The Armor and the Helmet of the Triune God (Isaiah 59:15-18)
Rev. Myung-Sin Choi
“15 So truth fails, And he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The Redeemer of Zion Then the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him That there was no justice. 16 He saw that there was no man, And wondered that there was no intercessor; Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him; And His own righteousness, it sustained Him. 17 For He put on righteousness as a breastplate, And a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on the garments of vengeance for clothing, And was clad with zeal as a cloak. 18 According to their deeds, accordingly He will repay, Fury to His adversaries, Recompense to His enemies; The coastlands He will fully repay.”
Introduction
When I was in Korea, I met my family members and one of the members was my wife’s nephew. The nephew was married and I saw their children. When I met them, I gave worship together with them. When I met with them and had worship with them, I asked them if they accepted Jesus Christ or not. The nephew’s wife said that she never accepted Jesus Christ before and when I heard that, I was so surprised. This was surprising because the nephew’s wife’s sister was a pastor’s wife. The nephew’s uncle received his pastoral doctorate degree in Germany and I am sure that the nephew’s uncle probably came to his house to give worship. I thought that this uncle as a pastor would’ve said a lot of good things and spiritual discussions with this family but it did not. So I shared the basic gospel message to this family. As the mother-in-law was listening to this message, she asked if I would do this at night time. She wanted me to bless her grandchild but she wanted me to share the basic gospel message next time. I thought this was strange. I told her that I don’t have time later so I told them that I will share with them very briefly. As I was sharing the gospel message very simply, I could tell that they were absorbing this message very well and I asked them if they wanted to accept Christ? The mother-in-law told me that she wanted to accept later and next time. I thought that we were in big trouble. When I thought about her response, I realized that this was the spiritual influence of the nephew’s uncle on this family. This uncle who received his pastoral doctorate degree in Germany, I had a chance to listen to one of his messages on Jesus’ resurrection. This uncle said that Jesus’ resurrection did not happen and His physical body did not resurrect but it was the love of Jesus that resurrected. When I heard this message, I realized that our family was in big trouble. I told them to look over the basic gospel message later and told them how to accept Jesus Christ later. Even if you are a pastor or received a pastoral doctorate degree, if you don’t receive the gospel, you will be different from the Israelites. You will face the same problems and sufferings that the Israelites did. That was what the main scripture said. This is what happens when we don't have God and the gospel.
1. God the Mediator
1) The corrupt human nature
Verse 15 - What is justice? Last week we spoke about this. Justice is being able to make a decision between good and evil. This was what Adam and Eve did when they looked at the fruit of good and evil. Then what is the standard of justice? What is the standard for determining what is good and evil? The standard is found within the 10 commandments. Everything is found within the 10 commandments. What was the main content of the 10 commandments?
Jesus Christ said in Matthew 22:37, 39 “Jesus said to him, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” - This speaks about the love of God. That is the whole point of the 10 commandments. This is God’s law. This is what we must do on this earth. This is God’s law to love God with all of our heart, mind, and soul. This is how God sets His standards.
Verse 15 - The Israelites lost all of their truth and justice. There is no one who is righteous. This is what the Bible said. What does this mean? There is a spiritual meaning in this.
Genesis 2:17 “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” - If we eat the fruit of good and evil, we will surely die. This caused the death of mankind. The moment we became separated from God, we all died. We all sinned. This is what God is saying.
Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” - Sin causes death. Due to our sin, death came upon us. Every human being possesses the nature of sin. Everyone possesses the nature of sin and are all bound by Satan.
2) The Mediator who comes to us
Verse 16 - It said that there was no intercessor. This means that when mankind was suffering and evil was roaming uncontrollably in this world, there was no one who could intervene to help mankind. God raised up prophets, priests, kings, and religious leaders to rule over the world but they lost all hope. Why was that?
God recorded this in the Bible to help mankind realize Romans 3:10-12 “As it is written: 'There is none righteous, no, not one; 11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. 12 They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.' ” - All mankind has become corrupted. Even the prophets, priests, and kings that God raised up, have become corrupted as well. That is why God made the decision to bring about salvation and righteousness. God raised Himself and bought Himself forth to bring salvation and righteousness to mankind. How did He do this? He sacrificed His body. He sustained His righteousness through His law of God’s word. He didn’t just come to this world but He came with the law of His word.
John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” - Jesus held onto God’s righteousness and His word and came into this world. He came as the Mediator and intercessor. He wants to lead us towards the right direction.
