Who Has Believed?

Wednesday, February 06, 2013, 6:36 a.m. – the Lord Jesus woke me with the song “God So Loved the World” playing in my mind. Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Isaiah 53 (NIV 1984):

Who has believed our message

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

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.

He was despised and rejected by men,

    a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.

Like one from whom men hide their faces

    he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he took up our infirmities

    and carried our sorrows,

yet we considered him stricken by God,

    smitten by him, and afflicted.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,

    and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,

    each of us has turned to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

    the iniquity of us all.

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 her shearers is silent,

    so he did not open his mouth.

By oppression and judgment he was taken away.

    And who can speak of his descendants?

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

    for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

He was assigned a grave with the wicked,

    and with the rich in his death,

though he had done no violence,

    nor was any deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,

    and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering,

he will see his offspring and prolong his days,

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

After the suffering of his soul,

    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.

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.

For he bore the sin of many,

    and made intercession for the transgressors.

Our Message

Isaiah asked, “Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” The Apostle Paul quoted these words of Isaiah in reference to the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ (see Ro. 10:16-17). He said that not all the Israelites accepted the good news, even though they had heard the message of the gospel. He quoted Isaiah where he said, concerning the Israelites, that all day long God held out his hands to a disobedient and obstinate people. The disciple John also quoted Isaiah concerning the Israelites not believing the message of the gospel (see John 12:37-41). Even though Jesus did so many miraculous signs among the people of Israel, they still would not believe him. And, then he quoted Isaiah again where Isaiah stated that God had blinded the people’s eyes and had deadened their hearts because they refused to believe in Jesus.

The arm of the Lord could be the strength and power of God and/or this could be referring to the branch of the Lord, i.e. this tender shoot, i.e. the Messiah, who was a descendant of King David. So, the question is not only, “Who has believed the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ?” but it is also, “To whom has Jesus Christ been revealed?” He was first of all revealed to the Jews, but they, as a nation, rejected him as their Messiah, God and Lord, and so they, as a nation, have ceased to be God’s chosen people. The chosen people of God now are those who believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and as Savior of their lives, and this includes believing Jews. We are now true Israel, the Jerusalem from above, the Holy City, and Zion – the kingdom of heaven, the body of Christ.

These same questions, though, could be asked of the institutional church of today, or of America, where the gospel, Bibles, preaching and teaching of the word, gospel music, etc. is so readily available on TV, the internet, radio, in bookstores, church institutions, etc. We are not devoid of Biblical teaching and preaching in America, nor are we lacking in the availability of the word of God. In fact, we have so much available to us that I think we easily take what we have for granted. And, I believe that many professing Christians today, though they acknowledge that Jesus Christ is their Savior, have also not truly believed the true message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many are disobedient and obstinate, whose eyes are blinded and whose ears are stopped up because they have refused to believe in the true message of the gospel.

Many have bought into a social gospel that entertains the sinner instead of slaying him, as Tozer so well said it years ago. They teach a watered-down gospel, which is no gospel at all, that pictures God’s grace as requiring nothing of the believer, so there is no real motivation to change. Many “worship” services have become centers of religious entertainment. “Bible studies” are now discussions of books written by mankind. “Teachers” are now reduced to mere facilitators who merely lead a pre-programmed discussion, which often has no right or wrong answers. “Sin” is now called “mistakes,” or “I messed up,” which softens the seriousness of the sin. Repentance and obedience to Christ and to his commands are no longer required for salvation, and the world has so crept into the church that it is barely distinguishable now between the church and the world. What this tells me is that many who claim to know Christ truly do not know him at all because they have not truly believed - as evidenced by their lifestyles, actions and attitudes - the true gospel of Jesus Christ, which can be found throughout the NT (see Eph. 4:17-24; Luke 9:23-25; Ro. 12:1-2, et al).

Despised and Rejected

You would think, by the way many churches present Jesus Christ today, that he was this really swell fellow that everyone loved, admired and enjoyed being around. You would think he would have had a charismatic personality that just drew people to him. You would think that he never said a harsh word, never criticized anyone, never said anything to hurt anyone’s feelings, and that he just loved on people all the time, i.e. he just smiled, laughed, joked, and talked about football and the latest in entertainment and technology; and that he was a great conversationalist and he always knew just the right words to say to people to make them feel good about themselves, etc. You would think that he would have been well liked and that everyone would have just raved about what a great guy he was and that people would just naturally want to hang out with him. I mean, isn’t that the impression you get as to how we, as believers in Christ, should act so that people will like us? Yet, aren’t we supposed to be like Jesus?

Jesus had nothing in his appearance to attract us to him that we should desire him. People were not naturally drawn to him. In fact, he was despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. He was like one from whom men hide their faces and he was not esteemed of men. Is this is how you would be described? If not, why not? The disciple John said that Jesus was in the world, and though the world was made by him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own people did not receive him (see John 1:10-11). Why did they not receive him? – Because they didn’t like his message. So, why didn’t they like his message? – Because he told them the truth about their sin, and because he told them that they had to repent of their sin, they had to die to their own way of living for sin and self, and they had to follow him in obedience, even to death, severe suffering and persecution, for the sake of the gospel (see Luke 9:23-25; John 7:7). Are you well received by people? Or, are you despised and rejected of men?

He was pierced

Even though the people rejected Jesus Christ and his message, though some believed, and even though his closest companions deserted him, (one) betrayed him, (one) denied him, and all forsook him when he was arrested, and even though his own people shouted “Crucify him,” and would rather release a known criminal than him, and even though they spat on him, mocked him, said all kinds of manner of evil against him, although he had done no wrong, still in love he willingly went to the cross to die for our sins. He loved us so much that he went through all that unjust suffering so we could go free. He willingly took upon himself the sins of the entire world, which I believe was the greatest pain of all, especially since his own Father had to look away from him at that moment, because he loved us so much that he wanted to see us be free from the power and control of sin over our daily lives, and so we could be free to walk in sweet obedient fellowship with him.

Like Sheep

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, and each of us has turned to his own way, which is why Jesus took our sins upon him, so that we could all change. Peter said that Jesus bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. We were like sheep going astray, but as true followers of Jesus Christ, we have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of our souls, Jesus Christ. Do you realize this is teaching repentance and obedience for salvation? Why would Jesus go through all of that only to have us continue in sin, rebellion, obstinacy, and disobedience? He died to radically transform our lives away from living to please self and sin, and so we might live for righteousness, walking daily in humble obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ.

So, I pray, if you have not done so, that you would bow before him today, turning from sin, and turning to walk humbly in daily obedience, submission and surrender to his will for your life.

God So Loved The World / Bob Kauflin / Sung by Glad

God so loved the world He gave His only Son

To face the death that we deserved and overcome

And everyone who hears His word and believes

The promise that he’s heard will never die, will never die