Let's turn this morning to Isaiah
chapter 60. Isaiah chapter 60, and when you
have found that place, turn back to Isaiah chapter 49. The title of the message this
morning is, Thy Savior and Thy Redeemer. In Isaiah chapter 60
and verse 16, And then in Isaiah 49 and verse
26, the Lord God makes himself known to his people as our God,
our Savior, and our Redeemer. And he declares in these two
verses of scripture that it is his purpose that we and all men
should know that he is indeed our God, our Savior, and our
Redeemer. When he comes in his grace and
makes himself known to his people, the Lord God makes himself known
to all who believe as their God, their Savior, and their Redeemer.
And when this world is done, The Lord God will display to
wandering worlds the mysteries of his grace accomplished in
us as our God, our Savior, and our Redeemer. All right, let's
read these two verses together. Isaiah chapter 60 and verse 16. Thou shalt also suck the milk
of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings. In other
words, God says concerning his elect, I'm going to give you
everything you need in the world among the heathen and from the
rich kings of the world. And thou shalt know that I am
the Lord, or that I, the Lord, am thy Savior and thy Redeemer,
the mighty one of Jacob. And then in chapter 49 of Isaiah's
prophecy and verse 26, Again, in the context, he's talking
about the salvation of his elect from among all the peoples of
the earth. He says, And I will feed them that oppress thee with
their own flesh, and they shall be drunken with their own blood,
as with sweet wine. And all flesh shall know that
I, the Lord, am thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One
of Jacob. Now try to get hold of this if
you can. Our great, glorious God, He who created all things,
who rules all things, and who disposes of all things exactly
as He will, is our God. He's our Redeemer, and He's our
Savior. If He is our Redeemer, and He
is indeed the Lord God, then there is no question that He
shall be our Savior. The very basis of comfort in
the declaration of redemption is the declaration that the sure
result of redemption is salvation. The religion of this age talks
about a redemption which provides the possibility of salvation.
But such a redemption is not the work of God, such a redemption
is not the message of the gospel, such a redemption is not the
hope of sinners. For a redemption that just provides
the possibility of salvation provides the possibility and
the likelihood of failure as well. But the gospel declares
him who is God indeed. who has accomplished redemption
for somebody. And those who are redeemed by
him shall indeed be saved by his almighty grace. In fact,
the comfort that's given throughout the scriptures from God to his
people in various times of difficulty and trouble is based upon redemption. Turn to just one passage in this
regard, Isaiah chapter 41. Isaiah 41. You can look again in chapter
43, 44, 48, 54 of Isaiah. The basis of comfort in all these
various passages is the fact that redemption is ours in Christ. Look in Isaiah 41, verse 14.
The Lord God says, Fear not thou worm, Jacob. Though you are but
a worm, you have no reason to fear. Though mighty men will
trample upon you, you have no reason to fear. Though all hell
is engaged against you, you have no reason to fear. Fear not,
thou worm, Jacob, and you men of Israel. I will help thee,
saith the Lord thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel." He says,
I've redeemed you. Now you can count on it. I'll
help you. I've redeemed you. You have no reason to fear. I've
redeemed you. I'll take care of you. Now, as
we look at the Word of God this morning, I want to know these
four questions, I want to know the answers to them, and I'll
give them to you if you don't have your lesson with you. I
hope you read it and looked it over. These are the questions
that are raised in the lesson for this morning. And I want
to answer these questions for you from the scriptures with
regard to redemption. The first is, how is it that
the Lord Jesus Christ, our God, became our Redeemer? The scriptures
speak of him becoming and being made of God unto us, wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification and redemption. Speak of him
coming here as our surety and our Redeemer. But how is it that
he became our Redeemer? He is himself God Almighty. God
the Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. And yet he
came here as our Redeemer. That means he must have come
by his own voluntary will, for he is God. He came by divine
appointment from his Father, but he submitted himself willingly
and gladly to become our Redeemer, to become obedient unto the Father
in all things, as was prophesied of him in all the Old Testament
scriptures, in all the types and pictures and prophecies of
the Old Testament, in all the events recorded in the Old Testament.