2. God's Full Armor
1) The Mediator who solves the problem of sin
Verse 17 - When God came to this world, He came wearing the righteousness as a breastplate and helmet of salvation. He came as a general wearing armor. For our salvation, Jesus came as an armor wearing the breastplate of righteousness and helmet of salvation. The fact that God came as a general, this means the spiritual war is over. It is all finished. The method is shown when it was written as the breastplate of righteousness. When a soldier wears a breastplate, it is made out of bullet proof and strong materials but that is not the breastplate that God was wearing. The breastplate that God was wearing was made of righteousness. This means that this is God’s word, God’s law. This is God’s greatest armor and weapon. No one can attack God. No one can go against God’s word.
All mankind fell into sin as written in Genesis 3 so that is why God had to come with His righteousness. Jesus Christ came armed with righteousness and salvation. He came armed with righteousness and salvation, and solved the problem of the sin of mankind. He sacrificed His body while being armed with the breastplate of righteousness and helmet of salvation. Not only that but He wore the helmet of salvation. The fact that He wore this means that no could defeat or overcome God. The salvation that God will bring, it will absolutely be fulfilled. What is astounding was what this helmet of salvation was on the head of God. This was the role of life that God bought before us. This was the battle that God fought for us. There is nothing else. God came with the most glorious armor and gave this armor to us. What kind of crown do we wear on this earth? Jesus Christ as He was dying on the cross, He wore the crown of thorns. He did this so that He can bear all of our sins and problems on the cross once and for all.
Matthew 27:35 “Then they crucified Him, and divided His garments, casting lots, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet: 'They divided My garments among them, And for My clothing they cast lots.' ” - When you were nailed to the cross back in the days, there were four people who set this up. They would take off all of the clothes and belongings on the person. In this case, the four people took all of the clothes of Jesus Christ and they divided it among themselves. This means that Jesus wore nothing when He died on the cross for us. Jesus wore the garments of vengeance. This means that Jesus bore all of our sins and shame when He died on the cross. All of the suffering and shame of sin that we were supposed to take on, Jesus bore all of that on the cross. Not only that, but the clad with zeal as a cloak; this means that Jesus destroyed the power of Satan. Jesus Christ laid everything down and died on the cross for us. He wore nothing and died on the cross. Jesus came to this world and took nothing with Him, and died on the cross for us. He gave up everything for us. Who is willing to do this for us? Only a father who loves his children can do this. This was the true image of Jesus Christ as the True Priest. In order to restore everything for us, Jesus gave up everything and died on the cross. It didn’t end there.
2) The Mediator who destroys the enemy
Verse 18 - This shows how much God loves us. If we accept God, then God will save us. If we fall down, if we repent then God will accept us. Those who don’t repent, God said that He will show His fury and vengeance.
Matthew 25:41 “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.' ” - What God prepared was the eternal damnation as His vengeance. This was talking about the nations who were tormenting Israel at that time.
3. What His Children Must Do
1) Be imprinted with the power of the gospel
2 Timothy 3:15 “And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” - We need to continue to root ourselves with the gospel. Then, the wisdom from the gospel will come to us as well as faith from salvation.
Exodus 3:18 “Then they will heed your voice; and you shall come, you and the elders of Israel, to the king of Egypt; and you shall say to him, ‘The Lord God of the Hebrews has met with us; and now, please, let us go three days’ journey into the wilderness, that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God.’ ” - This was what Moses was telling Pharaoh. What they needed to imprint and root within themselves and their children was the blood sacrifice. The whole main content within the Bible is about the blood of Jesus.
2) Be rooted into the power of the gospel
2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” - Whether you live for good or evil, the standard of this is found within the Bible. It is most important for us to root ourselves within the gospel and the word of God.
Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” - The moment we believe in the gospel, then the power of Christ and the power of the gospel will come upon us.
3) To block the disasters of the future
2 Timothy 3:17 “That the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” - In order for us to do good work it is within the word of God. In order for us to take action, we must take action with the word of God.
Hebrews 4:12 “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” - God’s word has power and is living. It can pierce through our spirit, body, and heart. God’s word is the most powerful. The moment we believe, then it is over. It has the power to discern our thoughts and intents of our heart. No matter what spiritual or mental problems you have, if you hold onto God’s word, then you will be healed. This is the method on how we can save people who are suffering.
Conclusion
Hold onto 2 Timothy 2:2 “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.” - We must believe and apply this word of God to people around us and within us. The Triune God has come to this world as a general and died on the cross to save us. May we be victorious.
Comments