His Name Shall Be
Isaiah 9:1-7
His Name Shall Be
Isaiah 9:1-7
“[We should] pay attention to the fact that Isaiah’s vision is not a sentimental picture of cherubic babies in whom everything is pure and innocent. The child does not remain a baby. These four names are a full-frontal attack on all that keeps us from God and an all-out assault on what is wrong with the world.”
~ Eugene Peterson, As Kingfishers Catch Fire
Main Idea: Christmas is good news of God’s unstoppable kingdom of grace for those who humbly receive him.
I. Wonderful Counselor
We need the “Wonderful Counselor” because we dwell in darkness and need light
Isaiah 9:2: The people who walked in darkness
have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
on them has light shone.
II. Mighty God
We need the “Mighty God” because we are in bondage and need saving
Isaiah 9:4–5: For the yoke of his burden,
and the staff for his shoulder,
the rod of his oppressor,
you have broken as on the day of Midian.
For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult
and every garment rolled in blood
will be burned as fuel for the fire.
Matthew 1:21: “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”
III. Everlasting Father
We need the “Everlasting Father” because we are gloomy and need joy
Isaiah 8:22-9:1: “And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness. But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish…”
Isaiah 9:3: You have multiplied the nation;
you have increased its joy;
they rejoice before you
as with joy at the harvest,
as they are glad when they divide the spoil.
IV. Prince of Peace
We need the “Prince of Peace” because we are weary and need rest
Isaiah 9:7: Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
“The empire of his grace will forever expand. If we will live by faith in him now, accepting his weakness as our strength and his folly as our wisdom, we will be there to enjoy his triumph, forever ascending, forever enlarging, forever accelerating, forever intensifying. There will never come one moment when we will say, ‘This is the limit. He can’t think of anything new. We’ve seen it all.’ No. The finite will experience ever more wonderfully the infinite, and every new moment will be better than the last. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”
~ Ray Ortlund, Isaiah: God Saves Sinners
Acts 4:12: “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
The Humble Path
Isaiah 8:19-9:7
The Humble Path
Isaiah 8:19-9:7
“Advent is the season that, when properly understood, does not flinch from the darkness that stalks us all in this world. Advent begins in the dark and moves toward the light—but the season should not move too quickly or too glibly, lest we fail to acknowledge the depth of the darkness… Advent bids us take a fearless inventory of the darkness: the darkness without and the darkness within.”
~ Fleming Rutledge
Main Idea: God calls us out of our pride through the glorious gift of Jesus, who must be humbly received.
I. The Darkness of Pride (8:19-22)
Assyria was closing in on Israel, but rather than looking to the Lord & his Word for wisdom and guidance (8:20), they consulted mediums and “looked to the earth” (8:22) for the solutions to their problems. They pridefully assumed they could figure out how to get out of the darkness on their own, and it only led them into further “thick” darkness.
Advent reminds us that the state of this fallen world is darkness, representing chaos, evil, and sin in the Scriptures (cf. Jn. 3:19). While it is easy for us to focus on all of the problems external to us, we must also acknowledge the problems internal to us if we are to repent of our pride (cf. Isaiah 5-6, Ps. 130:3)
“If only it were so simple, that there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.”
~ Alexander Solzhenitsyn
II. The Path of Glory (9:1-5)
Those who dwell in Galilee, most vulnerable to invasion and who dwell in “deep darkness” (lit. ‘death shadow’) will suddenly and unexpectedly have a light shine (flash) upon them (Mt. 4:12-17). This light comes from outside the world, not from within it.
This glorious light will bring about:
Joy (9:3): as in the day of full harvest & after a military victory.
Freedom (9:4): the Lord will break the yoke, rod, and staff of the oppressors, just as he did in the day of Midian (Judges 6-7)
Peace (9:5): all the necessities of warfare will go into the “bonfire of God’s grace” (Ray Ortlund)
III. The Gift of the Child (9:6-7)
How will God bring about this joy, freedom, and peace? He will do so through the most unexpected means: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given...”