And this is so very, very important. If we're going to understand
Old Testament scripture, Understand the various details of the stories,
the miraculous deliverances of Israel, both out of Egypt and
out of Babylon, and from all the various captors who took
them captive during the days of the judges. If we understand
the meaning of the types and prophecies and the pictures of
the Old Testament, understand that the whole of the Old Testament
was written of God and records these things for us to declare,
to prophesy, and to picture redemption by Christ. The Old Testament
is utterly meaningless until you understand that. It is a
book of nothing but religious morals and religious history
until you understand the message. The message of the Old Testament,
the reason all those things happened in the providence of God with
Israel, and the deliverance of His people, the bondage of His
people, their captivity, and then being set free, was to portray
God's grace toward us in Christ and the accomplishment of redemption
by Him. We trace our redemption then by the Lord Jesus Christ
to God Almighty. We who believe recognize that
redemption is God's work. There was nothing to compel him
to do it, but it is his free, sovereign, gracious work. The
Lord God says, I have loved thee with an everlasting love. Therefore,
with loving kindness have I drawn thee. Because He loved us, He
sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. The Scriptures
ascribe redemption to God's love for His people. Turn to Romans
chapter 5, Romans the 5th chapter and verse 8. Very familiar text of Scripture,
but understand what it says. God commendeth. This is how God
shows and commends to us his love. God commendeth his love
toward us. And that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. The Apostle John says, and this
was manifested, the love of God toward us, because God sent his
only son into the world that we might live through him. Herein
is love, not that we loved God. We didn't. We couldn't. We wouldn't. but that He loved us and sent
His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. It was the great
mercy, love, and grace of God toward us which sent His Son
to redeem us. So, too, it was the love of God
the Son for us that caused Him to come. The Apostle Paul urges
us as men, he says, husbands love your wives as Christ also
loved the church and gave himself for it, distinctly and particularly. He loved his church and gave
himself for it. And he tells us we ought to follow
his example, loving our wives, giving ourselves for them distinctly
and particularly. But Paul reminds us, he said,
now, I'm not talking to you about men and women. I'm not talking
to you primarily about marriage. I'm simply using that, I'm talking
to you about Christ and his church. I'm talking to you about the
love of Christ for his people. He loved us and gave himself
for us because he loved us. He gave himself for us that he
might redeem unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. This love of Christ for his people
is free, unmerited, undeserved, sovereign love. We didn't even
want his love, much less deserve it, but he loved us. Turn to
Hosea chapter 14. Isaiah said, in all their affliction
he was afflicted. In His love and in His pity,
He redeemed them. Now look here in Hosea chapter
14 verse 4. The Lord God says concerning
His people, I will heal their backsliding. I will love them
freely. You see that? I will love them
without a cause. Freely. Thank God for free love. free, sovereign love in the heart
of God our Savior for us. For mine anger is turned away
from Him. Because of His great love for
us, the Son of God voluntarily put Himself in bondage under
His own oath as our covenant surety to redeem and save His
people. He is described for us as the
surety of the better covenant in Hebrews 7.22. He entered into
covenant agreement with the Father for us. In our modern language, we talk
about a covenant as a contract. That's exactly what the covenant
of grace is, a contract of salvation. A contract made between the persons
of the Holy Trinity before the world began. A contract made
by the oath of God Almighty with His Son as our Redeemer. And
the Lord Jesus, before the world began, voluntarily put Himself
in bondage under a legal, honorable contract for the honor of God
to redeem and save His people. And he considered himself honor-bound
to fulfill his covenant agreements as our surety. That's the reason
in the New Testament, frequently, how many times do you read Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John, our Lord Jesus saying the Son of Man must
be delivered into the hands of the Jews. The Son of Man must
go to Jerusalem. The Son of Man must suffer at
the hands of the priests and the scribes and the Pharisees
and the Romans. He said in John chapter 3, turn over to John's
Gospel if you will for a moment. John 3, verse 14. People are
forever quoting John 3, 16. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. And they say, that's the
gospel in one verse. No! There's not any gospel at
all in John 3, 16. Not any at all. John 3, 16 doesn't
declare the gospel, it declares the reason for the gospel. The
reason for it, the cause of it is the love of God. But the gospel
is found in John 3.14. The Son of Man must be delivered
into the hands of sinful men. And then he says in verse 14,
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must
the Son of Man be lifted up. That's the declaration of the
gospel. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, must be lifted up so
that even as the Jews in the wilderness look to that brazen
serpent, so whosoever believes on the Son of God shall have
everlasting life. in chapter 12, verse 34. Our Lord Jesus says in the last
verse, as these people dispute what he said, they answered him
saying, we've heard out of the law that Christ abides forever.
