Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast. How do we know where to find answers to the toughest
questions in life? While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search
and how do we discover this truth? Today, in this teaching podcast, John Metter, lead pastor
of Cross City Church, takes a specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth for the life
we're searching for. So glad that you're with us in our expectant series today. I want to ask a
question as we start today, and that is what exactly are we expecting? What do we expect of
a Messiah? What are we expecting that God would bring into our lives? That's the real question
that the Old Testament people had in that time. I want you to take your Bibles this morning and
turn to Isaiah 53, perhaps one of the greatest chapters in the entire scripture that helps us
expect a certain something out of a Messiah that is to come. As a matter of fact, the title of our
message today is The God Who Intervenes. The God Who Intervenes. I always love that word,
that God would intervene into our lives in some way and Old Testament Israel needed that. We need
that in this day and time, the God Who Intervenes, Isaiah chapter 53. You know, like millions, as I
was growing up, I used to watch a television show that later on became a series of movies called
Superman. Any Superman fans in the room, would you raise your hand if you know what I'm talking
about? Yeah, I know Superman's changed a little bit over the years, but really the storyline of
Superman is intriguing. A baby born on another planet with supernatural powers somehow ends up
on the planet Earth, living among family members that have no real idea of his power. And as he
grows up and as he interacts with people around him, he realizes that he has the supernatural
ability to intervene into their lives, to rescue them, to protect them, and he has that kind of
mindset. As a matter of fact, in the old TV show, at the end of it all, we would hear the line
consistently that Superman was all about the truth, justice, and the American way. You remember that?
It changed over the years, of course, but that's exactly what we heard week in and week out. In
2006, Superman Returns was a great movie that was put out and became very popular, the most popular
movie of the year that year. And it was all about Superman intervening into yet another situation,
and one great scene, Superman sees that the police are under attack by criminals, and these
criminals have a Gatlin 58 caliber gun. This will appeal to all the guys in the room, a Gatlin gun.
Think of that. That's the multiple barrels that go around in circles, and they spit out these huge
bullets. 58 calibers are about like that. And of course, this criminal destroys all the police
cars and is about to zero in on the police officers themselves, and Superman swoops in. And he bears
his chest, something like this, and walks towards the Gatlin gun. And those 58 caliber bullets come
and hit him on the chest, and he absorbs them, and they kind of bounce off. And as soon as the gun
runs out of ammo and kind of burns up, then obviously the policemen are saved. But the
criminal's not through, so he gets his large pistol, he comes out and holds it right to Superman's eye,
and pulls the trigger. The bullet comes out in slow motion, not the Matrix, long before then. It
comes out in slow motion, hits him in the eye, and then the bullet smashes to bluntness and falls to
the ground. Superman watches the bullet fall to the ground and looks up at the criminal, and he's
smiling because he's overcome the bullets. The criminal, of course, flees, and the day is saved.
Our hero has come through. It's so real. It is just so real. Now in reality, we really do want a hero,
and in reality, we really need one. God had prophesied of a Messiah hero to come, but what
would he be like? And exactly what would he accomplish? That's Isaiah 53. From the very
early stages of recognizing the Messiah to the very ending stages of what he accomplished on
the planet, Isaiah 53 describes the Messiah hero that God sent to us. Well, Isaiah 53 it is. Let's
stand together as we read God's word today. This prophecy calls us to look for a warrior, a rescuer.
It calls us to look for an intervener and a hero that really does transform our lives. So Isaiah 53,
12 verses, I'll read them all because they all describe this superhero. Verse one, who has
believed our message? Out to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For he grew up before him
like a tender shoot, speaking of the Messiah, and like a root out of the parched ground.
He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should be
attracted to him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrow and acquainted with grief,
and like one from whom men hide their face. He was despised and we did not esteem him.
Verse four, surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed
him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted, but he was pierced through for our transgressions. He
was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening for our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging
we are healed. All of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way,
but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. He was suppressed and he was
afflicted, and yet he did not open his mouth like a lamb that was led to slaughter, and like a sheep
that is silent before his shivers, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was
taken away, and as for his generation who considered that he was cut off out of the land of the living
for the transgressions of my people to whom the stroke was due. His grave was assigned with wicked
men, yet he was with a rich man in his death because he had done no violence, nor was there any
deceit in his mouth. Verse 10, that the Lord was pleased to crush him, putting him to grief. If he
would render himself as a guilt offering, he will see his offspring, he will prolong his days,
and the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in his hand. As the result of the anguish of his soul,
he that is God will see it and be satisfied. By his knowledge the righteous one, my servant,
will justify the many as he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will allot him a great
portion of the great, and he will divide the booty with the strong because he poured out himself to
death and was numbered with the transgressors, yet he himself bore the scent of many and interceded
for the transgressors. That's our Messiah superhero that Isaiah prophesies of hundreds of years before
he came. Father in Jesus name help us see this, know this, understand this, value this, appreciate this,
rejoice in this, our Messiah. We ask this in Jesus name, all God's people said, Amen. Please be seated.
