Isaiah 43-44, God's New Work

Gospel According to Isaiah  •  Sermon  •  Submitted
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Intro
Group Intro
- Goal
We are to eagerly hunger for spiritual nutrition in greater degrees - Spiritually mature
Regardless of your background or where you are in your relationship with Jesus, you are called to grow
- What we do
Scripture
Prayer
Community
Lesson Intro
Last Lesson
Background - the Babylonian Invasion
God’s message for His people? Comfort
The Gospel - Behold your God
Look at His character as creator, Why trust idols?
Look at His character as sustainer, why doubt His steadfast love?
Unlike man who fickle, God’s Word will stand forever
What is God’s word? He builds a highway to His people.
Context
What were some of these events? Were they showers of blessings or trials?
Why did God send these trials? What do we learn about Hezekiah?
How did the last story end? - a prophecy of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem
re and power to restore His people
Previous couple chapters were like a hinge that binds the halves of the book together
There is a change in setting
Not the concrete present day with clearly identified characters
This passage has a lot of the same framework (Declare God’s character, then consider the implications)
Now future, characters are more figurative
But it zeros in a bit more. How is God able to make good on His promise? How can a holy God declare comfort to a rebellious people?
Not that future history doesnt matter, but the specific events of mankind fade as the reality of God and his plans come into focus
There is a change in theme
Change in tone - not coming judgment but coming restoration
Two great conjunctions in this passage - Yet, But
Focus on God who will do this personally
Confirms both God’s desire and power to restore His people
Intro Questions
What is the purpose of God’s people?
Where do you run for comfort?
What does it mean to have a representative? What are some examples for our world? From the Bible?
Read
Reading across chapter divisions
Two great conjunctions in this passage - Yet, But
God’s Ideal Plan
His Character - v. 14-15
Redeemer - What does this mean?
Savior, buys us out of slavery
Holy One (2x) - What does this mean?
God in His work in us, does not lose Himself
He never accommodates himself to a human situation by ceasing to be what he really is. In acts of redemption he is as holy as in acts of wrath. Motyer, J. A.
* * * * He never accommodates himself to a human situation by ceasing to be what he really is. In acts of redemption he is as holy as in acts of wrath. Motyer, J. A. .
Creator - What does this mean?
Made creation, designed us
King - What does this mean?
Rules us, fights for us, judges for us
His Work
Overcoming His enemies - v. 14-15
He will overcome and conquer the Babylonians,
The ones who destroyed Judah will be themselves destroyed
He will silence their rejoicing
Leading His people home - v. 16-19
Exodus themes
Makes a way in the sea
Brings forth chariot
They cannot rise
God will rescue His people. And they same means of salvation will be means of wrath on God’s enemies.
His new thing
Yet God tells His people that he doesnt just work in the past - Former things, things of old
Behold, He will do a new thing
God’s highway to the wilderness - God is coming to the messy broken world to get us
God is working salvation that is bigger than the exodus, that will make the exodus seem like small potatoes
First note of challenge -Do you not perceive it?
His People - v. 20-21
Definition - The people God forms for Himself
The Bible can be read as God forming a people for Himself
The Bible can be read as God forming a people for Himself
Adam & Eve, Israel, the Church
All called out of the world to be a new family
Like a potter and jar
He makes them for His own reasons and purposes
He shapes them to fulfill that purpose
Purpose - So that they might declare His praise
Chief end of man - to glorify God and enjoy Him forever
Our purpose is not to get promoted, be a good parent, love your husband. It is is worship God.
Now worshipping God means living life according to the way He designed (work diligently, love your family, etc).
But the question is do you worship God so that you can please your husband, or do you love you husband because you worship God?
Application
How are we in exile waiting for exodus?
We are in a foreign land with a foreign culture under a secular government
Our hope is to come to the heavenly city on a hill, Mount Zion
Do we state with John - Amen Come Lord Jesus?
Or do we not perceive it? (get caught up with circumstances that we miss the bigger work God is doing)
Do we praise God for what He has done? Do we live the life of gratitude that should characterize His people? (John’s sermon)
Reality of God’s people - v. 22-24
God had done His half of the work
Made His people and formed them by His work in their lives so they would praise Him
First conjunction - Yet what does He find in His people? the fallen reality of a broken people
They do not call me; you have been weary of me
The fallen reality of His people
Can make it seem small, inconvenient, not fundamental unsolvable problem
Paul Tripp - It is a like a crystal glass shattered on the ground.