“God’s answer to everything that has ever terrorized us is a child. The power of God is so far superior to the Assyrians and all the big shots of this world that he can defeat them by coming as a mere child. His answer to the bullies swaggering through history is not to become an even bigger bully. His answer is Jesus.”
~ Ray Ortlund
Isaiah indicates that this is not merely a royal birth announcement; these names (Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace) are only attributable to God himself. These names push us beyond the manger scene to the totality of the life of this promised King. Though it appeared that darkness snuffed out Jesus at the cross, his resurrection three days later definitely proves “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” (Jn. 1:5).
The invitation of this good news is to repent of our pride that contributes to the darkness, and to step foot in faith into the light of the glorious reign of this promised child. But the only way to experience this glory is the humble path.
“There has never been a gift offered that makes you swallow your pride to the depths that the gift of Jesus Christ requires us to do. Christmas means that we are so lost, so unable to save ourselves, that nothing less than the death of the Son of God himself could save us. That means you are not somebody who can pull yourself together and live a moral and good life. To accept the true Christmas gift, you have to admit you're a sinner. You need to be saved by grace. You need to give up control of your life. That is descending lower than any of us really wants to go. Yet Jesus Christ’s greatness is seen in how far down he came to love us. Your spiritual regeneration and eventual greatness will be achieved by going down the same path.”
~ Tim Keller, Hidden Christmas
The Humble Kingdom
Isaiah 11:1-10
The Humble kingdom
Isaiah 11:1-10
Introduction:
(Mark 7:21–23) “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
“Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”
– C.S. Lewis
Main Idea: We persevere by remembering our future hope in the coming King and participating in his Humble Kingdom.
I. The Humble Ancestry (11:1)
“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” (Isaiah 11:1)
(John 1:1–5) “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
(John 1:14) “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
II. The Humble Anointing (11:2 -3a)
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
(Isaiah 11:2–3a)
“Jesus does not need our mechanisms for power. He has another way to build the world of our dreams. He has the Spirit of wisdom and understanding for leadership, the Spirit of counsel and might for war, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord for holiness. Unlike every other human leader in the sorry length of our history, Jesus is literally qualified to rule the world. We have nothing to fear from him. We are foolish to resist him. We can never be too loyal to him.”
~ Ray Ortlund
III. The Humble Rule (11:3–5)
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
(Isaiah 11:3–5)
“We think of Jesus as a very nice but, when it comes to real life, incompetent person. We think too much of ourselves, our worship patronizes him, and our lives set him aside. But the truth is, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Christ (Colossians 2:3). His insight penetrates through appearances (Isaiah 11:3). The Apostle John saw him as having eyes “like a flame of fire” (Revelation 1:14). How many clever human leaders and judges have been deceived or misled, to the injury of many? But nobody is fooling the Anointed One.”
~ Ray Ortlund
IV. The Humble World (11:6–9)
The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
their young shall lie down together;
and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.
(Isaiah 11:6–9)
(Genesis 3:15) “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
(Romans 16:20) “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”
No more let sins and sorrows grow,
Nor thorns infest the ground;
He comes to make His blessings flow
Far as the curse is found,
Far as the curse is found,
Far as, far as, the curse is found.
He rules the world with truth and grace,
And makes the nations prove
The glories of His righteousness,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders of His love,
And wonders, wonders, of His love.
~ Isaac Watts, Joy to the World (1719)
Conclusion:
In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.
(Isaiah 11:10)
Wait, Watch, and Work
The Great Feast
Isaiah 25:6-9
The Great Feast
Isaiah 25:6-9
Main Idea: We are to eagerly wait for the great banquet feast of God when he swallows up death forever.
