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Standing for the reading of God’s word in my sermon text this morning as we continue our journey through the book of the prophet Isaiah. We find ourselves this morning in Isaiah chapter 49, verses 1 through 7. You will find that passage on page 724 in your pew Bibles. The title of my sermon this morning is A Light for the Nations. So let us hear God’s word. Isaiah 49, verses 1 through 7.

Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar. The Lord called me from the womb. From the body of my mother, he named my name. He made my mouth like a sharp sword. In the shadow of his hand, he hid me. He made me a polished arrow. In his quiver, he hid me away.

And he said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” But I said, “I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and in vain. Yet surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense with my God.” And now the Lord says, “He who formed me from the womb to be his servant, to bring Jacob back to him and to gather Israel to him. For I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength.” He says, “It is too small a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will make you a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and His Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers. Kings shall see and rise up, and princes shall bow down, because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you.

The grass withers and the flower fades, but the Word of our God endures forever. Let us pray for the Lord to bless the proclamation of His Word. Our gracious Lord God, Heavenly Father, we thank You and praise You that You are a personal God. You are a God who speaks, a God who communicates, and we thank You, God, for giving us the Scriptures, which are Your Word. They are a lamp unto our feet. They are a light unto our path. They are a guide to our way.

We ask, O Lord, as we consider this portion of Your holy Word, that Your Holy Spirit, the Spirit who inspired this Word, would illuminate our minds, open our minds and our hearts, Lord God, that we may receive and see wondrous things in Your holy law this day. And so, Lord, bless me, Your servant, as I seek to proclaim Your Word. Give me the grace to do so with clarity and with the power of Your Spirit, Lord. And we pray that You would give us all open ears and open hearts to receive that which the Spirit speaks here in this portion of Your God-breathed Scriptures.

In Jesus’ name we pray, and all of God’s people said, amen. You may be seated. I want to encourage the children to listen for these four key words. They are written out in your sermon outline, but they are the words: Word, Servant, Mission, and Triumph. Word, Servant, Mission, and Triumph.

Well, my dear friends in Christ, the Bible is the Word of God, and there are many evidences for that assertion that the Bible is in fact the Word of God. One of the many evidences for the trustworthiness of the Bible is the fact that the Bible paints a very realistic and true-to-life picture of the fallen human condition. If you are at all familiar with the Bible and its depiction of the human condition, you realize that the Bible gives a very unflattering picture of humanity. The scriptures honestly, accurately, and at times rather bluntly record the sins and character flaws of even the greatest biblical heroes of the faith. We would certainly expect such honesty and transparency from the divinely inspired Word of God. After all, God is a God of absolute truth, and we would expect His Word to be absolutely truthful in its depictions of the character of those it speaks of.

To give a few examples, consider mighty King David in the Old Testament. Although King David was the sweet psalmist of Israel and the Holy Spirit used him to pen many of the Psalms recorded in the book of Psalms, our Psalter, the scriptures are very honest and unflattering toward him when they record his adulterous affair with Bathsheba, along with his deceitful plotting to cover it up. Or consider Peter the Apostle. Although the Apostle Peter was the spokesman for the other apostles and was indeed a faithful confessor of Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, and a zealous disciple who loved the Lord, the gospels record that he denied Christ in fear during the time of our Lord’s trial.

The Bible is not propaganda. The Bible is not hagiography, where only the good qualities of people are recorded while their flaws are ignored. No, the Bible records truthfully the true character of the people described within its pages. While the scriptures teach that we were created in God’s image, humanity rebelled against God and fell into a state of sin and misery.

As a result of sin and rebellion, the human race was plunged into a condition that may be described as spiritual darkness. For example, consider how the Apostle Paul describes the darkened spiritual condition of unbelievers, whom he refers to as Gentiles, in Ephesians 4, verses 17 through 19.

I invite you to turn to that passage if you wish. Ephesians 4, verses 17 through 19. As he writes to these former pagans, now Christians, he urges them to walk in newness of life, in union with Christ. But he says this about those who are outside of Christ: “I say and testify in the Lord that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds.” How does he describe these Gentiles, these unbelievers?

He says, “They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them. Due to their hardness of heart, they have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.”