The fallen reality of His people
They do not call me; you have been weary of me
God’s people no longer look to Him for help, we no longer hope in Him
God delights is helping us
Yet instead of being thankful, we get bored and annoyed by God
God has made us for Himself to praise Him,
Yet we try to live life on our own like a moody teenager who tries to distance himself from his parents
Like a jar with a hole it, we are not fulfilling the purpose God made us for
Do you get bored of asking God for help? Does hoping in God seem like an annoyance? Do you try to solve problems on your own?
You have not honored me with your sacrifices,
Worship is going wrong
It is stopped either internally (show up but dont put your heart into it) or externally (stop going at all)
Here we see clearly God’s people abandoning worshipping and praising him
Burdened me with your sins
Beyond just apathy, we add to it our active sin
Wordplay - we are wearied of God, but really God is wearied of us
How does it make you feel that God weary of you?
It makes us uncomfortable when the Bible uses these emotional descriptions of God
And to be clear, God isnt emotional in the sense of impulsive
But think of it this way - who was more the right to be wearied?
The jar being wearied by having to fulfill its purpose by holding water
Or the potter who has a jar with a hole in it
Our weariness with God is absurd, childish, and stupid
God’s weariness with our apathy and brokenness is justified frustration
Soften terminology
We use words like broken, distorted, messy, weakness, struggles to talk about sin
These are helpful words, but sometimes we use them soften the ugliness of sin
There are several words that I am subconsciously softening in order to not sound like a sweaty, weird Christian… But when Christ died on the cross He didn’t do so because He wanted to shift my paradigm. He didn’t come to help me realize my full potential and unpack my baggage. He died because my sin was so great it separated me from God. He died so that my sin would die too. - Jon Acuff, Stuff Christians Like
Can make it seem small, inconvenient, not fundamental unsolvable problem
Recent euphemisms don’t quite capture this active sense of opposition, pride, hostility, and violation against God, his creatures, and his world… most of these euphemisms (if used exclusively) downplay the agency and responsibility of persons. - Derek Rishmawy
Recent euphemisms don’t quite capture this active sense of opposition, pride, hostility, and violation against God, his creatures, and his world… most of these euphemisms (if used exclusively) downplay the agency and responsibility of persons. - Derek Rishmawy
How can brokenness be a helpful word?
There are several words that I am subconsciously softening in order to not sound like a sweaty, weird Christian… But when Christ died on the cross He didn’t do so because He wanted to shift my paradigm. He didn’t come to help me realize my full potential and unpack my baggage. He died because my sin was so great it separated me from God. He died so that my sin would die too. - Jon Acuff, Stuff Christians Like
Not like a handle broken off a coffee mug,
Recent euphemisms don’t quite capture this active sense of opposition, pride, hostility, and violation against God, his creatures, and his world… most of these euphemisms (if used exclusively) downplay the agency and responsibility of persons. - Derek Rishmawy
Recent euphemisms don’t quite capture this active sense of opposition, pride, hostility, and violation against God, his creatures, and his world… most of these euphemisms (if used exclusively) downplay the agency and responsibility of persons. - Derek Rishmawy
One-diminsional, affecting only one specific area
Inconvenient, but not enough to throw it away
Easy to fix with super glue
Which leads to the second problem: most of these euphemisms (if used exclusively) downplay the agency and responsibility of persons
Paul Tripp - It is a like a crystal glass shattered on the ground.
Not created evil - Yes you can see some of the beauty it once was - We were made beautiful
Scale - all of it is in pieces - All of this world and every part of you is shattered
Scale - all of it is in pieces - All of this world and every part of you is shattered
Lost purpose - It is gone and not able to be used at all - We no longer fulfill our purpose of praising God
You cant fix it - A million pieces, some microscopic pieces are under the fridge, cannot be made whole again - We cant rebuild ourselves or those around us
Worship as God intends
The Courtroom
Set the scene
Let us argue together like a lawyer and judge
Set forth your case
God is a holy God, our sin separates us an leaves us in debt
God declares what He will do - v. 25
Starts with a declaration - I, I am He
Like a king declaring his total authority and sovereign purpose
He will do this without our involvement
His purpose
Blot out transgressions, remember sin no more
Erase our debt
Why? - His own sake
How? - unresolved tension, how can a holy God ignore sin?
The evidence - v. 26-27
Rhetorically asks us to present a case for God to accept us, How do we justify ourselves beign God’s people?
Evidence presented
First father sinned
Not only are you sinful, but you have always been sinful -
Sometimes we want things to be the way they used to be, but there was never a golden age
Original sin
God treats us based on the faithfulness of the mediator
God treats us based on the faithfulness of the mediator
Think of the deal between David and Goliath - If I beat you then you are our slaves and vice versa
Problem
The covenant mediators sinned
Adam, Moses, the judges, David, Hezekiah, they were all unfaithful
Confession explanation
Original sin explained - By this sin [Adam and Eve] fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the parts and faculties of soul and body.