I. The Future Feast (25:6)
Isaiah is given a vision of a day where “on this mountain” (Mt. Zion; cf. Isa 2:2), a great feast will be held. In ancient times, kings would hold feasts in order to show off their power, glory, and wealth. As the host of this feast, the Lord has prepared everything in an act of sacred hospitality.
The feast is marked by:
Inclusivity: ‘all’ peoples are invited; any and all who come to Jesus in faith are freely welcomed to his banquet table of grace
Generosity: the meal consists of ‘rich food’ and ‘well-aged wine,’ symbolizing the abundance of salvation. God is generously inviting all to “taste and see that the Lord is good!” (Ps. 34:8)
John 6:35: Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
Our “feasting” in the Christian life right now is an invitation to pause, remember, and prepare our hearts for the great feast that awaits us on this promised day (cf. Rev. 19:6-9).
“The eucharistic meal uses everyday elements of the common life to connect me with the extraordinary and unique crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Eucharist is at one and the same time ordinary and extraordinary, the repetition of the commonplace and the celebration of the unique. Meals, in all cultures, seem to have this capability of stretching from the ordinary to the extraordinary.” ~ Eugene Peterson
II. The Destruction of Death (25:7-8)
Our secular culture today has a very difficult time with death. In the Scriptures, death is:
The Great Interruption
The Great Schism
The Great Insult
The Great Enemy (1 Cor. 15:26)
Three realities mark the occasion of this great celebratory feast:
God will remove the “covering” (burial shroud) & “veil” over all people, which is the fear and shadow of death
Hebrews 2:15: … and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
God will “swallow up death forever”
God will wipe away every tear & remove the reproach (disgrace) of his people
This great victory will be accomplished “on this mountain,” precisely where Jesus completes his mission. In his death, the “veil” is torn in two (Mt. 27:51), and in his resurrection the “burial shroud” is folded up in defeat (John 20:7).
Though Christ has defeated death and robbed the grave of its power, we still feel the “sting” of death right now as we await this promised day. Rather than despairing death or avoiding it, we are invited to take up the posture of Ps. 90:12-13:
So teach us to number our days
that we may get a heart of wisdom.
Return, O Lord! How long?
Have pity on your servants!
III. The End of our Exile (25:9)
The Advent season is a call to long with patience for the promised ‘day’ of verse 9, when we will see God face to face and our waiting, restlessness, and angst will be over forever.
“You cannot judge God by your calendar. God may appear to be slow, but he never forgets his promises. He may seem to be working slowly or even to be forgetting his promises, but when his promises come true (and they will come true), they always burst the banks of what you imagined… God’s grace virtually never operates on our time frame, on a schedule we consider reasonable. He does not follow our agendas or schedules. God seems to forget his promises, but he comes through in ways we can’t imagine before it happens.” ~ Tim Keller
Hebrews 9:28: So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
“Those who serve God still stand in a dark place, but we strain forward with expectation and an unconquerable hope toward the horizon where the Sun of Righteousness will appear someday with healing in his wings.” ~ Fleming Rutledge
A New King, A New Kingdom
Isaiah 11:1-10
A New King, A New Kingdom
Isaiah 11:1-10
Main Idea: Isaiah gives us a vision of A New King, and A New Kingdom.
I. A New King
Isaiah 10:33-34: “the Lord GOD of hosts will lop the boughs with terrifying power; the great in height will be hewn down, and the lofty will be brought low. He will cut down the thickets of the forest with an axe, and Lebanon will fall by the Majestic One.”
2 Samuel 7:16: “And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure (or endure) forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.'"
“Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate deity! Pleased with us in flesh to dwell: Jesus, our Emmanuel; Hark the herald angels sing; Glory to the newborn king.”
Romans 8:27-28: “And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.”
