Sin, Suffering and The Messiah The most Distinctive Messianic Chapter in the Old Testament By Pastor Dan Kennedy © September 25, 2016 www.pastorkennedy.com Is there other life in the universe besides on the earth? Yes. God has always been. He hasn’t just been around for 6,000 years, or 5 ½ Billion years. God IS and has always been. He is the Alpha and Omega (A-Z), the First and the Last, and the beginning and the end (Rev. 22:13). God is the great “I AM” (Gen. 17:1; Ex. 3:14; John 8:58). 1. God is Spirit. He fills the universe with His Person – His life is evidenced everywhere. What do theologians call this fact? God’s Omnipresence. “God is present everywhere at the same time. God is present in the totality of His personhood ‘in,’ ‘throughout,’ ‘beyond,’ ‘above,’ ‘beneath,’ ‘before,’ ‘after’ and ‘beside’ all things. There is no place where God is not.” [1] 2. God created a host of angelic beings, and angels were created to do God’s bidding (Matt. 13:42; 24:31). There are myriads and myriads of angels, who are also in the universe, – which are invisible to us unless God chooses for them to make their presence known. Revelation 5:11 11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. Hebrews 12:22 22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, Daniel 7:10 10 A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him…. There are different kinds of angelic beings. Angels (see references above), Cherubim (Gen. 3:24; Ezek. 10; Heb. 9:5)[2], Seraphim (Is. 6:2, 6)[3], [4] and Archangels (1 Thess. 4:16; Jude 9). There are good angels and there are fallen evil angels in the Universe. 3. Within the host of angels that God created were those, which rebelled against God’s authority through pride and lust for power. These fallen angels were removed from their places in heaven and were banished to the earth. Satan is their leader. (Is. 14;12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-19; Matt. 25:41; Luke 10:18; 2 Peter 2:4; Rev. 12:7-9) Hell was created to be their final destination. (Matt. 25:41) Why Didn’t God Stop the Bad Stuff from the Beginning? Did God have the power to restrain these angels from rebelling against Him? Yes. Did God choose to restrain them from rebelling? No. Did God perfectly create the earth and everything on it? Yes. Was Satan, in his rebellion, allowed to have access to those on the earth? Yes. Did Adam and Eve choose to disobey God’s known will? Yes. What was the result of mankind’s disobedience? o Their relationship with God was broken; o They and their descendants were brought under the full curse of sin; o They immediately died spiritually (in their relationship to God) and would eventually die physically; o Humankind and their children were ushered into the kingdom of darkness in which Satan, the archenemy of God, had dominion. · What is the further result of disobedience and sin against God? o Continued, more graphic Rebellion against God, o Going our own way and doing our own thing, o Pride, o Human accomplishment without acknowledgment of God, o Carnality, o Crime, o Abuse, o Deeper, and deeper involvement in sin, o War, o Greater Suffering, o Intense Sorrow, and o The Continuing Curse of Death. Let’s Take One Step Further Back We really only have three basic choices when seeking to understand how we got on earth, the existence of the enormous universe around us, our amazing planet and the very complex life on it – while also trying to comprehend how depravity, suffering and death came to exist on the earth. How Did We Come to Exist? - We only really have 3 realistic options. What Do You Believe? 1. A Personal Creator: We can acknowledge our belief that each of us has a divine purpose and have been created by a Personal, All-knowing, and Caring Creator, to whom we are accountable. 2. From Nothing: We can believe that our planet, with every complexity of life on it throughout the millions of species of living things, and the billions/trillions of galaxies in the universe (each with billions of stars) are the result of random chance – against astronomical odds on every level…micro-cellular to phenomenally-sized planets – it all happened by random chance. Belief in absolute “random chance” requires no accountability to anyone or anything! Our life being made by random chance could be compared to a fully assembled and fueled Boeing 787 Dreamliner taking flight out of a junk yard, on its maiden voyage – by random chance, without being designed, fabricated, tested and flown by an intelligent being or human engineered robotic equipment. Neuroscientists have said that the human brain alone is the most complex and powerful entity in the universe… (much more than a mere 787 Dreamliner). Nothing always