by Linda Claassen Mitchell
Isaiah 49:1-6 – How Christ fulfilled the Prophesies of the Messiah – Day 1
Isaiah 49:1-6 (IEB): “1) The Messiah says: ‘All of you people in distant places, listen to me. Listen carefully, all you ethnic groups from afar. (i) Before I was born, Yahweh called me to serve Him. Yahweh named me while I was still inside my mother’s body. (j)
2) Yahweh made my tongue to be like a sharp sword. (k) He hid me in the shadow of His hand. (l) Yahweh made me to be like a sharp arrow. (m) He inserted me into His holder (a) for His arrows.
3) The Always-Present One told me: “O Israel, you are My Servant. (b) I will show My glory through you!”
4) But I thought: “I have worked hard for nothing. (d) I have used all my strength for no good reason. (e) But Yahweh will surely decide what my work is worth. God will decide what’s coming to me.”
5) “And now, Yahweh says that He formed me in the body of my mother, so that I would be His Servant. (f) He made me, so that Israel (g) might be gathered back to Him. (h) Yahweh will honor me. (i) I will get my strength from my God.” (j)
6) The Always-Present One told me:
“You are a very important Servant to Me. (k) You will preserve the tribes of Jacob. (l) You will bring back the people of Israel who are left alive. (m) I will also make you a light for all nations. (n) You will show people all over the world how to be saved.” (o) ‘ ”
Following the footnotes for Isaiah 49:1
• He is turning to the non-Jewish people
• (j) Compare the wording of Jer. 1:5; Matt. 1:21; Luke 1:31-33; Gal. 1:15
Matthew 1:21 (IEB): “She will give birth to a son. You will name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” (The name “Jesus” comes from a Hebrew word which means Yahweh (God) is Salvation.)
Luke 1:31-33 (IEB): “Listen! You will become pregnant and give birth to a son. And, you will name him Jesus. He will be great. People will call him “the Son of the Highest One.’ The Lord God will give him the authority of King David, his ancestor. Jesus will rule over the people of Jacob forever. His kingdom will never end!”
(Jer. 1:5 and Gal. 1:15 are other examples of God having future plans for someone.)
Jesus is the Messiah – God’s Servant – that Isaiah prophesied about 700 years before his birth.
Isaiah 49:1-6 – How Christ fulfilled the Prophesies of the Messiah – Day 2
Isaiah 49:2 (IEB): “Yahweh made my tongue to be like a sharp sword. (k) He hid me in the shadow of His hand. (l) Yahweh made me to be like a sharp arrow. (m) He inserted me into His holder (quiver) for His arrows. (m)”
Following the footnotes:
• (k) The Messiah’s mission was to speak the Word of God forcefully (Isa. 11:4; 51:16; John 12:48; Eph. 6:17: Heb. 4:12; Rev. 1:16; 2:12,16; 19:15,21)
Isaiah 11:4 (IEB): “He will judge the needy people honestly. He will be fair in his decisions for the poor people of the land. At his command, evil people will be punished. By his words, the bad people will be put to death.”
John 12:48 (IEB): “The person who rejects me and does not accept my words has something to condemn him – the very message which I spoke. That message will condemn him on the last day.”
Ephesians 6:17 (IEB): “Take the helmet of salvation. And, use the sword of the Spirit. (This is the message of God.)”
Hebrews 4:12 (IEB): “God’s word is alive and active. It is sharper than any sword with two sharp edges. It can slice between the soul and the spirit or between the joints and the bone marrow. It can tell the difference between the desires and the intentions of the human mind.”
Revelation 1:16 (IEB): “He had seven stars in his right hand. A sword, sharp on both edges, was coming out of his mouth. His face looked like the sun, when it shines its brightest.”
Revelation 2:16 (IEB): “So, change your hearts! If you don’t, then I will come to you soon. I will make war against them with the sword which comes from my mouth.”