“When a king “enjoys, delights in” his close relationship with God,…This will cause him to make decisions as God judges, not based on the outward appearance of the person (that one can see) or on false claims (that one may hear). Decisions will be based on the true nature of the heart. Status, money, or political influence will not derail this new Davidic ruler’s perspective on justice, for idle boasts, excuses, deceptive lies, and false information by the guilty will not prevent the truth from being known. This is the kind of justice and righteousness … attributed to the eternal reign of the one who will sit on the throne of David. This justice will be available to all, especially for the needy and poor, who frequently were cheated by the upper class. This would contrast greatly with the oppression of the poor and robbing of the fatherless that existed in the reign of Ahaz.”
– Gary Smith
II. A New Kingdom
“Your Kingdom come: your will be done; on earth as it is in Heaven!”
We know that there is yet to come a regeneration of all things, and it only comes with Jesus. This New Kingdom is one in which, as it says in verse 9, They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”
Would your prayer be that the earth, even now, would be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea? So even now we can begin to see the defeat of sin that comes as violence, and economic systems that tolerate and promote poverty and homelessness and despair, and sexual perversion that promotes the exploitation of the most weak and vulnerable in our societies, and hatred, and suspicion, and racism, and tribalism?
Revelation 21:1-5: 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." 5 And he who was seated on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new."
Darkness & Light
Isaiah 8:19-9:7
Darkness & Light
Isaiah 8:19-9:7
“[Advent is] superficially understood as a time to get ready for Christmas, but in truth it’s the season for contemplating the judgment of God. Advent is the season that, when properly understood, does not flinch from the darkness that stalks us all in this world. Advent begins in the dark and moves toward the light—but the season should not move too quickly or too glibly, lest we fail to acknowledge the depth of the darkness… Advent bids us take a fearless inventory of the darkness: the darkness without and the darkness within.”
~ Fleming Rutledge
Main Idea: Light has burst into our darkness through a promised child who establishes an everlasting Kingdom.
I. The Gloomy Darkness (8:19-22)
Assyria was closing in on Israel, but rather than looking to the Lord & his Word for wisdom and guidance, they “looked to the earth” (8:22) for the solutions to their problems. They assumed they could figure out how to get out of the darkness on their own and it only led them into further “thick” darkness.
Advent reminds us that the state of the world and the state of our own lives is marked by darkness (cf. Jn. 12:46). Darkness in the Scriptures represents:
Evil & Sin (Jn. 3:19)
Ignorance & Lostness
“Christmas is the most unsentimental yet realistic way of looking at life… the message of Christmas is this: Things are really bad, and we can’t heal or save ourselves. Things are really dark. But nevertheless, there is hope. Upon the world a light has dawned. It has come from outside and Jesus has brought that light to save us.”
~ Tim Keller
II. The Glorious Light (9:1-5)
Those who dwell in Galilee, most vulnerable to invasion and who dwell in “deep darkness” (lit. ‘death shadow’) will suddenly and unexpectedly have a light shine (flash) upon them (Mt. 4:12-17). This light comes from outside the world, not from within it.
This glorious light will produce:
Joy (9:3): as in the day of full harvest & after a military victory.
Freedom (9:4): the Lord will break the yoke, rod, and staff of the oppressors, just as he did in the day of Midian (Judges 6-7)
Peace (9:5): all the necessities of warfare will go into the “bonfire of God’s grace” (Ray Ortlund)
III. The Given Son (9:6-7)
How will God bring about this great victory & drive back the darkness once and for all? He will do so through the most unexpected means: “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given...”
“God’s answer to everything that has ever terrorized us is a child. The power of God is so far superior to the Assyrians and all the big shots of this world that he can defeat them by coming as a mere child. His answer to the bullies swaggering through history is not to become an even bigger bully. His answer is Jesus.”
~ Ray Ortlund
Isaiah indicates that this is not merely a royal birth announcement; these names (Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace) are only attributable to God himself. These names and descriptions push us beyond the manger scene to the totality of the life of this promised King. Though it appeared that darkness snuffed out Jesus at the cross, his resurrection three days later definitely proves “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it” (Jn. 1:5).