How are unbelievers, those apart from Christ, described here? Their understanding is darkened. They are alienated from the life of God. They are separated from a life of communion, friendship, and fellowship with God. They are responsible for their ignorance. Their hearts are hardened. They are calloused, and so on. Again, my friends, this is certainly unflattering, but it is accurate—an accurate description of the fallen human condition.

Now returning to Isaiah’s time and preparing to focus on our text for this Lord’s Day morning. It is important to understand that in the ancient historical context of Isaiah’s time, the Gentile world was immersed in the spiritual darkness of pagan idolatry. The knowledge of the true and living God was very rare among the Gentile nations during Isaiah’s day. At that particular point in redemptive history, the spiritual light of God’s saving revelation shone only within the boundaries of Israel, for only they had access to the oracles of God, such as the Law of Moses. Even there, the light of God’s saving revelation shone dimly due to the people’s faithless compromises with the idolatry of their Gentile neighbors.

But friends, our passage for this Lord’s Day morning reveals a wonderful promise of God, a wonderful prophecy and prediction of God. God’s promise to raise up a faithful servant, a servant who would not only bring God’s professed people back to a right relationship with the Lord, but a servant who would serve as a light for the nations, not only for the nation of Israel, but for all nations, so that the Lord’s saving light may reach to the ends of the earth, as we are told in verse six of our passage for today.

Now, friends, our passage for this Lord’s Day morning is the second of four so-called servant songs that are recorded in this latter section of Isaiah. Those servant songs are typically regarded as chapter 42, verses 1 through 9. That is the first servant song. Our passage for today is the Second Servant Song. The third one is found in chapter 50, verses 4 through 11. And the final servant song is very familiar. It is the Suffering Servant passage, which goes from the end of chapter 52, verse 13, all the way through chapter 53.

And as I have mentioned in previous sermons, one of the challenges, one of the interpretive challenges of the servant songs, one of the things that is confusing to some Bible readers, is that this servant of the Lord figure that appears in these servant songs sometimes appears to refer to God’s people collectively, that is, to Israel, which was the church under the old covenant. But at other times, the servant of the Lord appears to refer to a particular individual, namely, to the promised Messiah. There is thus an oscillation, a back and forth, between the servant of the Lord as the people of God and the servant of the Lord as the promised Messiah. And sometimes it is difficult to determine, well, which one is being spoken of here and why this oscillation, this back and forth? Friends, how do we explain this oscillation between God’s people as the Lord’s servant on the one hand and Christ as the Lord’s servant on the other?

I believe this is best explained by the church’s union with Christ. Jesus himself is the messianic servant of the Lord, and as such, he is the embodiment of the true Israel of God. But because of our union with Jesus, the messianic servant of the Lord, we, his people, can also be regarded as the servant of the Lord, though in a secondary and derivative sense.

If this is still confusing to you, let me assure you: hold on. This is a portion of God’s Word that requires our attention, that calls us to look for clues and to read deeply. You cannot simply skim over this portion of God’s Word and expect to understand it. We must engage in a deep study here.

But even if this is somewhat confusing to you, in our passage for today, just understand that the reference here to the Lord’s servant clearly appears to refer to an individual, as I hope to show. That individual is none other than Jesus our Lord, the promised Messiah. With this understanding in mind, let us approach our text for today. As we consider the first four verses, we notice, first of all, the powerful word of the Lord’s servant. This is the first point on your sermon outline: the powerful word of the Lord’s servant.

This passage begins with the following imperative: “Listen to me, O coastlands, and give attention, you peoples from afar.” Who is speaking here? The context makes it clear that the Lord’s servant, Yahweh’s servant, is speaking. He says, “Listen to me, give attention.” These are two slightly different ways of expressing the same idea: pay attention, for this is important.

Then it continues, “The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name,” and so forth. Here we are introduced once again to the servant of the Lord. We see that the servant of the Lord, the Messiah, our Lord Jesus Christ, authoritatively summons the Gentile nations of mankind to heed his word. How do we know that he is speaking to the Gentiles? The language used in Isaiah, verse one, makes this clear.

“Listen to me, O coastlands.” In the original context, this likely refers to the Mediterranean coastlands, which were inhabited by Gentile peoples. Then it becomes even clearer in the second part: “Give attention, you peoples from afar.” In other words, you Gentiles. You also need to listen. The Lord’s servant assures us of his origin: “The Lord called me from the womb, from the body of my mother he named my name.”