By this sin they fell from their original righteousness and communion with God, and so became dead in sin, and wholly defiled in all the parts and faculties of soul and body. They being the root of all mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed; and the same death in sin, and corrupted nature, conveyed to all their posterity descending from them by ordinary generation. From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions. Every sin, both original and actual, being a transgression of the righteous law of God, and contrary thereunto, doth, in its own nature, bring guilt upon the sinner,
How original sin is counted to us - [Because they were] the root of all mankind, the guilt of this sin was imputed; and the same death in sin, and corrupted nature, conveyed to all their [descendants]...
How original sin affects us - From this original corruption, whereby we are utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do proceed all actual transgressions...
The penalty - Every sin, both original and actual, being a transgression of the righteous law of God, and contrary thereunto, doth, in its own nature, bring guilt upon the sinner,
Is this fair?
We didnt eat the fruit. We didnt vote for Adam to be our congressman.
Adam, Moses, David
It runs deeply contrary to our cultural values, but this is what the Bible tells us about how He created us
But is it fair for God to set up Jesus as our covenant mediator?
The good news, we have a better representative - Therefore, as on trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification -
God declares the verdict deserved by this evidence - v.28
God declares the verdict deserved by this evidence - v.28
Destruction and reviling
This is the covenant curse
Remember covenant is like a contract. It is broader than that, but it does have contractual structures
God had covenant blessing for faithfulness by His people
And curses, such as exile, destruction of the temple, lost of prosperity, for sin
God is declaring based on the evidence, Isreal has triggered the curse clause of the contract
God’s New Work
But Now - v. 1
Group Intro
Heb 5:13-14 - Goal
We are to eagerly hunger for spiritual nutrition in greater degrees - Spiritually mature
Regardless of your background or where you are in your relationship with Jesus, you are called to grow
Acts 2:42 - What we do
Scripture
Prayer
Community
Lesson Intro
Last Lesson
Past few chapters had been stories of God working in the life of Hezekiah.
What were some of these events? Were they showers of blessings or trials?
Why did God send these trials? What do we learn about Hezekiah?
How did the last story end? - a prophecy of the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem
The second big conjunction
New section
Previous couple chapters were like a hinge that binds the halves of the book together
There is a change in setting
Not the concrete present day with clearly identified characters
The great, unexpected good news of the Gospel
Now future, characters are more figurative
Not that future history doesnt matter, but the specific events of mankind fade as the reality of God and his plans come into focus
There is a change in theme
- But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law
Change in tone - not coming judgment but coming restoration
Focus on God who will do this personally
Confirms both God’s desire and power to restore His people
Intro Questions
- But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come… by the means of His own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption
How do you feel about studying God’s character?
Where do you run for comfort?
Read Isaiah 40
God’s special knowledge of His people - v. 2
God has carved out His people - Chosen
Yes He created everyone, but there is a people He has chosen
Made them and formed them, even before birth
The sense of a deep fatherly, tender concern and care for this people
He will help them - He is a protective, loving father
My servant - a special role distinct from the mass of fallen humanity
Names
Jacob - Special name, the father of all Israel
Jeshurun
The root is the word for upright, righteous
Tender diminutive - sense of my Grace is my little girl
Together it has something close to the sense of God babying talking to us “good boy”
Perhaps a pun
Jacob means deceiver, and Jeshurun means upright
God loves a Jacob-like people who do not live up the uprightness they were made to be
But in that love, He see use as upright through the righteousness of Christ. And he is transforming us from Jacob’s into Jeshurun’s
God’s New work - v. 3
Pouring Himself on His people like rain on thirsty ground
Look at the rich images of life returning to dead land
The Spirit will come on your descendents (the church in pentecost)
Side note: passage like this is why we pour and not immerse during baptism
God is not just paying for our sin, but to give us the rich life we were supposed have
He is giving us the covenant blessing we did not deserve
He doesnt explain here the how the cross restores us to God
He is setting up the servant songs that prophecy the work of Christ
But the good news is that we are no longer under original sin, we have a better representative
Therefore, as on trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification -
Result of God’s work - v. 4-5
God’s people are living out their purpose
They will fulfill the purpose of v.21 that they failed to do in v.22
They will fulfill the purpose of v.21 that they failed to do in v.22
They are praising God
No longer apathetic is worship
No longer apathetic is worship
They will define their identity in Him
No longer wearied to ask God for help
We can now cling to Christ as our representative -
Visible and invisible church
Instead of being defined by our sin, we are defined by His righteousness
Like a bride who drops the last name of her old family to take the name of her new husband, We define ourselves by the name of Christ
Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more. - Jer 31:31-34
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
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