So who is this hero? God has promised us the Messiah, he's promised us one who intervenes
into our lives, and Isaiah 53 gives us some clarity about what he would look like. Now keep
in mind Isaiah's written hundreds of years before Christ actually came, and so the people of Israel
were looking for their Messiah, a rescuer, they needed intervention, they needed someone, and God
had promised them that, but Isaiah has given them the details of what it would be like, and the
details are surprising, an unusual story, not the norm in most people's minds. So what does Isaiah 53
say to us today about this Messiah hero that God sent? It says several things, but first of all,
I want you to notice it says that he's a hero who is present with us. That's how this text begins.
If you notice the first few verses, it talks about the fact that this Messiah is coming away that no
one expects a king to come or an intervener to come. Notice the verses again, verses two and three,
he grew up before him like a tender shoot. He has no stately form or majesty that we should look upon
him, nor appearance that we should be attracted to him. He was despised and forsaken of men, a man
of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and like one from whom men hide their face, he was despised,
and we did not esteem him. Now if you begin to walk through those words, you see it very obviously
and very evidently this Messiah was going to come alongside us. He is someone who is just like us,
just a normal person, just a normal child born into a home who was raised with everyone else.
And the fact that he is with us and the fact that he's among us means he's going to experience
everything we go through. It means that this Messiah will be fully present with us in every way.
He was in that day and he is now. And we love this story. This storyline is incredible because we
don't imagine an intervener, a rescuer, a warrior to be among us. But we do love the story. That's
why everybody knows the name of Clark Kent, the mild-mannered reporter, right? Because we know
that he turns into Superman and yet day by day we see him, we can reach out to him and touch him,
and touch him, and he's one of us but he also has a great deal of resources that we don't have.
So this Messiah is going to come and he's going to be with us. I know that you know this,
but we value those who can be with us. We value the fact that they don't just call it in,
that they don't just send something from a distance. We want someone to come to us when
we're hurting. We want someone to go with us when we're afraid. We want someone that can weep with
us when we have to weep and we do have to weep. We want someone that will come alongside us when
we're lonely, when we're hurting and nobody else understands. We need somebody that can understand
that. That's the kind of superhero that we need in the Messiah. And Isaiah says this is what it's
going to be like. In 1995 a song came out that got a lot of attention at the time. Joan Osborne
sang it. It was a song that was called What If God Was One Of Us. What if God was one of us,
just a slob like one of us says the song, like a stranger on the bus trying to find his way home.
That's a nose song now. Sometimes people heard that song and said well maybe that's a bit
flippant about who God might be. But I think it's a little bit more than flippant. I think it's just
transparent. We need a God who knows what it's like to just try to find our way home. Just what
it's like to be a stranger on the bus. What it's like to be in need and be hurting. We need someone
like that. So Isaiah says this Messiah will come and he's going to come up like a tender shoot.
He's going to be in a place that you don't understand or don't know and don't expect him
to be even though it's just right there where you are. God answers this prophecy in a powerful
way by sending Jesus where he did and how he did. In other words this Messiah hero is going to be
human. He's going to be near us. He's going to be vulnerable. He's going to be understanding,
approachable, nearby, available. I want to tell you today that it's so important that we understand
that God is all those things and he became all those things to us when Jesus came to fulfill
this prophecy. You know the prophecy and the fulfillment of those prophecies. They fill the
songs that we sing these days. For example Matthew chapter 1 verse 23, behold the virgin shall be with
child and will bear a son and they will call his name Emmanuel which translated means God with us.
I think that's my favorite name for the Messiah, Emmanuel. God with us. It means that God is not
far off. It means he's not distant. It means we didn't have to try to figure out a way to get to
God. We didn't have to climb some mountain or somehow reach some other level of understanding
or human knowledge in some way but rather that God came to us. He came to meet us where we were,
right where we were. God with us is his name, Emmanuel. That ought to mean the world to you.
It ought to mean the world to you when you're in a crowd. It ought to mean the world to you when
you're all by yourself. God with us. So these words about the Messiah tell us first of all
that he's going to be among us. Then there's John chapter 1 verse 14. I love John 1. I say it all
the time. You probably get tired of hearing me talk about John chapter 1 but verse 14 is so real to
us that word became flesh. Look at that next line. Say it with me. And dwelt among us. Say it again.