How can we participate in this never-ending Kingdom of Light?
We receive the Son as a gift
We must look to the Son in patience as we await his return
Firm in Faith
Isaiah 7:1-25
Firm in faith
Isaiah 7:1-25
“This book puts forth a new way of seeing. And it isn’t our own brainstorming. God is the one offering us a new perspective on everything.”
-Ray Ortlund
Main Idea: We are to be firm in faith because our God is with us in judgement and salvation.
I. The bad news (7:1-2)
II. The good news (7:3-9)
III. The best news (7:10-25)
I. The bad news (7:1-2)
II. The good news (7:3-9)
Be careful
Be quiet
Do not fear
Do not let your heart be faint
Isaiah 7:7-9
thus says the Lord GOD:
“‘It shall not stand,
and it shall not come to pass.
For the head of Syria is Damascus,
and the head of Damascus is Rezin.
And within sixty-five years
Ephraim will be shattered from being a people.
And the head of Ephraim is Samaria,
and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah.
If you are not firm in faith,
you will not be firm at all.’”
Syria - Exalted
Damascus - Silent is the sackcloth weaver
Rezin - Firm
Ephraim - Double-ash-heap, I shall be doubly faithful; doubly fruitful
Samaria - Watch mountain
Remaliah - Protected by the Lord. The exaltation of the Lord.
Jonah 3:6-9 The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.”
III. The best news (7:10-25)
Isaiah 7:11 “Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”
Isaiah 7:12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.”
Isaiah 7:14-16 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted.
v. 18-19 - Effortless deliverance
v. 20 - Humbling of the proud
v. 21-22 - Reduced to hardship
v. 23-25 - Their fame will fade away
But who is this son?
Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz - Speed-spoil-hasten-plunder or, swift to the spoil, quick to the plunder.
Matthew 1:20-25
“But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:
“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”
(which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.”
Be careful
Be quiet
Do not fear
Do not let your heart be faint
If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.
The New Heavens & The New Earth
Isaiah 64:1-12, 65:17-25
The New Heavens & The New Earth
Isaiah 64:1-12, 65:17-25
Main Idea: We are to long with patience for the glorious day God renews all things in Christ.
I. Lamenting the Present (64:1-12)
Isaiah cries out in a longing (‘Oh’) for God to “rend” the heavens and to rip open the “curtain” (cf. Isa. 34:4) that separates & conceals him from humanity. He is longing for God’s presence (3x) and a showcase of his glory to his adversaries and the nations.
This longing comes from a palace of lament; God’s surprising work all feels past-tense (64:3), and Jerusalem and God’s people are in shambles, all while he is seemingly absent (64:10-12).
The longing for God to come is one of the deepest longings of the human experience because it is in our creational design.
“So much of our restlessness and disappointment is the result of trying to convince ourselves that we’re already home… [but we are called] to a refugee spirituality – unsettled yet hopeful, tenuous but searching, eager to find the hometown we’ve never been to.” ~ James K.A. Smith
But Isaiah knows firsthand (cf. Isa. 6) that an encounter with God’s presence is terrifying because of our sin. Isaiah describes our sin using 4 images (64:6):
Unclean Leper: sin spreads like a disease & infects all things
Polluted Garment: even our best efforts are not as good as they look
Fading Leaf: sin causes decay & breakdown
The Wind: sin controls us & takes us places we were never meant to go
What Isaiah could not have known is how God would answer this prayer & fulfill this longing. God has indeed already “rend the heavens” in Jesus Christ to forgive us of our sins & to promise his steadfast presence (Mt. 28:20).
Hebrews 9:28: … so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.
II. Life in the End (65:17-25)
At the end of the story, God does not give up on the earth and his creation. He remakes a new heavens and a new earth, renewing and restoring all that has gone wrong because of sin. God’s people will spend eternity not in the clouds or a serene garden like Eden, but the idealized city of Jerusalem (cf. Rev. 21:2).