• (l) Compare Isa. 30:2-3; 51:16; Matt 2:12-21; Rev. 12:1-6; Luke 13:31-32; John 11:46-54; 12:36. (Turn to God for protection)
• (m) Arrows were symbolic of God’s judgment (Deut. 32:23, 42)
Jesus fulfilled prophesy revealed in Isaiah 49:2. He spoke the word of God forcefully, leaving no doubt what would happen to those who rejected Him. God’s word is alive and active. Nothing is hidden from God.
I have to ask myself; “are all of my intentions pure?” If not, I need to change my heart!
Isaiah 49:1-6 – How Christ fulfilled the Prophesies of the Messiah – Day 3
Isaiah 49:3 (IEB): “The Always-Present One told me: ‘O Israel, you are My Servant. (b) I will show My glory through you!’ (c)”
Following the footnotes:
• (b) This ideal picture of “Israel” is ultimately realized only in the person of the Messiah. He represents the entire nation (Hos. 11:1; Matt. 2:15).
Hosea 11:1 (IEB): “When Israel was a child, I loved him. And I called My son out of Egypt.
Matthew 2:15 (IEB): “He (Joseph) stayed there (in Egypt) until Herod died, to make what the Lord God had said through the prophet come true: ‘I called My Son out of Egypt.”
• No other prophet, priest, or king could wear this worthy title of “Israel”. He was the anti-type of Old Israel. (One that is foreshadowed by or identified with an earlier symbol or type. An opposite or contrasting type.) (Isaiah 5:1-7; Jer. 2:21; John 15:1-27)
Isaiah 5:7 (IEB): “The vineyard that belongs to Yahweh of the armies of heaven is the household of Israel. And, the men of Judah are that garden that the Always-Present One loved. Yahweh looked for justice, but, look, there was only killing. The Always-Present One hoped for a crop of righteous living, but, look, there were only cries of distress.”
Jeremiah 2:21 (IEB): “Yet I planted you as the best grape-vine. You were exactly like very good seed. How then could you turn against Me? You became like a wild vine that grows bad fruit
John 15:1, 5 (IEB): “I am the True Vine. My Father is the Farmer.” “I am the Vine; you are the branches. Who will produce much fruit? The person who stays in me, and in whom I stay. You can do nothing without me!”
• He was the only Mediator of the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31-34; John 14:6; 1 Tim. 2:5; Heb. 8:6; 9:15; 12:24).
Jeremiah 31:31-34 (IEB): “…I will make a new covenant. It will be with the family of Israel and the family of Judah. … I will forgive them for the things they did. I will forget about their sins forever.”
John 14:6 (IEB): “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the Way, and the Truth and the Life! The only way anyone can come to the Father is through me!”
1 Timothy 2:5 (IEB) “There is one God. There is one go-between between God and human beings – the man Christ Jesus.”
In Isaiah 49:3 Jesus is referred to as “Israel”. This is the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Christ came in human form as God’s servant because of sin in the world. He is our mediator of the New Covenant with God. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I can do nothing without Him.
Isaiah 49:1-6 – How Christ fulfilled the Prophesies of the Messiah – Day 4
Isaiah 49:3 (IEB) continued: “The Always-Present One told me: ‘O Israel, you are My Servant. (b) I will show My glory through you!’ (c)”
Following the footnotes:
• (b) was covered in yesterday’s study.
• (c) Compare John 12:28; 13:31-32; 14:13; 16:14; 17:1-5.
John 12:28 (IEB): “Father, bring glory to Your Name! Then a Voice spoke from heaven, saying, ‘I have brought glory to it and I will bring glory to it again.’ ”
John 13:31-32 (IEB): “After Judas left, Jesus said, ‘Now I (a) am given glory and, in me, (b) God is given glory. Since God is given glory in me, God will give me glory for myself. (c) And, He will do that immediately’.”
Following the footnotes for John 13:31-32:
(a) literally “the Son of Man.”
(b) literally “the Son of Man.”
(c) Jesus was nailed to the cross. Compare John 3:14.