In other words, the Lord sovereignly prepared his messianic servant for his mission and called him to accomplish it at the right time, in the fullness of time. This call of God to the servant of the Lord, to his messianic servant, is similar to God’s call to Jeremiah. If you go to the book of Jeremiah, chapter one, and look at verse five, it says this: I am going to start reading from verse four of Jeremiah chapter one. Jeremiah comes right after Isaiah.

Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you were born, I consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the nations. Even before Jeremiah was born, the Lord was preparing him and had called him to be a prophet of God. This call was decreed even before he was born. How much more so is this true of the Lord’s servant, the Messiah, the promised Messiah, whom the Lord prepared and brought into human history in the fullness of time.

Then verse two, the servant of the Lord, the Messianic servant, says this: he made my mouth like a sharp sword. Consider this imagery. People sometimes say that someone has a sharp tongue, which is usually not a compliment. But here, the Messiah’s speech is described as a sharp sword.

Then it says, in the shadow of his hand, he hid me. Notice the imagery being used here. The shadow of God’s hand—the Messiah is hidden in the shadow of God’s hand. We will discuss what this means in a moment. Then it says, he made me a polished arrow. In his quiver, he hid me away. There is much military imagery here.

And this imagery of the Messiah’s mouth being a sharp sword—what is this meant to convey? When we compare scripture with scripture, we see that Christ’s word is powerful and effective, just as a sword is. In fact, the word of Christ is often compared to a sword. Let me direct your attention to a few passages where the Messiah’s mouth and his words are described using this imagery. Look at Hebrews 4, verse 12. The author of Hebrews says this:

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and spirit, of joints and marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. God’s word is like a two-edged sword. It is powerful. It is effective. It accomplishes the purpose for which the Lord intends it.

Consider also Revelation 1:16, the very last book of the Bible. Notice how Christ’s words are described in this verse:

In his right hand he held seven stars, and from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. Then, remain in Revelation and turn to chapter 2, verse 12. It says: To the angel of the church in Pergamum, write: These are the words of him who has the sharp two-edged sword.

And then verse 16, it goes on to say this: Therefore repent, or I will come to you soon and fight against them with the sword of my mouth. And in the well-known passage in Ephesians chapter six, where Paul speaks about the whole armor of God, how does he describe the word of God? In Ephesians 6, verse 17, it says: Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. My friends, the word of Christ is God’s word, for Christ is God. The word of God is like a sharp sword. It divides between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and it exposes the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Then it goes on to say: In the shadow of his hand, he hid me. In the shadow of his hand, he hid me.

What does this imagery point to? We know that God does not have a physical hand. This is what theologians call anthropomorphic language—human language used to help us, as limited and finite beings, understand what God is like. In this language, the image of God hiding his messianic servant in the shadow of his hand, what does it point to? The imagery likely refers to protection, meaning that God would protect the Lord until the time was right for the Lord to become the suffering servant. It may also refer to concealment, or it may refer to both. Indeed, Christ was hidden from the world until the fullness of time arrived, and then God sent forth his Son, born of a woman, born as Jesus the Lord. In any case, we see here the image of the Lord shielding him. And again, he is described as a polished arrow in the Lord’s quiver.

Yahweh’s messianic servant is an agent of judgment, because the image of an arrow is commonly used to represent judgment. In many passages of the Old Testament, God is portrayed as a divine warrior who sends His arrows into the hearts of those who oppose Him, and this represents His judgment. Therefore, as Christ calls the nations to listen to Him with authority, He reminds them that they deserve God’s judgment, and this serves as an implicit call to repentance. Thus, Yahweh’s messianic servant is an agent of judgment for those who do not repent.

Then, in verse 3, it says: “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” At this point, some of you may be wondering, if you are paying attention, why the servant of the Lord is referred to as the Messiah, yet in verse 3 it appears that Isaiah identifies the Lord’s servant as Israel. How do we explain this? How do we explain this? Within the broader context of this passage, it is essential not to isolate verses from their context or take them out of context in a proof-text manner. Scripture and its various verses must be understood within a larger context. What is the broader context here? In verse 3, the servant of the Lord is called Israel, but it is clear from the broader context that this cannot refer to national Israel, considered as a collective body.