begets nothing no matter how simple or complex the “nothing” is. 3. An Impersonal Creator: We can believe that have been planted, for no purpose or reason, by an impersonal entity on a fly-by to its planet, and that “seeds of life” somehow trickled their way on to ponds, marshland, and barren rock that somehow already existed on earth and was furthermore hospitable to its alien life-seed. Those who see the illogical futility of believing in “random chance,” find this option an intriguing potential. Belief in an Impersonal Creator requires no accountability to anyone or anything. Life can be lived as one pleases...though the reality of probable Impersonal Creators can be quite difficult to identify. A Personal God created life and all that is in the universe. He fills the universe with His Presence and God is intimately concerned with everything that He has ever created. We are accountable to Him. What have we reviewed so far? · There is life in the universe which began with God who has always been. · God created all things including angelic beings, some of whom rebelled against His Authority and were cast to earth. · The first human beings chose to disobey God’s authority and thereby plunged the world into depravity and under the curse of sin, which is under the kingdom of Satan. · Because of “original sin” and our own sin, you and I are condemned to live with a depraved nature (not a holy nature) and be subject to “the wages of sin” which is death: Spiritual death (a broken relationship with God), and physical death. How Can a Sinful Human Being live forever with a Holy God in His Holy Heaven, and God, and His Perfect Dwelling still be Holy and sinless? Those brought into God’s Holy Kingdom would need to be Redeemed and Purified by an atonement for their sins that would meet the most stringent measures before the Throne of a Holy and Righteous God, and make them fully Justified under the scrutiny of any court in the Universe. God has provided a way that sinful humankind can find forgiveness, cleansing and reconciliation with Him! The Lamb of God; God The Son; The Suffering Savior God’s Solution for Mankind’s sin: The Perfect Sacrifice. The Only Sacrifice. Isaiah 53 The most Distinctive Messianic Chapter in the Old Testament The Unattractive Message Is. 53:1 Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? God establishes His Truth on wisdom that is unattractive to the worldly wise – it is only fulfilling to the Spiritually thirsty. The Unattractive Servant Most of the time when we look for a leader – a leader from God, we want someone who “looks good”, who is “cool”, suave, and whose physical person is empowered. Not so with Jesus. He was born in an animal shelter, and He did not have a place to call home during His ministry (Matt. 8:20). Many followed Him, especially when He fed them, and many left Him when they could not understand or did not like what He was saying (see John 6). Jesus didn’t look like someone the people envisioned to be the Son of God…the Messiah! Is. 53:2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. 3 He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. The Redeemer Revealed Jesus did not come, in His first coming, to be King, but to be a Suffering Servant. Why? So that He would be a “faithful High Priest” for us. Hebrews 2:14–18 14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. The Redeemer Revealed Is. 53:4a Surely · He took up our pain · He bore our suffering, How did People Respond to His Suffering? Is. 53:4b Yet we considered Him punished by God, · Stricken by God, and · Afflicted by God. The Reason for Suffering Savior’s death on the Cross Is. 53:5 But · He was pierced for our transgressions, · He was crushed for our iniquities; · The punishment that brought us peace was on Him, · By His wounds we are healed. Our Prideful and Sinful Condition – In need of no one, not even God. Is. 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; · and the Lord has laid on him · the iniquity of us all. How Did Jesus Respond to the Abuse and Suffering? Is. 53:7 He was · Oppressed and afflicted, · yet He did not open His mouth; · He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so · He did not open his mouth. Who Protested the Injustice Done to Christ? Is. 53:8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. Why Didn’t God Stop the Bad Stuff from the Beginning?   Why doesn’t God stop bad stuff from happening to us?   Why didn’t God stop terrible stuff from happening to His own Son?  