And you claim you're the Christ? Well, how sayest thou? Look at
this. The Son of Man must be lifted up. This is their response
to what he said in John 12, verse 32. He says, As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up.
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men
unto me, signifying by what death he should die. And then our Lord
spoke in John 10, in verse 16, that very familiar text. Other
sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also I must pray. Because of his covenant agreements
with the Father, the Son of God put himself honor bound under
bondage as the born slave of Jehovah to redeem and save his
people. And when we talk about redemption,
redemption is more than just paying the price. Redemption
is more than just laying down the price. To redeem something
is to deliver it. To redeem something is to buy
it out from under something. To buy it out from under one
condition and put it into another. And so the Lord Jesus redeems
us by his blood, by his power, by his grace, and at last by
resurrection glory. Alright, now here's the second
thing. Is the Lord Jesus Christ qualified to be our Redeemer? Is he qualified to be our Redeemer?
Read the Old Testament Scriptures. In all the Old Testament, the
Lord God in every sacrifice described the sacrifice as well as the
priest and the altar on which the sacrifice was made and the
mercy seat where the blood of the sacrifice was sprinkled.
He said there are certain things that must set forth the qualifications
for the priest, the sacrifice, the altar, and the mercy seat.
And the Lord Jesus meets them all. That Passover lamb had to
be shut up from the 10th day to the 14th day, examine it,
make sure it's perfect. A lamb without spot, without
blemish. Every sacrifice to be examined
and offered without spot and without blemish before God. The
priest must be the priest whom God has appointed. He must have
the garments that God has required and he must have not only the
royal gorgeous, beautiful priestly garments that were worn before
the people, but the spotless white linen garments worn before
the Lord in the holy place. The blood must be offered upon
God's altar and God's mercy seat at the time when God required
it. The Lord Jesus is in all things fit to be our Redeemer.
He is that priest and that sacrifice, that altar and that mercy seat,
which God Almighty has ordained and God Almighty has accepted.
By His spotless life of pure righteousness, the Lord Jesus
brought in everlasting righteousness for us. And having obeyed the
law of God as our substitute, he offered himself as a sacrifice
unto God on our behalf. But if he were just a mere man,
his sacrifice, while noble, while exemplary, while in every way
something that ought to cause men to stand back in awe of him,
would do no good for our souls as far as redemption is concerned.
Sometimes people wonder why we stress and so vehemently demand
that people understand that Jesus Christ is the virgin-born incarnate
Son of God. Because if he is a man born of
Adam, he's a sinner, and he has nothing with which to make satisfaction
to God. But this man, being born of the
Virgin, having come into this world through the womb of the
Virgin, within a body which the Holy Spirit prepared for him
in the womb of the Virgin, is one who is not only a man without
sin, but he is a man who is himself God incarnate. And thus he is
our Goel, or our kinsman redeemer. God, come down here to redeem
and save such things as we are. Emmanuel, God with us. Now turn
to Isaiah 9, verse 6. Here's a passage of scripture
that won't be long. Everybody will have it sitting out on Christmas
cards, and you'll see it posted on store windows, and you'll
hear folks singing about it, and very few folks ever pay any
attention to it. Isaiah 9, verse 6. A prophecy concerning the
incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ. And notice the language
of scripture. I never cease to be amazed that
when the Old Testament, as well as the New, was written, It was
written with such distinct clarity and such precise language that
there's no possibility of misunderstanding the language except by deliberate,
deliberate unbelief. Look what it says here in Isaiah
9.6. For unto us a child is born. Now that could never be said
of Jesus Christ as God. There never was a time when he
was born. He's the only begotten of the father, but he's always
begotten of the father. There never was a time when he
was begotten of the father. He's the eternally begotten son
of God, the eternal father. It could never be said that he
began in time, not as God, but as a man he was born. Unto us
a child is born. Look at the next word. Unto us
a son is given. God gave his son unto us in the
sacrifice at Calvary and in the virgin birth. Unto us a son is
given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder. His name
shall be called Wonderful, Counselor of the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father, the Prince of Peace. He is the child born as a man
and the son given as the divine person, and thus he is qualified
to be our Redeemer. As a man, He could be made, and
as a man, he was made to be under the law. As a man, he had blood
to shed, and he shed the blood. As a man, he was capable of suffering
all the wrath of God. But as God, he's capable of suffering
the wrath of God to the full satisfaction of divine justice. All right, here's the third question.