John 3:14 (IEB): “Moses lifted up the brass snake in the desert for the people. In the same way, I (“the Son of Man.”) must be lifted high, so that everyone who commits himself to me will have eternal life.”
John 14:13 (IEB): “I will do whatever you ask for in my name. The Father will receive glory in the Son.”
John 16:14-15 (IEB): “He (the Spirit of truth) will give me glory. He will take what I am saying and will tell it to you. Everything that belongs to my Father belongs to me, too. This is why I said, ‘He will take what I am saying and tell it to you.’ ”
John 17:1-5 (IEB): “After Jesus said these things, he looked up to heaven and said, ‘O Father, the time has come. Bring glory to Your Son, so that Your Son may bring glory to You. You have given him authority over all mankind. To each one that You have given the Son You will give eternal life. This is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one whom You sent. I have brought You glory on the earth. I finished the work which You gave me to do. Now Father, give me glory – the glory I had with You when I was with You before the world existed.”
The prophesy in Isaiah 49:3 was fulfilled. God’s glory was shown through Jesus Christ when He died for our sins, was buried, and rose from the grave 3 days later. God’s plan has always been to save His people from sin. But that requires obedience. It required obedience from Jesus to see this through to the end, and it requires my obedience too. I have to commit myself to Christ in order to receive the gift of eternal life.
Isaiah 49:1-6 – How Christ fulfilled the Prophesies of the Messiah – Day 5
Isaiah 49:4 (IEB): But I thought: “I have worked hard for nothing. (d) I have used all my strength for no good reason. (e) But Yahweh will surely decide what my work is worth. God will decide what’s coming to me.”
Following the footnotes:
• (d) or, “I have labored in vain.” Compare Isa. 42:4; 53:1-2; Mark 6:6; Luke 19:14; John 1:11; 7:5; 11:35.
Isaiah 42:4 (IEB): “He will not fail or give up until he brings justice to the world. And, people far away will trust his teachings.”
Isaiah 53:1-3 (IEB): “Who would have believed what we heard? Who foresaw Yahweh’s power in this!? He (o) grew up like a small plant in the presence of God. He was like a root coming up out of dry ground. He had no special beauty or splendor to cause us to notice him. There was nothing in his appearance to attract us to him. He was hated and rejected by people. He endured much pain and suffering. People would not even look at him. He was hated, and we didn’t think that he was an important man.”
Following the footnotes for Isaiah 53:2 (o) = Jesus Christ. There are so many detailed, exact correspondences between this chapter and the actual events in the life of Jesus of Nazareth, his sufferings, and his death that it could not have been a fabrication. Isaiah 52:13- 53:12 can refer to no other person! Since no other human being was ever without sin (Isaiah 53:9b), and Jesus claimed to be sinless (John 8:46), it logically follows that the Servant of Isaiah 53 must be Jesus of Nazareth.
Mark 6:6 (IEB): “He was amazed that they did not believe.”
Luke 19:14 (IEB): “But the people in his kingdom hated the man. So, the people sent a group of their men to follow the man to Rome. There these men said, ‘We don’t want that man to rule over us!’ ”
John 1:11 (IEB): “He came to what belonged to him, but his own people would not accept him.”
John 7:5 (IEB): “(Even Jesus’ brothers did not believe in him.)”
John 11:35 (IEB): “Tears came to his eyes.”
Remember, Jesus the Messiah inspired the Prophet Isaiah to write these words in Isaiah 49:4 around 700 years before He came. He knew what was coming, and still, he came!
(Tomorrow I will follow the footnotes for Isaiah 49:4 (e))
Isaiah 49:1-6 – How Christ fulfilled the Prophesies of the Messiah – Day 6
Isaiah 49:4 (IEB) continued: “But I thought: ‘I have worked hard for nothing. (d) I have used all my strength for no good reason. (e) But Yahweh will surely decide what my work is worth. God will decide what’s coming to me’.”
Following the footnotes:
• (d) (Covered in yesterday’s study.)