Could it be that God desires His children to have real faith, not “hypothetical” faith? God wants to reward His Children for actually honoring Him in their daily lives, not honoring Him with their mouth only. Could it be that God wants us to live as real Christians, not pseudo Christians and He uses the reality…and sometimes the painfulness of life, to bring reality into our faith, with His life and victory into our souls? That God wants us to endure and overcome in this world, through His Power, to reveal authentic Christianity? There was nothing “hypothetical” or “hypocritical” about Jesus Christ and His Life! God sent His Son to live a real life of a Servant, so He would truly understand us, effectively Redeem us and totally be our High Priest and King. So that His Children, and the world, would know that He is worthy to receive power, glory, honor and blessing; and that He has the honor and integrity for every knee to bow to Him in heaven, on earth, and under the earth! God allowed His Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer, be rejected, crushed, abused, and die, so that the payment in full, for our sins, could be justly made.   So His Rightful Eternal Kingdom could be established!  Christ’s Death and Burial was Established hundreds of years before He came to earth Is. 53:9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, Evidence Regarding His True Character Is. 53:9b though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. God’s Essential Punishment to Provide Redemption for the World Is. 53:10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. The Benefit of His Terrible Punishment for Our Sin Is. 53:11 After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. Reiteration for the Cause of His Suffering and Death Is. 53:12b For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. A Holy Creator God – eternally exists – there is life in the Universe!  A Human Race that chose, with the promptings and lies of Satan, to disobey God, is given the profound opportunity to be redeemed from their sin and have a restored relationship with God Almighty.  A Horrible Sacrifice for the Provision of Redemption and Forgiveness of Sin, for a restored relationship with God is born by Jesus Christ, the Sacrificial Lamb and Holy Son of God.  A Holy Eternal Kingdom can now be established, through Christ’s suffering, death and Resurrection; to be Justified, Redeemed and Re-born, by the Power of His Spirit!  Revelation 5:9–14 9 And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” 11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they sang: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” 13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” 14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped. [1] Morey, R. A. (2001). Sermon Notes—The Attributes of God. Journal of Biblical Apologetics, 2, 55. [2] “The plural of ‘cherub’, represented in the OT as symbolic and celestial beings. In the book of Genesis they were assigned to guard the tree of life in Eden (Gn. 3:24). A similar symbolic function was credited to the golden cherubim, which were placed at either end of the cover (‘mercy seat’) of the ark of the covenant (Ex. 25:18–22; cf. Heb. 9:5), for they were thought of as protecting the sacred objects which the ark housed, and as providing, with their outstretched wings, a visible pedestal for the invisible throne of God (cf. 1 Sa. 4:4; 2 Sa. 6:2; 2 Ki. 19:15; Pss. 80:1; 99:1, etc.). In Ezk. 10 the chariot-throne of God, still upborne by cherubim, becomes mobile. Representations of those winged creatures were also embroidered on the curtains and veil of the tabernacle and on the walls of the Temple (Ex. 26:31; 2 Ch. 3:7)”. Source: Harrison, R. K. (1996). Cherubim. In D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, & D. J. Wiseman (Eds.), New Bible dictionary (3rd ed., p. 183). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. [3] “Fiery beings of supernatural origin. Seraphim appear in Isaiah’s vision of God where they are attendants or guardians before the divine throne, analogous to the cherubim (Isa. 6:1-7).” Source: Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). In Harper’s Bible dictionary (1st ed., p. 927). San Francisco: Harper & Row. [4] “Literally, ‘the burning ones,’ seraphim (a plural word) [from ancient heathen sources] were winged serpents whose images decorated many of the thrones of the Egyptian pharaohs. In some cases, they wore the crowns of the Egyptian kingdoms and were thought to act as guardians over the king. Isaiah envisioned the seraphim as agents of God who prepared him to proclaim the Lord’s message to Judah (Isa. 6:2).” Source: Brand, C., Draper, C., England, A., Bond, S., Clendenen, E. R., & Butler, T. C. (Eds.). (2003). Seraphim. In Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (p. 1462). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.