Why do I say that? Because I have read beyond this immediate passage to verses 5 and 6 of the same servant song. In verses 5 and 6, the Lord says to his Messianic servant, “You will bring Jacob back to me, and Israel will be gathered to me.” In other words, the servant is distinct from Jacob as a people and from Israel as a people. And when you go on to verse 6, this becomes even clearer. The Lord says, “It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel.”

In other words, the servant is distinguished from Israel as a people. Why then is he called Israel in verse 3? Because Jesus, the promised Messianic servant, is the embodiment of the true Israel of God. He is the faithful Israel, the ideal Israel. And again, it takes careful reading to notice these clues in the context. But once you do, you will see that Christ is indeed the perfect representative of his people, Israel. And he is our representative as the church.

Then it goes on to say in verse 4: “Yet I said, I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing in vain. Surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense is with my God.” In this verse, the Lord’s servant seems to express a sense of failure. He says, “I have labored in vain,” yet he also expresses confidence that God will be his vindicator. He says, “Surely my right is with the Lord, and my recompense is with my God.” When you think about Christ, was Jesus regarded as a success by most of his fellow Jews? Did most of his fellow Jews accept him as the promised Messiah? No. Many of Jesus’s Jewish contemporaries rejected him as the promised Messiah because they were hoping for a political Messiah.

They were hoping for a Messiah who would come and conquer the Romans and reestablish the political kingdom of David. They were looking for a worldly empire. They thought of the kingdom of God in terms of worldly standards. And certainly by worldly standards, our Lord Jesus Christ appeared to be a failure. For many of his contemporaries rejected him as the promised Messiah. Although he did at certain points in his earthly ministry gather a large following, yet toward the end of his ministry, many of his followers left him. His ultimate fate was that he died a horrible death by crucifixion. But we know, brothers and sisters, that was not the end of the story.

God the Father vindicated and rewarded His Son by raising Him physically and bodily from the dead, demonstrating that the Father has accepted His Son’s sacrifice and that He indeed is the servant of the Lord, the promised Messiah, our Savior.

In theological language, Christ’s estate of humiliation will precede His estate of exaltation. And I believe that is what we are given hints of here in verse four. In fact, verse four of our passage seems to anticipate the suffering servant theme that will come later in chapter 53. But friends, what are some takeaways from what we have observed so far in this passage of God’s word?

Well, friends, we learn here that Christ’s Word is an authoritative Word. Christ’s Word is an obligatory Word. Christ’s Word is a Word that all nations are duty-bound to hear and to heed. Christ’s Word is a powerful and effective Word. It is like a sharp, two-edged sword. It is not optional, and to ignore it or dismiss it has grave consequences, in fact, fatal consequences. Now, we are told in the scriptures by the Apostle Paul, for example, in Romans 1, that the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news of salvation through the obedient life, sacrificial atoning death, and glorious resurrection of Christ, the gift of salvation to sinners through Christ, the gospel message is the power of salvation to all who believe. But it also brings the sharp arrow of judgment to those who reject it. So what is your attitude toward Christ’s Word? And what is Christ’s Word?

Again, as I said before, the Word of Christ is the Word of God because Christ is God the Son incarnate. And so you cannot, you know, some Bibles, some of you may have Bibles like this, where the words of Christ are in red in the gospel accounts. Well, if we are going to put the words of Christ in red, then the whole text should be in red. It is all the Word of Christ, because Christ is God, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Word of Christ is the Word of God.

Have you heeded the Word of Christ, which is the Word of God? And especially, have you heeded the Gospel? Have you received the good news of Jesus? Have you recognized that Christ is the only perfect, all-sufficient Savior for a sinner like you and like me? That He died on the cross to pay the penalty for sin, that He rose from the dead so that whoever believes in Him might not perish, but have everlasting life.

You can ignore that Word. You can ignore that message. You can reject it, but that rejection will have serious consequences. In the gospel, God offers His mercy, His forgiveness, and His grace. He freely offers His mercy and forgiveness. It is not something you must earn or deserve. It is a gift from God. As the Scriptures say, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” We have nothing to boast about. Christ offers Himself to all who embrace, trust, and receive Him as their very own Savior and Lord.

How about you? Have you heeded the word of Christ? Have you received Christ as your Savior? If not, may God open your heart today to repent, to turn from your sin and to turn to Christ as your only hope of salvation. And as you turn to Christ, you will discover, because He promises this in His Word, that His arms are wide open to all who receive Him, all who turn to Him. He will turn away no one who turns to Him. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, trust in Him, and you will be saved.