By what means did the Son of God accomplish redemption for
us? Let's just look at one passage, 1 Peter chapter 4. You remember
the Lord spoke to Moses in Exodus 12 about the blood. He said,
when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. He said the blood shall
be a token for you. The Apostle Paul says we have
redemption in Christ through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins. Here in 1 Peter chapter, I said
chapter 4, chapter 1, I'm sorry, verse 18. 1 Peter 1 verse 18. For as much as you know, that
you were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold from
your vain conversation, from your vain, empty, meaningless
life, received by tradition from your fathers. That's what we
all got from our daddies, a vain, empty, meaningless life, every
one of us. Folks like to trace their family
tree. I guess it's all right to have some family pride in
those things as men. When all is said and done, all
we ever give to our children, all we ever give to our children
is a vain, empty, meaningless life. And we've been redeemed
from that vain conversation, that vain, empty, meaningless
life which we received by tradition from our fathers with the precious
blood of Christ. Oh, what a word. Precious blood. Precious cause, it's his. As of a lamb without blemish
and without spot, who verily was foreordained before the foundation
of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.
Precious blood, because his blood was deliberately shed for us. Some folks get upset with one
of the hymns that says, there where the blood of the lamb was
spilt, as if that implies some kind of an accident, not at all.
He deliberately spilt his blood and God Almighty, the father
with the sword of justice, deliberately spilt his blood at Calvary. It was deliberately shed blood
and it was the blood of a man. A man like us. One with us in
human flesh. But thank God it was the blood
of Him who is a man who is God Himself. Christ has redeemed
the church with His own blood. And in Acts 20, 28, we're told
that the blood with which He redeemed His church is the blood
of God Almighty. Well, that can't be. God's a
spirit. He doesn't have a body. No, He doesn't. But the God-man
does. And that man who died for us
at Calvary is himself God Almighty. As much God when he shed his
blood at Calvary as when he said, let there be light. And there
was light. Now one more question. To whom
was the ransom price paid? Again, this is important. People
these days have the notion somehow that the Lord Jesus paid the
ransom price for the redemption of his people into the hands
of Satan. But nothing could be further
from the truth. The Lord Jesus broke Satan's usurped power by
his crucifixion. But all the power Satan had over
God's people was a usurped power, a usurped power which God Almighty
himself gave to the fiend of hell by which God Almighty would
display his power and grace in us. But the price of ransom was
paid to the hands of divine justice. It was the justice of God that
was offended. It was the justice of God that
held us in bondage. It was the justice of God that
condemned us. And the Lord Jesus, when he died
as our substitute, paid the ransom price into the hands of divine
justice, and now justice is satisfied. And justice, now listen to me,
justice demands as strongly as mercy that every redeemed sinner
must go free. Justice demands it. Once the
ransom price is paid, justice cannot require more. Once justice
is satisfied, justice demands the salvation of God's people.
And therefore, we rejoice to hear our Savior declare, I am
thy Redeemer and thy Savior. He redeemed us by his blood at
Calvary. He comes in the power of His
Spirit and grace and redeems us and giving us life in the
regenerating work of His Spirit by the preaching of the gospel
and by the power of His outstretched arm. And one of these days, our
Lord Jesus will appear in glory. And he will redeem our bodies
from corruption and raise us up into the very likeness of
himself in perfect righteousness, conformed to him in all things.