• (e) For a time, it seemed that his ministry had failed (Matthew 26:14-16, 20-25, 31-35, 45-56; Mark 14:10-1; Luke 22:1-6, 21-24, 31-34, 43-54; 24:13-21; John 18:1-12) At the end, there were only 120 followers present in Jerusalem (Acts 1:15), and only about 500 witnesses on another occasion (1 Corinthians 15:6).
Matthew 26:14-16 (IEB): “Then one of the twelve apostles, the one called Judas Iscariot, went to the most important priests. He said, ‘If I were to hand Jesus over to you, what would you pay me?’ They agreed with him on the price – 30 silver coins. From that time on, Judas was looking for the best time to give Jesus to them.”
Matthew 26:20-25 (IEB): “When evening came, Jesus sat down at the table with his twelve followers. While they were eating, Jesus said, ‘I am telling you the truth: One of you will turn against me!’
They began to feel very sad. Each one of them said to Jesus, ‘Lord, I am not the one, am I!?’
Jesus answered, ‘The person who dipped his hand in the same dinner bowl with me will turn against me. I will die just as it is written about me. But, how horrible it will be for that man who turns against me. It would be better for that man if he had never been born!’
Judas (the one who turned against him) answered, ‘Rabbi, I am not the one, am I!?’
Jesus answered Judas, ‘Yes, you are’.”
Matthew 26:31, 34 (IEB): “Then Jesus said to them, ‘Tonight all of you will be ashamed of me. This is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the flock of sheep will be scattered’. (Zechariah 13:7).” … “Jesus said to Peter, ‘I am telling you the truth: Before the rooster crows in the morning, you will say you don’t even know me three different times’!”
Matthew 26:54, 56 (IEB): “But how could the Scriptures come true, if this arrest did not happen!? … ‘All this happened to make the writings of the prophets come true.’ Then all of Jesus followers left him. They ran away.”
They ran away! He knew this would happen, and He came anyway. Christ loved us enough to suffer desertion and even death for us, so that we could be saved from our sins and have the promise of eternal life with Him. That is love!
Isaiah 49:1-6 – How Christ fulfilled the Prophesies of the Messiah – Day 7
Isaiah 49:5 (IEB): “And now, Yahweh says that He formed me in the body of my mother, so that I would be His Servant. (f) He made me, so that Israel (g) might be gathered back to Him. (h) Yahweh will honor me. (i) I will get my strength from my God. (j)”
Following the footnotes:
• (f) “so that I would be His Servant.” See Mark 15:24; Acts 3:26; Philip. 2:5-9
Mark 15:24 (IEB): “Then they nailed him to the cross. The soldiers gambled to see who would get Jesus’ clothes.”
Acts 3:26 (IEB): “God has raised up His special servant (Jesus). God sent him to you first, to bless you by turning each one of you away from doing evil things.”
Philippians 2:5-9 (IEB): “Have the same attitude among you that Christ Jesus had:
Though Christ was divine by nature, He did not think that being equal with deity was something to hold onto. Instead, he emptied himself, taking on the very nature of a slave. He became like human beings, appearing in human form. He humbled himself. He obeyed, though it meant dying, even on a cross! So, God made him the most important. God gave him the name that is above every name.”
• (g) nominal Israel.
• (h) “so that Israel might be gathered back to Him.” Compare Matthew 23:37
Matthew 23:37 (IEB): “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem! You kill the prophets. God sent you His men, but you stoned them to death. I have often wanted to gather up your people, as a hen gathers up her baby chicks under her wings, but you refused.”
• “Yahweh will honor me.” Compare John 13:31
John 13:31 (IEB): “After Judas left, Jesus said, ‘Now I am given glory and, in me, God is given glory.”
• (j) “I will get my strength from my God.” Compare Luke 4:43; John 4:34; 6:38; 17:4
Luke 4:43 (IEB): “But Jesus said to them, ‘I must preach the Good News about God’s kingdom to other towns, too. This is why I was sent’.”
John 4:34 (IEB): “Jesus said to them, ‘I must obey what God wants; He sent me. I must finish His work. That is food for me!'”