Sin, Suffering and The Messiah

The most Distinctive Messianic Chapter in the Old Testament

By Pastor Dan Kennedy

www.pastorkennedy.com

Is there other life in the universe besides on the earth? Yes.

God has always been.

He hasn’t just been around for 6,000 years, or 5 ½ Billion years.

God IS and has always been. He is the Alpha and Omega (A-Z), the First and the Last, and the beginning and the end (Rev. 22:13). God is the great “I AM” (Gen. 17:1; Ex. 3:14; John 8:58).

1. God is Spirit. He fills the universe with His Person – His life is evidenced everywhere.

What do theologians call this fact?

God’s Omnipresence.

“God is present everywhere at the same time. God is present in the totality of His personhood ‘in,’ ‘throughout,’ ‘beyond,’ ‘above,’ ‘beneath,’ ‘before,’ ‘after’ and ‘beside’ all things. There is no place where God is not.” [1]

2. God created a host of angelic beings, and angels were created to do God’s bidding (Matt. 13:42; 24:31).

There are myriads and myriads of angels, who are also in the universe, – which are invisible to us unless God chooses for them to make their presence known.

Revelation 5:11

11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.

Hebrews 12:22

22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,

Daniel 7:10

10 A river of fire was flowing,

coming out from before him.

Thousands upon thousands attended him;

ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him….

There are different kinds of angelic beings. Angels (see references above), Cherubim (Gen. 3:24; Ezek. 10; Heb. 9:5)[2], Seraphim (Is. 6:2, 6)[3], [4] and Archangels (1 Thess. 4:16; Jude 9).

There are good angels and there are fallen evil angels in the Universe.

3. Within the host of angels that God created were those, which rebelled against God’s authority through pride and lust for power. These fallen angels were removed from their places in heaven and were banished to the earth. Satan is their leader. (Is. 14;12-15; Ezekiel 28:12-19; Matt. 25:41; Luke 10:18; 2 Peter 2:4; Rev. 12:7-9)

Hell was created to be their final destination. (Matt. 25:41)

Why Didn’t God Stop the Bad Stuff from the Beginning?

Did God have the power to restrain these angels from rebelling against Him? Yes.

Did God choose to restrain them from rebelling? No.

Did God perfectly create the earth and everything on it? Yes.

Was Satan, in his rebellion, allowed to have access to those on the earth? Yes.

Did Adam and Eve choose to disobey God’s known will? Yes.

What was the result of mankind’s disobedience?

o Their relationship with God was broken;

o They and their descendants were brought under the full curse of sin;

o They immediately died spiritually (in their relationship to God) and would eventually die physically;

o Humankind and their children were ushered into the kingdom of darkness in which Satan, the archenemy of God, had dominion.

· What is the further result of disobedience and sin against God?

o Continued, more graphic Rebellion against God,

o Going our own way and doing our own thing,

o Pride,

o Human accomplishment without acknowledgment of God,

o Carnality,

o Crime,

o Abuse,

o Deeper, and deeper involvement in sin,

o War,

o Greater Suffering,

o Intense Sorrow, and

o The Continuing Curse of Death.

Let’s Take One Step Further Back

We really only have three basic choices when seeking to understand how we got on earth, the existence of the enormous universe around us, our amazing planet and the very complex life on it – while also trying to comprehend how depravity, suffering and death came to exist on the earth.

How Did We Come to Exist? - We only really have 3 realistic options.

What Do You Believe?

1. A Personal Creator: We can acknowledge our belief that each of us has a divine purpose and have been created by a Personal, All-knowing, and Caring Creator, to whom we are accountable.

2. From Nothing: We can believe that our planet, with every complexity of life on it throughout the millions of species of living things, and the billions/trillions of galaxies in the universe (each with billions of stars) are the result of random chance – against astronomical odds on every level…micro-cellular to phenomenally-sized planets – it all happened by random chance. Belief in absolute “random chance” requires no accountability to anyone or anything!

Our life being made by random chance could be compared to a fully assembled and fueled Boeing 787 Dreamliner taking flight out of a junk yard, on its maiden voyage – by random chance, without being designed, fabricated, tested and flown by an intelligent being or human engineered robotic equipment. Neuroscientists have said that the human brain alone is the most complex and powerful entity in the universe… (much more than a mere 787 Dreamliner).

Nothing always begets nothing no matter how simple or complex the “nothing” is.

3. An Impersonal Creator: We can believe that have been planted, for no purpose or reason, by an impersonal entity on a fly-by to its planet, and that “seeds of life” somehow trickled their way on to ponds, marshland, and barren rock that somehow already existed on earth and was furthermore hospitable to its alien life-seed. Those who see the illogical futility of believing in “random chance,” find this option an intriguing potential. Belief in an Impersonal Creator requires no accountability to anyone or anything. Life can be lived as one pleases...though the reality of probable Impersonal Creators can be quite difficult to identify.

