The servant that brings light to the world
Notes
Transcript
Title: The Servant that brings Light to the world (Show Slide 1)
Sermon Text: Isaiah 49:1-7
Introduction Story: The Obstacle course at Fuge Camp (Show Slide 2-4)
A few weeks ago, we took a team to M-Fuge camp at Regent University and for me one of the highlights of camp was participating with all the adults that came to camp in an obstacle course challenge. We also tried this with the students as well as you can see. The mission or the goal was to navigate safely through the course holding on to a rope and be able to find a way out while you were blindfolded. As I put my blindfold on, I will be honest I was a bit nervous as to what we were going to face. First, I had to trust the person at the front of the group to guide us safely to our destination. Then, I had to trust the person in front of me not to go to fast or the link would be disconnected. In this process, you had people moving too fast at the front of the line and I had to avoid getting stepped on as this train of people was trying to move as a unit. We finally arrived at the destination and it felt like it took forever to get there first of all. Once we were placed in the obstacle course area, we had to figure out how to get out. Let’s just say it took a while as many were trying to do this course on their own efforts and using their senses. The mission seemed challenging and at times frustrating as there seem to be no way out and it felt like I was getting nowhere close to completing it. I was bumping into people and trees (right Brian) and I wanted to remove the blinds off so I could see and figure it out, but that was not an option. However, the mission was not impossible! There was a way out, there was a solution, but it required someone else stepping in to help. As I was reflecting on the lesson of this mission, I was reminded of the spiritual darkness that we see in the world, people who are living in darkness who are lost and wondering in circles. I was also reminded that Jesus was that person, who stepped into history, into human form and brought the light that was so desperately needed by each of us. Jesus was given a mission and his mission was to bring light to the world, to remove our spiritual blindfolds, so we could see the truth and experience life. In John 8:12 Jesus said “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”
Review from last sermon:
In Isaiah’s prophetic writings we are told about the coming Servant of the Lord. Last time in Isaiah 42:1-9, we learned that the servant cares for the lost, for the spiritually blind & sick and wants to set the captives and those in bondage to sin, free!
Today we will focus on the second song of the Servant recorded in Isaiah 49. (Show Slide 5) Our primary text will be Isaiah 49:1-7 which Brian read. In this passage the servant takes center stage. The word Servant is mentioned 3 times in these 7 verses. The main idea of this chapter is “The Servant of God will restore His people and bring Salvation to the ends of the earth.” (Show Slide 6)
The question we will address is this: How is the LORD going to carry out this mission? (Show Slide 7) We will focus primarily in 3 areas in this text to better understand the Servant’s Mission. I am using a simple outline that I came across by Ben Jennings in one of his study series of Isaiah. (Show Slide 8)-See slide
Let’s dive in the text and notice what is going on and who is involved? Read thru verses 1-7. (Show slides 9-16 in order they are read)
Who are the parties involved in this discourse? This brings us to point number 1: The peoples of the Mission (Show Slide 17). Who are they? They are the Gentiles, The Servant, The LORD (YAHWEH) & Israel/Jacob.
From the beginning of the chapter, we have this discourse where the servant, not Isaiah, is addressing people beyond Israel. He says “Listen to Me, O islands And pay attention you peoples from afar.” Why the shift? Previously Isaiah was mainly addressing the nation of Israel and its enemies but now we have the servant talking to a new audience. What does the servant want these peoples to know? The LORD is having the conversation with the Servant and He has a special message. The message is not one of judgement but one that describes the Mission of God for the world. The Gentiles are given a preview of what God is going to do to bring salvation to them. The message it’s world-wide in scope.
The next question we need to address who is the Servant of the Mission? This brings us to the 2nd point in the outline. Through images and metaphors we are introduced to the Servant of the Lord. In these verses we learn that…The Servant is Called, Concealed and Commissioned (Show Slides 18-22)
But who is he? Verse 1 refers to His name without full disclosure. Is He a prophet, a priest, a king….is He more??? At least we know from the passage that He is not Isaiah, nor the nation of Israel. How so? He was called and sent by God into this world. God the Father, called Him by name before He was born in the flesh. This is a prophecy that points to the virgin birth in Luke 1:31-33 & 2.
Turn your Bibles to the N.T as we look at some key verses that identify this servant. In Matthew 1:21, we have an angel of the Lord appearing to Joseph in a dream, saying “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
Luke 1:31
“And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.”
Luke 2:21
“And when eight days had passed, before His circumcision, His name was then called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.”
The Servant is a person coming from a mother’s womb (the Virgin Birth). God mentions his name from the womb. Mary & Joseph didn’t name Jesus. God did through the angel. In Luke 2 we learn that the Messiah will not just save His own people but become the Savior of the world.
Also, the servant is not a nation. According to Charles Pfeiffer, “although the Servant is addressed as “Israel” in verse 3, we are to understand this names as applying to him in whom the covenant relationship was based and all the covenant promises rested, the One who in his own person fulfilled God’s expectations for a holy people…” Also noticed that this servant is called to bring Jacob back to Him. The Servant is the Messiah, the Anointed One of Israel. The word “Israel” literally means, “He Who will rule as God”. He is Israel personified.
Webb writes this about the servant “He is a figure who embodies all that the nation of Israel was called to be, and therefore on who is truly worthy of the name God’s perfect Servant.” (Webb, p. 196)
Another interesting characteristic we find about the servant is that His mouth is like a sharp sword. His weapon is the word of God and He would make God known to humanity using the very words of God. In the Gospel of John, Jesus reminds the disciples that “these words you hear are not my own, they belong to the Father who sent me. (John 14:24; 12:49; John 16:12-14)
In the Bible, the phrase "two-edged sword" is a metaphor for the word of God, which is said to be sharper than any two-edged sword and can penetrate the soul…
Hebrews 4:12: "For the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart".