John 6:38 (IEB): “Why did I come down from heaven? It was not to do what I want to do, but to do the will of the One who sent me.”
Jesus came as God’s Servant, the Messiah, to die on the cross and be raised up again. He came as an example to us to humble ourselves and be obedient to God’s will. He came to lead us away from sin which leads to death, and to gather us to the Father who sent Him.
Isaiah 49:1-6 – How Christ fulfilled the Prophesies of the Messiah – Day 8
Isaiah 49:6 (IEB): “The Always-Present One told me: ‘You are a very important Servant to Me. (k) You will preserve the tribes of Jacob. (l) You will bring back the people of Israel who are left alive. (m) I will also make you a light for all nations. (n) You will show people all over the world how to be saved.” (o) ‘ ”
Following the footnotes:
• (k) “You are a very important Servant to Me.” Rewardingly (See Isaiah 49:4), God also planned that the Messiah would be His means of enlightening the Gentiles and of bringing them into His fold. (Isaiah 42:6-7; 60:3; John 10:16)
Isaiah 42:6-7 (IEB): “God says to His Servant: ‘I am Yahweh. I called you to do the right thing. And, I will hold your hand. I will protect you. You will be the sign of My covenant with the people. You will be a light to shine for the nations. You will help the blind to see. You will free those who are in prison. You will lead those who live in darkness (sin) out of their jail.”
Isaiah 60:3 (IEB): “Nations will come to your light. Kings will come to the brightness of your sunrise.”
John 10:16 (IEB): “But I have some other sheep that are not in this flock. I must lead them, too. They will listen to my voice. Then they will be one flock and one shepherd.”
• (l) “You will preserve the tribes of Jacob.” Compare Revelation 7:1-10
Revelation 7:2-3 (IEB): “I saw another angel coming up from the east. He had the seal of the living God. He shouted to the four angels who were told to hurt the earth and the ocean, saying: ‘Don’t hurt the earth, the ocean, or the trees until we put the seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God.”
• (m) ” You will bring back the people of Israel who are left alive.” Compare Matthew 21:33-43
Matthew 21:33-43 (IEB): “Listen to another story: There was a man who owned some land. He planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a hole for the wine press, and built a lookout tower. Then he rented the land to some farmers and went away on a trip. When harvest time was near, he sent his servants to the farmers to receive his share of the grapes. But the farmers grabbed his servants. They beat one and killed another. They threw stones at another servant until he died.
Again, the owner sent some other servants, more than before, but they did the same thing to those servants.
Finally, the owner sent his son to them, thinking, ‘They will respect my son.’ But when the farmers saw the son, they thought to themselves, ‘When the owner dies, his son will own the vineyard. Come, let us kill him and we will get his field!’ So they took the son, threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. When the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those farmers?
The Jewish leaders answered Jesus, ‘He will kill those evil men! After that, he will give the field to some other farmers who will share the fruits with him at harvest time.’
Jesus said to them, ‘You have read this in the Scriptures:
‘The Stone that the builders did not want will become the Cornerstone. The Lord God makes this happen. It is a wonderful thing for us to see.’ (Psalms 118:22-23)
This is why I am telling you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will make it produce fruit.”
I am reminded that everything belongs to God. Everything that I have is the result of His planning and preparation. What an amazing gift; to be included in God’s plan!
I leave my study today grateful for the opportunity to produce fruit for the master. The Lord is my Shepherd and I will listen to His voice.
Isaiah 49:1-6 – How Christ fulfilled the Prophesies of the Messiah – Day 9
Isaiah 49:6 (IEB) continued: ” … I will also make you a light for all nations. (n) You will show people all over the world how to be saved.” (o) ‘ ”
Following the footnotes continued:
• (n) “I will also make you a light for all nations.” See Isaiah 42:6
Isaiah 42:6 (IEB): “God says to His Servant: ‘I am Yahweh. I called you to do the right thing. And, I will hold your hand. I will protect you. You will be the sign of My covenant with the people. You will be a light to shine for the nations.”
