Hope For All | Mandy Lucas – PAX Church (The LORD is Salvation | 04/03/22)

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Have you ever messed up? Have you ever felt like you had wandered too far from God?
What do you think God thinks about that?
As we look at Isaiah we see that no one is ever too far for God.

Isaiah 41:8-10 NIV
8 “But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
you descendants of Abraham my friend, 
9 I took you from the ends of the earth,
from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, ‘You are my servant’;
I have chosen you and have not rejected you. 
10 So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Here the ”servant” referred to is Israel.
We are reminded of the promise of God to Abraham and his descendants.
God says, ”I have not rejected you.”
There is hope in hardship. Because God is faithful even if Israel is not.

Isaiah 42:1 NIV
1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will bring justice to the nations.

Here we are reminded of the baptism of Jesus.

Matthew 3:16-17 NIV
16 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Now the ”servant” Isaiah refers to appears to be Jesus, we have further evidence of this in the next few verses of Isaiah 42.

Isaiah 42:2-4 NIV
2 He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets. 
3 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; 
4 he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his teaching the islands will put their hope.”

Matthew 12:15-21 NIV
15 Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. 16 He warned them not to tell others about him. 17 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 
18 “Here is my servant whom I have chosen,
the one I love, in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will proclaim justice to the nations. 
19 He will not quarrel or cry out;
no one will hear his voice in the streets. 
20 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out,
till he has brought justice through to victory. 
21 In his name the nations will put their hope.”

The New Testament declares Jesus is this same servant here in Matthew as Matthew says this scripture is fulfilled in Jesus.

Isaiah 42:18-20 NIV
18 “Hear, you deaf;
look, you blind, and see! 
19 Who is blind but my servant,
and deaf like the messenger I send?
Who is blind like the one in covenant with me,
blind like the servant of the Lord? 
20 You have seen many things, but you pay no attention;
your ears are open, but you do not listen.”

And while the first portion of this chapter describes Jesus, this section describes Isreal.
And so, who is the servant of the Lord?Isreal? Jesus?
The answer is Both.
Isreal was and is the servant of the Lord. Called out and set apart among the nations to be different—be a light that shines the glory of God to the nations around it. But over and over again through out their history they fail to do this. They turn from God, and don’t listen to the prophets and their call to turn back to him.
And so God promises another, one who will not fail to bring them back to him, one who will bring salvation to Isreal. This other ”servant of the Lord” is Jesus, he succeeds where Israel has failed. He lives set apart, sinless, and his life and death glorifies God.
So, as we read about the servant of the Lord there is a both/and. The servant of the Lord is both Isreal, and Jesus.
In the midst of impending hardship, doom, destruction, desolation, and judgement for what Isreal has failed to do, and what they have done, we find that God has declares he will be with them, and he will send his servant to save them.

It is through this ”Servant of the Lord” that we find a promise in Isaiah, not only for Israel but for all.

Isaiah 49:1-3 NIV
1 Listen to me, you islands;
hear this, you distant nations:
Before I was born the Lord called me;
from my mother’s womb he has spoken my name. 
2 He made my mouth like a sharpened sword,
in the shadow of his hand he hid me;
he made me into a polished arrow
and concealed me in his quiver. 
3 He said to me, “You are my servant,
Israel, in whom I will display my splendor.”

Again we are reminded of the servant Israel and God’s original purpose in setting them apart: to display his splendor, his glory, in the earth.
And here we have another promise that he still plans to display his splendor through them.

Isaiah 49:4-7 NIV
4 But I said, “I have labored in vain;
I have spent my strength for nothing at all.
Yet what is due me is in the Lord’s hand,
and my reward is with my God.” 
5 And now the Lord says—he who formed me in the womb to be his servant
to bring Jacob back to him
and gather Israel to himself,
for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord
and my God has been my strength— 
6 he says:
“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” 
7 This is what the Lord says
—the Redeemer and Holy One of Israel—
to him who was despised and abhorred by the nation,
to the servant of rulers:
“Kings will see you and stand up,
princes will see and bow down,
because of the Lord, who is faithful,
the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you.”

“A light to the gentiles, that my salvation may reach the ends of the earth.”
And here we see another promise, not only will God be with Israel through what is coming to them. Not only will he save them, and restore them.
God will also bring them back to him and not only Isreal, but this servant is to be a light to the gentiles as well—a promise that God’s salvation will go out to the ends of the earth. Available to all.
We know that Jesus is that Light. We know that salvation, forgiveness and freedom from our sins and mistakes, restoration to being in relationship with God, has come through Jesus’ death and resurrection and that it is offered to any who would believe in Jesus.

John 8:12 NIV
12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Isaiah 49:6 NIV
6 he says:“It is too small a thing for you to be my servant
to restore the tribes of Jacob
and bring back those of Israel I have kept.
I will also make you a light for the Gentiles,
that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”

And here we see another promise, not only will God be with Israel through what is coming to them. Not only will he save them, and restore them.
This servant is to be a light to the gentiles as well—a promise that God’s salvation will go out to the ends of the earth. Available to all.

Romans 8:39 NIV
39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So in Isaiah we find the hope of Jesus that no one is too far gone for God.
As we read Isaiah today we find that the hope of salvation extended to all people unto the ends of the earth.
In the words of Isaiah 49, we find a call to action for each of us today as well.

Matthew 5:14-16 NIV
14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Just as Israel was set apart and called to be a light to the nations, just as Jesus was called to be a light, not only to Israel but to the gentiles, His church is also called to be a light. To go out into our world, set apart in order to display the glory of God to others, that all might believe and be saved.