Ephesians 6:17: Calls the word of God "the sword of the Spirit".
Revelations 19:15, is a futuristic prophecy of Jesus, who administer judgement, rule and strikes out the nations with the power of God’s Word. “Coming out of his mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. “He will rule them with an iron scepter.”
The Word of God has power to penetrate to our soul and turn sinners back to God. We see this in Jesus’ ministry as many were amazed at his teachings about God and countless lives were transformed because of the power of His word not just then but even today. The Servant is going to accomplish His mission through the ministry of His Word, which has power.
Not only He is called by name and possesses the very word of God…but he is concealed (v.2-3) for a special purpose and time in history. There is preparation and concealment that is going on here. The Servant is being prepared by the Father, is also a polished, a chosen arrow, prepared to be used for a specific time. The servant is being selected and prepared for something great and is by far greater than anyone else. The glory of God, would be shown through the servant as we read in verse 3
The Servant is Commissioned (v. 4-5)
As we saw in Isaiah 42:1-4, the Servant has been commissioned to make the truth about the LORD, Israel’s God, known everywhere. His mission was primarily to God’s people. However, such mission would prove difficult.
What is going on here? God sending the servant…but the servant feeling despair and discouragement. Notice what he says in verse 4. “I have toiled in vain”. All this has been for Nothing! We see this in Jesus earthly ministry, where the Jews opposed and rejected his message. In his 3 year ministry Jesus could not bring Jacob together back to God. To the Jews, Jesus was a failure because He did not meet their expectations of the Messiah. Jesus did not set them free from the Romans. The mission of Jesus would have been a failure from an earthly perspective. Was it?
Christ the Servant of the Lord, would face moments of discouragement (despair) as He was misunderstood by his earthly family, by His disciples and rejected by His people and the religious elite. Despite that he carried on and trusted God to reward Him. Jesus was faithful in doing and finishing the will and work of the Father, who sent Him (John 4:34). There is a lesson to be learned here. We may be discouraged and seem like our effort are a waste when we don’t see much accomplished for God. Like Jesus, we need to be faithful to the work and the mission that Jesus called us to. God is the judge of the success not the world! God will provide the outcome of the mission. We need to glorify and please Him in all that we do for His kingdom.
This brings us to the last point in the outline. 3. The Purpose of the Mission (v. 5-7) (Show Slide 23)
We need to understand the scope of the servant’s mission. The purpose of the mission would be:
The Restoration of Israel (v. 5-6)
The servant’s mission was to bring the people of God, Jacob, back to him so that they can be restored to a right relationship with their God. He has done that partially but he will ultimately fulfill it in the near future. Israel is not forgotten in God’s ultimate plan of salvation. God is not done with Israel, the Nation. They play an important part in this plan.
The Servant would be a Light to the Gentiles.
The Servant represents the ideal Israel, who is going to not proclaim but be the light to the nations. Originally, Israel as a nation had been called to be a light and blessing to the world but had failed. During the earthly ministry of Jesus, he went to the Gentiles and brought the truth of God’s word and as results many believed and were saved. Turn with me to Acts 13:44-49. Here we have Paul bringing the Light, the message of the gospel/salvation to the gentiles.
“For so the Lord has commanded us, “I HAVE PLACED YOU AS A LIGHT TO THE GENTILES, THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.”
To bring Salvation to all nations (v. 6)
The rejection of Christ by Israel meant that the gospel went to the ends of the earth. God will accomplish this great mission both through the Servant himself and though his restored people. As we are brought back into a right relationship with God, we become His servant in this world-wide mission. Salvation is and extends to all people both Jews and Gentiles. You and I are part of that mission today.
To Worship God (v.7)
In his humiliation, he would be despised, rejected, even by His own nation/people (John 1), But he would be honored and in fulfilling God’s plan of salvation after the resurrection, He would be worshiped as Lord, even by the kings of the Gentiles. Everyone will acknowledge Him one day and bow down to Him (Phil. 2-9:11)
The glory and worship of God will be a result what the Servant did for mankind. The nobility of the gentile nations will worship God because of the salvation that the servant brings. God gets the glory for being the salvation to all nations!
For now, people may reject the message, hate God,…but God will get His glory that is due to Him. Jesus said I am the Light of the World and invites us to the mission that He planned. He sent the disciples to be light to the world, and gave them a mission what we call the great commission. We are still on this same mission and part of it. The mission has not changed…whether is across the street or around the world. Jesus is the salvation unto the ends of the earth. We do this mission together with the Lord and each other and the local church and ultimately as a global body of Christ, His bride, His church! This lost world, blinded in darkness needs to see and know The Savior. Let’s pray!
Read Mattew 28:18-20 together as benediction.
Resources Studied
Chalmers, Alistair. Road Map To Jesus
Knight, W. George. The Layman’s Bible Handbook: Isaiah
Saihhamer, H. John. NIV Compact Bible Commentary. Isaiah
Richards, O. Lawrence. Bible Teacher’s Commentary
Life Application Study Bible (Personal Size, NLT)
Pfeiffer, F. Charles. The Wycliffe Bible Commentary
McGee, Vernon, J. Thru the Bible Commentary Series: The Prophets: Isaiah 36-66
The Mission of the Servant Series by Larry Brincefield
The Servant of Restoration Series by Dennis Davidson