“Many people want to go to heaven the way they want to go to Florida – they think the weather will be an improvement and the people decent. But the biblical heaven is not a nice environment far removed from the stress of hard city life. It is the invasion of the city by the City. We enter heaven not by escaping what we don’t like, but by the sanctification of the place in which God has placed us.” ~ Eugene Peterson
This new heavens and the new earth is marked by 4 things in Isaiah 65:
Joy (65:17-19). All the hardships of the “former things” in this fallen world will be forgotten. We are invited to “be glad and rejoice forever” in their place.
Revelation 21:4: He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Life (65:20). Isaiah speaks metaphorically to try and accommodate our minds to understand something that we cannot fathom: the end of death itself. In this heavenly city, “death will have no more power and sin no more presence” (Motyer).
Fulfillment (65:21-23). Life will be marked by security & work will be fulfilling - reversing the curse to Adam in Gen. 3:17-19. There is no threat of attack or another stealing, and the gates of this heavenly city are always left open (Rev. 21:25-27).
Peace (65:24-25). God will never again feel asbent, but he will “answer” his people before they even call. All of creation (including) the animals will experience shalom, and the serpent will forever live in humiliation.
“The work of Christ is not just to save certain individuals… The total work of Christ is nothing less than to redeem this entire creation from the effects of sin. That purpose will not be accomplished until God has ushered in the new earth, until Paradise Lost has become Paradise Regained… God will not be satisfied until the entire universe has been purged of all the results of man’s fall.” ~ Anthony Hoekema
Everlasting Joy
Isaiah 61:1-11
Everlasting Joy
Isaiah 61:1-11
Main Idea: Jesus proclaims the gospel of salvation, transforms his people, & clothes us in garments of joy & praise.
I. The Salvation of the Gospel (61:1-2)
Jesus quotes Isaiah 61 = in Luke 4:16ff as his “mission statement” in his first public ministry appearance in Nazareth. These verses give us the “seven infinitives for all that it means for God to save us” (Ray Ortlund).
The recipients of this good news (gospel) include:
The poor & afflicted
The brokenhearted
The captives (or those in exile) & prisoners
Those who mourn
“Jesus did not come into the world to exalt those who are high, to give greater power to the strong, or to clothe those who are already clad in their own righteousness. No! The Spirit of God was upon him, that he might preach good tidings to the meek, that broken hearts should be bound up, captives redeemed, and prisoners released... This ought to be a very great subject of thanksgiving to those who are heavy of heart. Is it not sweet to think that the Anointed of the Lord came for your sakes, that you whose eyelids are fringed with beaded tears, you whose songs are dirges, you who dwell at death’s door, may be brought forth into the sunlight?” ~ Charles Spurgeon
The circumstances of these recipients include physical & socio-economic realities along with spiritual & emotional needs. The Anointed Messiah is coming to mend & set right all that has gone wrong, because sin has infiltrated all things in our fallen world.
Proclaiming “The year of the Lord’s favor” is an allusion to the “Year of Jubilee” in Leviticus 25. Every 50 years, Israel was to forgive all debts, free all slaves, and the land itself was returned back to original family allotments. Jesus came to accomplish the fulfillment of all the Year of Jubilee foreshadowed.
II. The Transformation of the Gospel (61:3-9)
5 “insteads” anchor these verses that talk about the transformation brought by the Messiah.
Instead of ashes → a beautiful headdress or garland (61:3a)
Instead of mourning → oil of gladness (61:3b)
Instead of a faint spirit → a garment of praise (61:3c)
Instead of shame → a double portion (61:7a)
Instead of dishonor → rejoicing with everlasting joy (61:7b)
1 Peter 1:8: Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory,
The gospel is the message of the “great instead” in Jesus Christ. In Luke 4, Jesus stops reading before “the day of vengeance of our God,” because this was yet to take place. The ultimate “instead” occurs on the cross, where Jesus bears the day of vengeance, taking our shame, dishonor, & sin, while offering us his righteousness, honor, & double portion of grace.
III. The Garments of the Gospel (61:10-11)
The Messiah is clothed as a groom, wearing the garments of salvation & the robe of righteousness. He is experiencing the joy of a wedding celebration & delighting over his work of redemption for his bride.
Revelation 19:6–8: Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out,
“Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his Bride has made herself ready;
it was granted her to clothe herself
with fine linen, bright and pure”—
for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.
As we await the marriage supper of the lamb, we have been clothed by Christ which sprouts up within us “righteousness & praise” (61:11). We are invited to live as a Jubilee people, “putting on Christ” (Eph. 4:22-24) and living with an everlasting joy before a weary, broken, and mourning world.
The Great Reversal
Isaiah 60:1-22
The Great Reversal
Isaiah 60:1-22
Main Point: There remains a bright future for the people of God.
There are the two realities about our bright future that Isaiah foresees in this chapter:
Our bright future hinges on a Great Reversal that taps into our deepest hopes.
The Great Reversal hangs on the success of a Great Hero who makes those hopes real.
What is this Reversal that Isaiah foresees?
It is a COMPLETE reversal. Things were going one way and now they are going in a completely different way. Everything has changed.
It is a DEEP reversal. The nature of things was one way and now the nature of those things is another way. Everything about everything has changed.
It is a SATISFYING reversal. The change in things fills out what we always longed for. What has finally changed, changes everything.
What makes this Great Reversal so satisfying?
The bright future promised to the people of God is:
Physical - it corresponds to our reality as embodied creatures
Communal - it fulfills our hunger for home and community
Beautiful - it satisfies our taste for aesthetic, appealing pleasantness
Eternal - it offsets our aversion deterioration, decay, disappointment
Substantial - it affords us the significance, the weight, the dignity we know that creatures like us are worthy of (even as we know that right now we do not deserve it.)
The Great Reversal hangs on the success of a Great Hero.
It is very important to note that there is NO action taken or undertaken in this chapter by anyone other than “the Lord your God… the Holy One of Israel.” All the other players in this passage do what they do in RESPONSE to what He has done. This Great Reversal is NOT derived or generated from anything we do. The entire tone of this poem sees us as beneficiaries, recipients, and responders NOT benefactors, contributors, or producers.
Who is this Great Hero?
The Heroes credentials in Isaiah:
Born to a virgin and called Immanuel (God with us) - Isaiah 7
Descended from David and heir to his throne - Isaiah 9
A light to those dwelling in darkness in Galilee - Isaiah 9
The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon HIm as He conducts Himself with perfect righteousness and equity - Isaiah 11
When He arrives, the blind shall see, the deaf shall hear, the lame shall leap, the mute shall sing - Isaiah 35
His arrival would be announced by a voice in the wilderness crying, “Prepare the way of the Lord.” - Isaiah 40
He is the Servant of the Lord, who accomplishes the Lord’s will in the most unexpected way.
He is beaten and spit upon (Isaiah 50) yet remains silent before His accusers (Isaiah 53)
He is innocent of any crime, yet slaughtered with the wicked and buried among the rich. (Isaiah 53)
In this profound injustice, the Lord reverses the basis of who stands righteous before Him. It is not performance based, for all we like sheep have gone astray
Rather, the Lord lays on Him the iniquity of us all and by His sacrifice, the Hero brings many sons and daughters to righteousness.
Isaiah’s point is this: When you identify the One who is the Hero of God, run to Him, look to Him, trust in Him, for He alone brings the Great Reversal which shall satisfy your deepest hopes.
The good news of the Christian gospel is that Jesus of Nazareth
- crucified, buried, and risen again -
is the one and only Hero of God.
Everything our souls hope for is found in Him.
In Jesus alone, there remains a bright future for the people of God.