A Personal God created life and all that is in the universe. He fills the universe with His Presence and God is intimately concerned with everything that He has ever created.

We are accountable to Him.

What have we reviewed so far?

· There is life in the universe which began with God who has always been.

· God created all things including angelic beings, some of whom rebelled against His Authority and were cast to earth.

· The first human beings chose to disobey God’s authority and thereby plunged the world into depravity and under the curse of sin, which is under the kingdom of Satan.

· Because of “original sin” and our own sin, you and I are condemned to live with a depraved nature (not a holy nature) and be subject to “the wages of sin” which is death: Spiritual death (a broken relationship with God), and physical death.

How Can a Sinful Human Being live forever with a Holy God in His Holy Heaven, and God, and His Perfect Dwelling still be Holy and sinless?

Those brought into God’s Holy Kingdom would need to be Redeemed and Purified by an atonement for their sins that would meet the most stringent measures before the Throne of a Holy and Righteous God, and make them fully Justified under the scrutiny of any court in the Universe.

God has provided a way that sinful humankind can find forgiveness, cleansing and reconciliation with Him!

The Lamb of God; God The Son; The Suffering Savior

God’s Solution for Mankind’s sin: The Perfect Sacrifice. The Only Sacrifice.

Isaiah 53

The most Distinctive Messianic Chapter in the Old Testament

The Unattractive Message

Is. 53:1 Who has believed our message

and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?

God establishes His Truth on wisdom that is unattractive to the worldly wise – it is only fulfilling to the Spiritually thirsty.

The Unattractive Servant

Most of the time when we look for a leader – a leader from God, we want someone who “looks good”, who is “cool”, suave, and whose physical person is empowered.

Not so with Jesus. He was born in an animal shelter, and He did not have a place to call home during His ministry (Matt. 8:20). Many followed Him, especially when He fed them, and many left Him when they could not understand or did not like what He was saying (see John 6).

Jesus didn’t look like someone the people envisioned to be the Son of God…the Messiah!

Is. 53:2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,

and like a root out of dry ground.

He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,

nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,

a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces

he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

The Redeemer Revealed

Jesus did not come, in His first coming, to be King, but to be a Suffering Servant.

Why?

So that He would be a “faithful High Priest” for us.

Hebrews 2:14–18

14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

The Redeemer Revealed

Is. 53:4a Surely

· He took up our pain

· He bore our suffering,

How did People Respond to His Suffering?

Is. 53:4b Yet we considered Him punished by God,

· Stricken by God, and

· Afflicted by God.

The Reason for Suffering Savior’s death on the Cross

Is. 53:5 But

· He was pierced for our transgressions,

· He was crushed for our iniquities;

· The punishment that brought us peace was on Him,

· By His wounds we are healed.

Our Prideful and Sinful Condition – In need of no one, not even God.

Is. 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

each of us has turned to our own way;

· and the Lord has laid on him

· the iniquity of us all.

How Did Jesus Respond to the Abuse and Suffering?

Is. 53:7 He was

· Oppressed and afflicted,

· yet He did not open His mouth;

· He was led like a lamb to the slaughter,

and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so

· He did not open his mouth.

Who Protested the Injustice Done to Christ?

Is. 53:8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.

Yet who of his generation protested?

For he was cut off from the land of the living;

for the transgression of my people he was punished.

•Why Didn’t God Stop the Bad Stuff from the Beginning?
•Why doesn’t God stop bad stuff from happening to us?
•Why didn’t God stop terrible stuff from happening to His own Son?

Could it be that God desires His children to have real faith, not “hypothetical” faith?

God wants to reward His Children for actually honoring Him in their daily lives, not honoring Him with their mouth only.

Could it be that God wants us to live as real Christians, not pseudo Christians and He uses the reality…and sometimes the painfulness of life, to bring reality into our faith, with His life and victory into our souls? That God wants us to endure and overcome in this world, through His Power, to reveal authentic Christianity?

There was nothing “hypothetical” or “hypocritical” about Jesus Christ and His Life!

•God sent His Son to live a real life of a Servant, so He would truly understand us, effectively Redeem us and totally be our High Priest and King.