Thus we see the Word of Christ here, the messianic servant. Next, we learn of the worldwide mission of the Lord’s servant, the worldwide mission of the Lord’s servant in verses five and six. After introducing Himself and calling the nations— not only the Jews, but all people of the world—to heed His Word, the Lord says, “Now the Lord says, He who formed me from the womb to be His servant, to bring Jacob back to Him and that Israel might be gathered to Him, for I am honored in the eyes of the Lord, and my God has become my strength.”

He says, it is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel. In other words, it is not sufficient that the Messiah would come to rescue the remnant from among the Jewish people and bring them back to the Lord. He goes on to say, I will make you a light for the nation of Israel. No, I will make you a light for the nations, and that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth.

In Isaiah’s time, this was a radical and revolutionary statement. God was merciful to Israel under the Old Covenant so that eventually the Messiah would be born in the line of David, and then the gospel would go out, not only in Jerusalem and Judea and even Samaria, but to the ends of the earth. So what do we learn about the servant’s mission here? In verses 5 and 6. Again, we learn that it is a worldwide mission. First of all, his mission is to bring Jacob back to him, as it says in verse 5.

And he repeats it by saying that Israel might be gathered to him. Now, some commentators look at this and say, well, obviously this refers to the Jews’ return from their Babylonian exile. And certainly that may be the more immediate, initial historical fulfillment of this prophecy. But this is not merely referring to the Lord returning his people, the Jews, from their exile into the promised land. Because notice what it says: that the Lord’s servant has been formed in the womb to do what? To bring Jacob back to the land? No. to bring Jacob back to him, and that Israel might be gathered to him.

Ultimately, this speaks of spiritual restoration to God. The professed people of God under the Old Covenant, for the most part, except for a chosen faithful remnant, had largely compromised with idolatry. Most of the people had turned away from the Lord, and they were not in right relationship with God. Therefore, God sent them into exile to chasten them and to humble them. But the promised Messiah would not only bring them back from exile; the Servant of the Lord would ultimately bring them back to God, restoring their right relationship with God. Yet this is not only good news for God’s people, for the Jews as God’s people.

The Messianic Servant of the Lord is also called to be a light for the nations. It is significant that Jesus Christ reveals Himself as the light of the world. He speaks of Himself in this way. Let us turn to John 8, verse 12. In John chapter 8, verse 12, the Lord Jesus says, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” Christ Himself is the light of the world. However, brothers and sisters, we in the church are also called to be the light of the world. In fact, Jesus says that His disciples are the light of the world. How can this be? Because we are united with Him who is the light of the world. In union with Christ, the light of the world, we as His disciples are to be the light of the world. Jesus says this in Matthew 5, verses 14 through 16, within the well-known Sermon on the Mount. He is speaking to His disciples, His followers.

He says, “You are the light of the world, a city set on a hill.” This is not referring to America or any other nation on earth. It refers to God’s people, the church. The church is the city on the hill. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. Christ is the light of the world.

In union with Him, we, the church, are also, in a subordinate and derived way, the light of the world. This raises the question: how does our Lord Jesus, the one revealed in this passage as the messianic servant of the Lord, carry out His mission as a light for the nation by bringing the saving light of God into the nations of this sin-darkened world? How does He accomplish this? Ordinarily and primarily, He does so through His church. We bring the light of the gospel into the world through our missionary and evangelistic efforts as the church.

This is emphasized in many places in the New Testament. For example, you are all familiar, I imagine, with the so-called Great Commission, Matthew 28:18–20, where the resurrected Jesus is speaking to the apostles. He says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Christ is the messianic servant, a light for the nations, and He spreads His light through the missionary efforts of His church.

We see this also reflected in Acts chapter 1, verses 6 through 8. Let me read those verses. They help to establish the structure of the book of Acts. It says, concerning the Lord Jesus, after he had risen from the dead and before his ascension, when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?

He said to them, it is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. If you continue reading in the book of Acts, it is interesting to note that later on, in Acts chapter 13, verse 47, Paul and Barnabas are preaching the gospel. The text says, in verse 47, “For this is what the Lord has commanded: I have made you a light for the nations, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.” They are preaching to those who need to hear the gospel. In verse 46, it says, “Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, it was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you, since you have rejected it and have judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life.”

Behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, I have made you a light for the nations, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth. He is saying this is what the Lord has said to us as apostles, and yet they are quoting from verse six of our passage for today. Again, that is the messianic servant who is the light of the nations, but he spreads his light through the preaching of his people, his servants. So, friends, let us as his church seek to bring the light of Christ and his gospel into this sin-darkened world by faithfully proclaiming the truth of the Lord. But finally, in this passage, as we conclude our time in the word this day, we see here the ultimate triumph of the Lord’s servant, the ultimate triumph of the Lord’s servant in verse seven of our passage for today.

It says, Thus says the Lord, the Redeemer of Israel and His Holy One, to one deeply despised, abhorred by the nation, the servant of rulers. This is a perfect description of Jesus in his estate of humiliation, for he was despised by the Jewish nation as a whole. He was rejected by them and he willingly subjected himself to the rulers of that day. But it goes on to say, kings shall see and rise up, princes shall prostrate themselves because of the Lord who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen you. Our Lord, we are told here, was deeply despised by his own people. This reminds us of the description of the suffering servant of the Lord in Isaiah chapter 53, verse three, where it says, He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And as one from whom men hid their faces, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. But friends, though our Lord was despised and rejected even by his own professed people, this messianic servant of the Lord was ultimately destined to be triumphant.

Because the Lord had chosen him, his ultimate triumph was assured. Therefore, in the end, he would be honored. His estate of humiliation would give way to his estate of exaltation. When Jesus was hanging on the cross, it appeared that Satan had won. It appeared that his enemies had gained the upper hand. But that is not the end of the story, because on the third day, the stone was rolled away, and Christ rose from the dead, victorious over sin, death, and hell.

What encouragement should we as his followers take from this? A few things. Let us always remember, brothers and sisters, that we serve a triumphant Savior. Our Savior was a man of peace. The gospel was spread, at least in the initial centuries of the Christian era, not by the power of the sword, unlike Islam, which was spread by its warlord prophet through violence. No, the gospel was spread through proclamation, through the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. It was spread peacefully because Jesus is the Prince of Peace.

He triumphed on the cross. It appeared that Satan and the world had triumphed, but Jesus had actually triumphed because he paid the penalty for sin on the cross of Calvary. He conquered sin and death and hell by his death, followed by his resurrection.

Sometimes the world looks upon the church and views us as losers. And sometimes we may feel that way. The world seems so successful, and we, the church, seem to struggle so much. Yes, we struggle in this present evil age. Yes, we battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Yes, we grow weary in the fight.

But let us remember that Christ is coming. Let us remember that we are already victorious in Him. We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us, and He loved us unto death. He died for us, He rose for us, He triumphed for us, and we are on the winning side, no matter what it may look like in this present age. Let us also remember, I think another takeaway we can draw from this passage is that the Christian life is a cruciform life, which means the Christian life is not merely a series of victories one after another. There is a sense in which we are victors, we are conquerors in Christ already, in principle. Yet we continue in this present evil age to do battle against the world, the flesh, and the devil. We continue to struggle with sin. We continue to struggle daily to take up our cross and follow Jesus.

This is the way it is. Just as it was for our Savior. For Him, the cross came before the crown. His death came before His resurrection. And this sets the pattern for our lives as His followers. In this present age, we bear the cross. But the time is coming when we shall wear the crown, and it is all by His grace alone. This is so important because, you know, do not expect a life without struggle if you wish to be a follower of Jesus. Life is hard, and life as a follower of Jesus can be hard. It is a great blessing, though.

Because we know that our sins are forgiven, we know that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We know that the Lord is with us in all our trials and struggles. And we know that we are headed for our heavenly home. So let us remember this as we keep our eyes fixed on the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who is the messianic servant of the Lord, the one who is the light for the nations. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for rescuing us from the spiritual darkness of sin and bringing us new life in Christ, bringing us the light of the gospel. We pray that you would give us the grace as followers of Jesus to reflect that light, to share the light of the good news with others as we confess him, as we follow him, and as we seek to live for him. We pray all these things, Heavenly Father, in Jesus’ name. And all God’s people said, amen. As we close our time of worship, let us rise and sing together Psalm 22: “The ends of all the earth shall hear.”