• Compare Isa.11:10; 34:1; 42:6; 55:5; Matt.5:14; Mark 7:25-30; Luke 2:30-32; John 1:4,5,7,8 9; 3:19-21; 8:12; 9:5; 12:20-21; 35-36,46; Acts 26:23; Rom. 1:16; 9:608; Gal.6:16; Philp. 3:3.
Isaiah 11:10 (IEB): “At that time, the One from the family of Jesse will stand up as a signal-flag for the people. The nations will come together around him. And, the place where he lives will be filled with splendor.”
Isaiah 34:1 (IEB): “All you nations, come near to listen. Pay attention, O you various peoples. Let the earth and all the people in it hear. The world and everything in it should hear.”
Isaiah 43:6 (IEB): “I will tell the north: ‘Give up My people to Me!’ And, I will tell the south: ‘Don’t keep My people in prison!’ Bring My sons from far away. Bring My daughters from distant places.”
Isaiah 55:5 (IEB): “Look, you will also summon nations that you don’t know yet. And, the nations that don’t know you will run to you. Why? Because of Yahweh, your God, the Holy One if Israel. He honors you.”
Matthew 5:14 (IEB): “You are light of the world. It is not possible to hide a city which is sitting on a hill.”
Mark 7:25-30 (IEB): “Soon a woman heard about Jesus. Her daughter had an evil spirit. The woman came and bowed down at Jesus’ feet. She was not a Jew. She was born in the land of Phoenicia, and area of Syria. She kept begging Jesus to throw the demon out of her daughter.
Jesus said to her, ‘Let the children eat first. It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the puppies’.
But the woman answered Jesus, ‘Yes, Lord, but even the puppies under the table eat the crumbs from the children!’
Jesus said to her, ‘Go! The demon has come out of your daughter – because of your answer! The woman went back to her home and found her child lying on a bed. And the demon was gone.”
Isaiah 49:1-6 – How Christ fulfilled the Prophesies of the Messiah – Day 10
Isaiah 49:6 (IEB) continued: ” … I will also make you a light for all nations. (n) …”
Following the footnotes continued:
• Compare Luke 2:30-32; John 1:4,5,7,8 9; 3:19-21; 8:12; 9:5; 12:20-21; 35-36,46; Acts 26:23; Rom. 1:16; 9:6-8; Gal.6:16; Phil. 3:3.
Luke 2:30-32 (IEB): Simeon held the baby Jesus in his arms and thanked God. “I have seen Your Salvation with my own eyes. You prepared him in the sight of all people everywhere. He is the light for all the people of the world to see, and honor for Your people, Israel.”
John 1:4 (IEB): “He was the Source of life. That life was the Light for all people. The Light shines in the darkness; the darkness can never put it out!”
John 3:19-21 (IEB): “This is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but people loved the darkness more than they loved the Light, because the things which they were doing were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the Light. He does not come toward the Light. He does not want his evil deeds to be exposed. But the person who is living the truth comes toward the Light. He wants his actions to become clear, because he did them for God.”
John 8-12 (IEB): “Jesus spoke to the people again. He said, ‘I am the Light for the people of the world. The person who follows me will never walk in the darkness. Instead, he will have the living Light.”
John 9:5 (IEB) “I am the light for the people of the world, while I am in the world.”
John 12:46 (IEB): “I have come like light into the world, so that every person who believes in me will not stay in the darkness.”
Acts 26:23 (IEB): “They said that the Messiah would die and be the first to rise from death; and that the Messiah would bring light to Jewish people and non-Jewish people.”
There are no geographic, racial, or ethnic restrictions in God’s plan. He came for every person who would believe in Him. Jesus came for all of the people of the world! But some loved their sinful ways too much to give them up.
As I leave my study of this verse, I am reminded that without faith in Jesus, and the promise of a new covenant that He brought, the entire world would be in the darkness that is sin. God’s plan is for all of us to be in His light! I want to be one of the people who “comes toward the Light”. I want my actions to bring glory to Him.
Isaiah 49:1-6 – How Christ fulfilled the Prophesies of the Messiah – Day11
Isaiah 49:6 (IEB) continued: “…You will show people all over the world how to be saved. (o)”
Following the footnotes continued: (o)
• To be the Way of salvation (Compare John 14:6) to the end of the earth.
John 14:6 (IEB): “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the Way, and the Truth and the Life! The only way anyone can come to the Father is through me!”
• See Mic. 5:5a; Isa. 11:12; Acts 4:12; 13:47.
Micah 5:5a (IEB): “This One will be their Peace.”
Isaiah 11:12 (IEB: “God will raise a flag as a sign for all people. He will gather the people of Israel who were forced out of their country. He will gather the scattered people of Judah from all parts of the earth.”
Acts 4:12 (IEB): “Jesus is the only one who can save people. His authority is the only power given to the world by which we can be saved.”
Acts 13:47 (IEB): “This is what the Lord God commanded us to do: ‘I have made you a light for other nations, so that you may show the way of salvation to people all over the world.’ (Isaiah 49:6)”
• Just before leaving this earth, Jesus Christ issued his mandate to reach out to all people, including every ethnic cultural group (Matt. 28:18-20; Mark 16:15-16; Luke 24:46-49)
Matthew 28:18-20 (IEB): “Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, after you’ve gone out, make followers for me from every ethnic group. Immerse them by the authority of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Teach them to obey everything I commanded you. Remember, I will always be with you – even until the end of time.”
Mark 16:15-16 (IEB): “Jesus said to them, ‘When you have gone into the whole world, proclaim the Good News to all mankind. The person who believes it and is immersed will be saved, but the person who doesn’t believe it will be condemned.”
Luke 24:46-49 (IEB): Then Jesus said to them, ‘Thus it is written that the Messiah would be killed and come back to life from death on the third day. You saw these things happen. You must go and tell all the nations that their sins can be forgiven. Tell them that they must change their hearts…”
It is not enough to believe and be baptized. I must go tell the Good News to everyone who will listen.
Isaiah 49:1-6 – How Christ fulfilled the Prophesies of the Messiah – Day 12
Summary:
• Jesus is the Messiah – God’s Servant – that Isaiah prophesied about 700 years before his birth.
• Jesus fulfilled prophesy revealed in Isaiah 49:2. He spoke the word of God forcefully, leaving no doubt what would happen to those who rejected Him. God’s word is alive and active. Nothing is hidden from God.
• In Isaiah 49:3 Jesus is referred to as “Israel”. This is the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Christ came in human form as God’s servant because of sin in the world. He is our mediator of the New Covenant with God. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. I can do nothing without Him.
• Prophesy was fulfilled. God’s glory was shown through Jesus Christ when He died for our sins, was buried, and rose from the grave 3 days later. God’s plan has always been to save His people from sin. But that requires obedience. It required obedience from Jesus to see this through to the end, and it requires my obedience too. I have to commit myself to Christ to receive the gift of eternal life.
• Jesus the Messiah inspired the Prophet Isaiah to write the words in Isaiah 49:4 around 700 years before He came. He knew what was coming, and still, he came!
• All of His disciples ran away! He knew this would happen, and He came anyway. Christ loved us enough to suffer desertion and even death for us, so that we could be saved from our sins and have the promise of eternal life with Him. That is love!
• Jesus came as God’s Servant, the Messiah, to die on the cross and be raised up again. He came as an example to us to humble ourselves and be obedient to God’s will. He came to lead us away from sin which leads to death, and to gather us to the Father who sent Him.
• Everything belongs to God. Everything that I have is the result of His planning and preparation. What an amazing gift; to be included in God’s plan!
• He came as a light for all nations.
• There are no geographic, racial, or ethnic restrictions in God’s plan. He came for every person who would believe in Him. Jesus came for all of the people of the world! But some love their sinful ways too much to give them up.
• It is not enough to believe and be baptized. I must tell the Good News to everyone who will listen!