•So that His Children, and the world, would know that He is worthy to receive power, glory, honor and blessing; and that He has the honor and integrity for every knee to bow to Him in heaven, on earth, and under the earth!

•God allowed His Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer, be rejected, crushed, abused, and die, so that the payment in full, for our sins, could be justly made.
•So His Rightful Eternal Kingdom could be established!

Christ’s Death and Burial was Established hundreds of years before He came to earth

Is. 53:9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,

and with the rich in his death,

Evidence Regarding His True Character

Is. 53:9b though he had done no violence,

nor was any deceit in his mouth.

God’s Essential Punishment to Provide Redemption for the World

Is. 53:10 Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,

and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,

he will see his offspring and prolong his days,

and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.

The Benefit of His Terrible Punishment for Our Sin

Is. 53:11 After he has suffered,

he will see the light of life and be satisfied;

by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,

and he will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,

and he will divide the spoils with the strong,

because he poured out his life unto death,

and was numbered with the transgressors.

Reiteration for the Cause of His Suffering and Death

Is. 53:12b For he bore the sin of many,

and made intercession for the transgressors.

•A Holy Creator God – eternally exists – there is life in the Universe!
•A Human Race that chose, with the promptings and lies of Satan, to disobey God, is given the profound opportunity to be redeemed from their sin and have a restored relationship with God Almighty.
•A Horrible Sacrifice for the Provision of Redemption and Forgiveness of Sin, for a restored relationship with God is born by Jesus Christ, the Sacrificial Lamb and Holy Son of God.
•A Holy Eternal Kingdom can now be established, through Christ’s suffering, death and Resurrection; to be Justified, Redeemed and Re-born, by the Power of His Spirit!

Revelation 5:9–14

9 And they sang a new song:

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals,

because you were slain,

and with your blood you purchased men for God

from every tribe and language and people and nation.

10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,

and they will reign on the earth.”

11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they sang:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,

to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength

and honor and glory and praise!”

13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb

be praise and honor and glory and power,

for ever and ever!”

14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

[1] Morey, R. A. (2001). Sermon Notes—The Attributes of God. Journal of Biblical Apologetics, 2, 55.

[2] “The plural of ‘cherub’, represented in the OT as symbolic and celestial beings. In the book of Genesis they were assigned to guard the tree of life in Eden (Gn. 3:24). A similar symbolic function was credited to the golden cherubim, which were placed at either end of the cover (‘mercy seat’) of the ark of the covenant (Ex. 25:18–22; cf. Heb. 9:5), for they were thought of as protecting the sacred objects which the ark housed, and as providing, with their outstretched wings, a visible pedestal for the invisible throne of God (cf. 1 Sa. 4:4; 2 Sa. 6:2; 2 Ki. 19:15; Pss. 80:1; 99:1, etc.). In Ezk. 10 the chariot-throne of God, still upborne by cherubim, becomes mobile. Representations of those winged creatures were also embroidered on the curtains and veil of the tabernacle and on the walls of the Temple (Ex. 26:31; 2 Ch. 3:7)”. Source: Harrison, R. K. (1996). Cherubim. In D. R. W. Wood, I. H. Marshall, A. R. Millard, J. I. Packer, & D. J. Wiseman (Eds.), New Bible dictionary (3rd ed., p. 183). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.

[3] “Fiery beings of supernatural origin. Seraphim appear in Isaiah’s vision of God where they are attendants or guardians before the divine throne, analogous to the cherubim (Isa. 6:1-7).” Source: Achtemeier, P. J., Harper & Row and Society of Biblical Literature. (1985). In Harper’s Bible dictionary (1st ed., p. 927). San Francisco: Harper & Row.

[4] “Literally, ‘the burning ones,’ seraphim (a plural word) [from ancient heathen sources] were winged serpents whose images decorated many of the thrones of the Egyptian pharaohs. In some cases, they wore the crowns of the Egyptian kingdoms and were thought to act as guardians over the king. Isaiah envisioned the seraphim as agents of God who prepared him to proclaim the Lord’s message to Judah (Isa. 6:2).” Source: Brand, C., Draper, C., England, A., Bond, S., Clendenen, E. R., & Butler, T. C. (Eds.). (2003). Seraphim. In Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary (p. 1462). Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers.