2022-4-3, Isaiah:Redemption Foretold- We All Need Redemption, Isaiah 1: 1-20

Hook

Mortgaged, repossessed, auctioned Monopoly properties.

But wouldn’t be great if those properties could be reclaimed, un-mortgaged, restored to their group, and then developed with houses and hotels?

We are like these properties.

We used to belong to the Lord, but our sin separated us from God. We fell far from where we were and God’s plan for us. We became owned by sin, death, and the devil, corrupted and condemned to emptiness.

We all need redemption.

Book

Context

The Book of Isaiah, 7th & 8th centuries by Isaiah, son of Amoz.

He was a prophet during the divided kingdom.

This was a tumultuous time in greater Israel’s history: the northern kingdom destroyed and the southern kingdom severely threatened by the Assyrians.

Israel is God’s chosen people. God rescued Israel out of Egypt and gave to them the promised Land. There, they would be His people and He would be their God.

They were supposed to worship and serve the Lord and enjoy fellowship with Him as a blessed nation.

However, Israel turned to idolatry and worshipped false Gods.

Therefore, God judged them for their sin and sold them to the surrounding nations.

Yet, God never let them go completely. Someday, God wills that Israel will repent and believe and return to the Lord, and experience the fulness of God’s promises.

Isaiah’s message to is two fold- bad news, good news

Israel needs redemption.

God will give Israel a Redeemer.

This book matters to us because Israel serves as a mirror to reflect the spiritual condition of all humanity.

The message of this passage is one for people who are yet to become followers of Jesus and those who already are and have received redemption for salvation.

For the latter, there is another expression of redemption you will want to hear about.

Isaiah’s message is also for us. Bad news, good news

Hence, the earlier point: We all need redemption

In this series we will see a message of hope also.

God has given us a Redeemer.

Passage

Isaiah 1:1–4 ESV

1 The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah. 2 Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth; for the Lord has spoken: “Children have I reared and brought up, but they have rebelled against me. 3 The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master’s crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.” 4 Ah, sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, offspring of evildoers, children who deal corruptly! They have forsaken the Lord, they have despised the Holy One of Israel, they are utterly estranged.

Rebellion- criminal, disloyal

Intentional ignorance

Sinful

Iniquity

Forsaken- leave behind, abandoned

Despised- Spurned

Estranged

They pass sin on to their children

Isaiah 59:2 ESV

2 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.

Israel is a reflection of humanity, so what is said to them about sin is true for us also.

Romans 5:12 ESV

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

This is the curse of Adam

Romans 3:23 ESV

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Like Israel, our sin has separated us from God.

Another effect of sin-

Sin twists and contorts our hearts morally.

Isaiah 5:20–23 ESV

20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight! 22 Woe to those who are heroes at drinking wine, and valiant men in mixing strong drink, 23 who acquit the guilty for a bribe, and deprive the innocent of his right!

and...

Jeremiah 17:9 ESV

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Isaiah continues...

Isaiah 1:5–8 ESV

5 Why will you still be struck down? Why will you continue to rebel? The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. 6 From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and raw wounds; they are not pressed out or bound up or softened with oil. 7 Your country lies desolate; your cities are burned with fire; in your very presence foreigners devour your land; it is desolate, as overthrown by foreigners. 8 And the daughter of Zion is left like a booth in a vineyard, like a lodge in a cucumber field, like a besieged city.

The effects of sin have thoroughly affected them, and their nation. A little background:

Assyria

Isaiah 1:11–15 ESV

11 “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. 12 “When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? 13 Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations— I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. 14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood.

Israel worshipped false gods. Yet, they also went through the motions of worshipping God according to the Law.

God rejected Israel’s worship while sin remained in their hearts.

Likewise, God rejects our worship if sin lives in us.

Israel was in sad shape.

We are too in our sin.

Last section brings good news.

Isaiah 1:16–20 ESV

16 Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, 17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause. 18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; 20 but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

God desired Israel to be redeemed.

This is God’s desire for us

vs. 18

You know, I don’t like losing at Monopoly. I really do not like mortgaging properties. Maybe I’m type A, because I like to own all the properties in a set and I like houses and hotels on all of them. Only in this way are they doing what I want them to do. If I ever had to mortgage one and, heaven forbid, sell it to another player, I would want to redeem it and restore it to what it should be.

This is a far cry from the magnitude of God’s desire for your to redeemed from sin and restored fully to Him

LOOK

This passage should be taken differently by two different groups of people.

Non Christ followers- The interpretation and meaning of this passage is more direct and easier to understand.

Bad news:

Your sin separates you from God.

It twists and contorts your heart.

God does not accept your worship because of your sin.

You need to be redeemed.

Good news:

God desires for you to be redeemed

Isaiah 1:18 ESV

18 “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.

He wants this for you.

Through Isaiah, God is going to speak about the Redeemer He has given. That Redeemer is Jesus Christ.

A. Admit your sin. The first step to receiving redemption is to acknowledge you need it.

B. Believe in the Jesus of Scripture and the work He did on the cross and the resurrection

C. Call on the name of Christ- trust Him exclusively

Romans 10:13 ESV

13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Pray with sincerity and act accordingly. You will be forgiven.

Look #2

For Christ followers, I hope you didn’t write off this message as not pertaining to you. I hope you were not confused.

If you’ve followed Christ through faith, your every sin has been forgiven and your walk in a perpetual state of forgiveness because of the constant and thorough grace of Jesus Christ.

When the Father sees you, He sees the righteousness of His perfect Son Jesus. He sees cancelled debt. He sees you as your own, holy and precious in His sight.

You have a new nature.

2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

You are redeemed, justified by the cross regarding sin.

However, there are parts of your redemption which are in process and incomplete. They are guaranteed, but they’ve not been realized yet.

Your inheritance of heaven

1 Peter 1:3–5 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

2. You resurrection body

1 Corinthians 15:42 ESV

42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.

3. Your freedom from the sin of the flesh.

1 Corinthians 3:2–3 ESV

2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?

One day, sin will be completely removed from you. You will no be tempted in it or grieve the Holy Spirit by doing sin.

In this regard you are being redeemed.

It is true for you, We all need redemption.

Brethren, what sin entangles you?

Hebrews 12:1 ESV

1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,

Will you admit that, though saved, you need the Lord to deliver you from sins in your Christian life?

What parts of your life need redeeming- to be sanctified?

Admitting you need it is the first step of receiving.

The next step is identifying it.

1. Sometimes we know right away what we do is wrong because the Spirit of God stirs our conscience.

2. Sometimes it is exposure to the Word of God with points out sin in our lives.

3. Sometimes it is a fellow Christians or a family member or friend who points sin out to us.

When it comes to sin, “Knowing is half the battle.” Then you can do something about it: Confessing and Clearing it. I’ll talk more about this another time.

Pray- We are like Israel. We all need redemption. Some, redemption for salvation, others, redemption for cleansing of sin.

Lord, show me in what way I need redemption.

Help me to know that Jesus Christ is my Redeemer.