon His people—the Holy Spirit that came upon Jesus and empowered His earthly ministry is the same Spirit that would indwell God’s people to empower them for their work.

-You see, we are not left without guidance. We have the Word and we have the Spirit, and we can live for righteously for God when we rely on both of these that have been provided.

Conclusion

-In Isaiah’s day, the world was in darkness, and they were in bad shape, but God gave a promise—and the promise was fulfilled on Christmas day.

~Christian, let that promise be your hope, because now we await the other promise, (something to look forward to) that this same Savior will come again…

~But, if you are in the darkness of sin, only Jesus can release you from that bondage…