The Passion and the Vision of the Lord's Servant (Isaiah 54:11-17)
Rev. Myung-Sin Choi
“11 'O you afflicted one, Tossed with tempest, and not comforted, Behold, I will lay your stones with colorful gems, And lay your foundations with sapphires. 12 I will make your pinnacles of rubies, Your gates of crystal, And all your walls of precious stones. 13 All your children shall be taught by the Lord, And great shall be the peace of your children. 14 In righteousness you shall be established; You shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; And from terror, for it shall not come near you. 15 Indeed they shall surely assemble, but not because of Me. Whoever assembles against you shall fall for your sake. 16 Behold, I have created the blacksmith Who blows the coals in the fire, Who brings forth an instrument for his work; And I have created the spoiler to destroy. 17 No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,' Says the Lord.”
Introduction
Last week, something occurred to me. I woke up one morning but the back of my neck started hurting and I had a huge headache. But later on, I started feeling intense pain throughout my neck to my head. And, my head started feeling hot and my neck started aching badly. I checked my blood pressure but it was my systolic blood pressure was 150, which was high. But after one day passed, my blood pressure continued to stay high. I realized that this was not a light problem so I prayed earnestly to God. I prayed to God that this was not right so I started to do deep breathing exercises but I realized that I haven’t been doing my deep breathing prayers consistently. As I started to do my deep breathing exercises, I realized that I haven’t done it enough because I was struggling to do it correctly. I started my deep breathing exercises and would inhale and exhale deeply for multiple seconds, and I continued to do that for 30 minutes but my pain started decreasing. After 30 minutes, my pain was completely gone. I was so surprised by this and all of the heat in my head was all gone. I realized that Rev. Kwang-Su Ryu just doesn’t tell us to do deep breathing exercises for no reason. There is a reason for it all. God gives us messages for our benefits but we try to apply the message to other people but we don’t try to apply the word to God for ourselves. If we do this, then we can’t receive correct and accurate answers. Through today’s sermon, may you apply the word of God 100%. Last week, we spoke about how Jesus died on the cross and this allowed Gentiles to receive the gospel. Through the suffering of Jesus Christ, there was a vision that He would accomplish.
1. The Restoration of Those Who Have Left God
1) The restoration of Eden
Verse 11 - This message was given for the Israelites. God knew the state of the Israelites at that time. The time when they were in captivity, their state was where they were being tossed around and living like they were in prison. This is not only talking about the Israelites but this is the same life of those who fail in worship. When you fail in worship then you are living a life like you are wondering and being tossed around. You don’t know your paths so you have no choice but to be wondering. God tells the Israelites to look and God was showing them a new life and path. When God was speaking about laying down stones with colorful gems, when you build a new building, you lay down bricks and there are stones that put the bricks together, God was talking about those stones. The temple is referring to the foundation made with sapphires. The temple was destroyed so the Israelites had no place to give worship. Their hope was to have a place to worship, a temple to be built. The answer that God gave to them was this scripture. But it was an answer that the Israelites did not expect at all. God was telling to look and that this temple will be built with a foundation with sapphires. What does this mean? The temple that they will build, their temple will not be made with stones but with sapphires.
2) The blessing of the new temple
Verse 12 - When God was building this new temple, God will build it with sapphires, rubies, and gates of crystals. This means that the temple that God will build, it will not be just a temple but it will be a spiritual house for the Israelites. These sapphires are referring to heaven. It is referring to the authority of heaven, power of God. God possesses all the power of heaven and earth. The rubies represent the Sun and how God possesses the power of light to break down darkness. The gates of crystal are referring to God’s sacrifice. This means that the new temple will be built by the sacrifice of Jesus and the body of God. The temple will be built through the blood of Jesus Christ. All of these sparkling jewels, this temple of God will be built with this much beauty and glory.
Ephesians 2:20-22 “Having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.” - When the temple of God was built, God wanted all of the people of God to gather and become part of God’s body. When a church is built, it is built with the foundation of the congregation of God’s people.
Ephesians 2:22 - Our church is still in the process of being built. The church of God is still in the process of being built inside of you. God is building the Garden of Eden within our church and within ourselves.
John 17:22 “And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one.” - Whenever I read this scripture, I am so moved. God gave His great glory to Jesus and now this glory was given to us. God’s glory was given to us. We have received the same glory that Jesus received as He was on His way to the cross and as He died on the cross. Just as Jesus and God are one, we have become one with God and Jesus. God is the head and we are the body. We are one with the Triune God. This is the astounding blessing that we have received.
Isaiah 43:4 “Since you were precious in My sight, You have been honored, And I have loved you; Therefore I will give men for you, And people for your life.”
2. God Solves the Problem of Sin
1) The statues of the Lord
Verse 13 - The mystery to become one and our church to be one, that mystery is found here. Children of God are taught by God.
