Sermons
Willful sin demands a willing substitute. That substitute has to be one that was without spot or blemish, a perfect sacrifice. That is what our willful sin demands, and Christ is the lamb without blemish who willfully was led to the slaughter in our stead.
Christian unique makes sense of suffering. Christ, the suffering servant, gives both meaning and hope to suffering. He himself suffered for us.
We continue our series through the servant songs of Isaiah, "The Satisfied Servant." In this passage we began to see how the Servant is a comforting servant.
God has not left us without a word in a time of uncertainty and distress, in fact, most of God's word speaks in times of uncertainty and distress. It is through God word that we can reflect Christ's power, hence in our weakness Christ is strong.
When we realize who God is we ought to be moved to praise God. Reflecting upon God's character produces worship that never gets old, tired, or mundane.
Bad news comes before the good news. That is the message of Isaiah and the message of the Bible. It deals honestly with sin and the solution to sin. When we look at the true Servant we see the greatest news ever, as believers, our names are engraved upon the palms of the Savior's hands.
There is a fear that one can have that will end all other fears. To have a fear that ends all other fears means that the supreme fear must be a proper fear in the ultimate being who is righteous, holy, and good. Only in rightly fearing the righteous, holy, good, supreme God will all other fears fade away.
The book of Isaiah speaks clearly about promised servant how is to come. This promised servant is one upon whom the kingdom of God rests, and he is one that will not break a bruised reed, nor snuff out a smoldering wick. This servant king, Jesus, is one to whom we can flee.
Every believer has a story of how God worked to redeem our yesterday, changes our today, and give us the hope in forever. Sharing that story does not have to be over complicated. We should be a people who consistently share God's transforming story in our lives.
As Moses is meeting with God the Israelites are rebelliously crafting their own gods. Their desire to control their circumstance led them to blatant idolatry. Their only hope is the intercession of Moses. Sadly, Moses offering himself in their place was insufficient. What they needed, as us, is a greater intercessor than Moses.