John 6:45 “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.” - This was what Jesus Christ said. Through worship, we receive God’s word. When we receive God’s word, we gain the faith that we should follow after God. That person who has this conviction, these are the people who have become one body with God. When God teaches us these things, what happens to us?
Apostle Paul explains this to us in Ephesians 5:26-27 “That He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, 27 that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” - When we receive God’s word, it doesn’t end with us listening to God’s word but the great power of the Holy Spirit is at work. With God’s word, it cleanses and sanctifies us. Through the body of God as a church, we are being cleansed and are being built up. Through the word of God, we become holy and without blemish. Through the word of God, the works of healing take place.
Verse 13 - In other words, when you become a child of God, great works and blessings will come to you. Great peace will come. This peace is referring to God’s grace, salvation, and the gift of the Holy Spirit.
2) Established in righteousness
Verse 14 - Those who accept Christ, we will be established. God’s grace will come upon us. We have been cleansed and stripped of our sins. This is what it means. We were sinners but Jesus has redeemed us. This is something that we cannot imagine without Jesus Christ. Jesus has saved us.
Romans 8:1-2 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.” - We may feel like we are still living the same life of our past but we are not because Jesus is now with us.
Romans 8:2 - It is possible through the law of God. Through the law of God, we have been freed from all things.
The fact that we are free, what it means to be free is explained in verse 14 - What is terror and oppression? It is the power of darkness. We no longer have to fear death and the curses of disasters that were once upon our lives were broken down. This was all possible through the grace of Jesus Christ. All we did was believe but all of this happened to us and everything was solved. This is astounding. God broke down all powers of darkness.
3. God Judges the Darkness
1) The defeat of the wicked
Verses 15-17 - There may be wicked people who may attack and torment us. But, God will absolutely destroy them. This is one of the greatest blessings and authority that children of God possess. This was the special blessing that Abraham possessed.
Genesis 12:3 “I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” - Why did this blessing come to us? This means that we are already a source of blessing. Those who have become a source of blessing, God will protect you no matter what.
Not only but in verse 16 - God prepared everything for us. It was God who did all of this. It was God who created all things. God said that He created things twice. He created all things for the sake of His glory. The reason why God raised up Goliath was to receive glory through David. All of the sufferings and tribulations that you face, you face them so that God can be glorified.
Not only that but in verse 17 - Satan is planning to destroy mankind and the world but it will all be in vain. Satan tries to tempt and destroy us, and he uses any method to do this. He will use methods of blaming, lies, and other devious ways.
Knowing this, Apostle Paul said in Romans 12:19, 4:3 “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, 'Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,' says the Lord. 4:3 For what does the Scripture say? 'Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.' ” - People will cheat and lie against you but God said that He will be the one to punish those people. There is a saying where it says that you will reap what you sow.
Verse 17 - The blessings for children of God will never change. The blessings that God promised, it will absolutely be fulfilled. All of the blessings that God has given to us were given to us because we are God’s heirs. You receive this blessing when you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for you.
Romans 4:3 - The reason why blessings were given to Abraham was due to his faith. His faith gave him his path to righteousness. The grace that God has given to us is astounding. Jesus died on the cross for us and bore everything on our behalf but all we did was believe. All we did was believe but God called us righteous. This is what you call grace. We should be thankful for God’s grace. Through God’s grace, we are receiving unimaginable blessings. What we need to hold onto is God’s opportunities for us.
2) Tribulation is an opportunity
Tribulations are opportunities for blessings by God. Genesis 45:8 “So now it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt.” - This was the blessing that Joseph received. Joseph received tremendous blessings. Joseph was a slave and was powerless. But God used this slave and used Joseph’s tribulations for opportunities for blessings. God used his tribulations to build Joseph to become a great leader. Through these tribulations, God used Joseph to lead his people. Our problems need to exist so that we can receive God’s prepared blessings for us.
Acts 16:7-8 “After they had come to Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit did not permit them. 8 So passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.” - We may pray but things may still not work out for us. It may seem like problems are consistently coming to us but God is giving you these problems and situations so that God can make a turning point in your life.
Acts 27:24 “Saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.' ” - Through tribulations, Paul was able to find God’s great vision. God gave Paul a great assurance that he will be used for world evangelism. These are the blessings that God gives to His children. These blessings were not only given to Joseph and Paul but God has prepared great blessings for us. May we enjoy these blessings.
Conclusion
Look at Romans 1:6 “Among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ.” - We have been called by God. The important thing is that we have been called to be God’s. That is why all blessings and all things are within Jesus Christ. All power and wisdom is within Jesus Christ. The blessing of becoming one body with God will take place. The one body is also referring to becoming one with the triune God. This is our authority and power as a child of God. May we enjoy these blessings as a child of God.
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