And dwelt among us. In other words, this Messiah hero is going to come. He's going to literally
put on human flesh, take on human form and he's going to dwell right there with us and he feels
what we feel. He knows what we know and he knows us. So often today this generation is said to need
to know that someone sees them, that someone hears them, that someone is aware of them. But this
Messiah comes, this Messiah hero comes and he knows us all. He sees us all. There's not a moment
where he doesn't know you, doesn't see you, he's not aware of you. Isaiah said this is what the
Messiah will look like. This is what the superhero is. He is first of all among us and present with
us. Secondly, he's a hero that stands before us. By the time you get to verse 4 and 5, you see him
standing before us. I'm going to read these two verses. I'm going to emphasize the words that
you'll see emphasized on the screen because it's important to see the actions of this Messiah.
Not just what was heaped on him but exactly what he did as it was. Notice the words.
Our griefs he himself bore, our sorrows he carried, smitten of God and afflicted,
pierced through for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities. The chastening of our well-being
fell upon him and by his scourging we are healed. That's the counterpart of the superman thing.
It's the real deal of the superman thing where superman bears his chest and goes towards that
gatling gun and those bullets come and bounce off his chest. He absorbs everything intended for
someone else and yet survives it all. This is what the Messiah is going to do. He's going to handle
everything thrown his way that is directed to us. Everything that's meant for us he's going to
absorb. Everything that is the penalty of sin, the result of sin, the consequence of sin,
our Messiah hero is going to bear all of that on our behalf. He bore that for you. He carried that
for you. He was smitten and afflicted for you. He was pierced and crushed and chastened and scourged
for you. That's what this Messiah will do. The cross of Jesus Christ showed that this Messiah
was the Messiah of prophecy and that he fulfilled all of these words in that one moment on the cross
when he died. You know the four gospels, the four accounts of the good news of Jesus Christ that we
read so frequently about the life and times of Jesus. All of them culminate with this moment at
the cross and all of them point to one man who died on the cross who willingly laid his life
down as a Messiah hero. No one took it from him. No one could have taken it from him. He was God in
the flesh and that he laid his life down on the cross and absorbed all those words that we talked
about in that prophecy. He bore it all, carried it all. He was smitten and afflicted, pierced through,
crushed and chastened and scourged all in our place, all for us. And all the bullets and arrows
that were meant for you and all the bullets and arrows that sin and Satan sent your way are
absorbed by the shield of this righteous man named Jesus Christ. I'm a Messiah hero who absorbs it all
for us. It's true. It's what he did. It's worth rejoicing in because only he could have done it.
We should never have been able to do it. We could not endure this ourselves. We have no protection.
We have no help. Sin and its ravages undoes us. It destroys us. It alienates us. It separates us.
But Jesus stands before us absorbing all the weight of sin in himself. But even more than that,
this prophecy says that Jesus bears the weight of the sin of all mankind. Not just you and not just me,
but all mankind. Now you say, well, that's a lot of people. There are what? Seven billion people in
the world? But think about all that have lived before now and all that will live after now.
Now do you think about the billions upon billions and billions of people that have lived and died
and have sinned and have been separated from God. And the Bible says that this Messiah hero bore the
sins of all of us on himself. I think it'd be important for us to take a moment and appreciate
that in this sense. You know what the weight of sin is like in your life, don't you? I know what
the weight of sin is like in my life. I know what it's like to sin and feel that conviction. I know
what it's like to feel weighty because of it. I know what it's like to be paralyzed by doing the
wrong thing with regret, paralyzed with remorse, paralyzed with the idea that why did I do that?
How did I get myself in that situation? In Psalm chapter 38, David is talking about the weight of
sin. I think it's so specific, so clear in a graphic way about the weight of sin. Listen to
this in Psalm 38 verse one. Oh Lord, rebuke me not in your wrath and chasten me not in your
wasted me not in your burning anger for your arrows have sunk deep into me and your hand has
pressed down on me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation. There's no
health in my bones because of my sin. Listen to verse four. For my iniquities are gone over my
head as a heavy burden they weigh too much for me. Here's a guy that cares about his relationship
with God but is aware of the results of sin in his life. He's saying this has gone over my head,
it's too big for me and it's weighted me down and God's hand is heavy on me. I'm pressed by this.
I can't deal with this anymore. That's the weight of the sin of one man. What about the weight of
the sin of the whole world? Multiply that by billions upon billions upon billions. Can you
imagine that for just a moment? As you imagine that, I want you to also realize that the prophet was
foretelling a Messiah that was big enough, strong enough, powerful enough and willing to bear
just that, the sin of the whole world. I'm going to ask you to pause for just a moment.
Then I'm going to ask you to say after feeling the weight of that, thank God for a Messiah that
would bear the weight of the sin of the whole world. Would you join me in just rejoicing
that he even does that? Wow. Wow. Then you get to verse six. Verse six says,
all of us like sheep have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way,
but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him. It's huge.
It's huge. That's Isaiah saying, that's what he came to do.
Now, you know, I love to share the gospel. I love to talk about verse six of Isaiah 53.
I love to show people what that looks like. Often I use a phone to do that.
You've seen this before. I'm going to pull out my phone again. I'm going to tell you that,
that for you to see this, I want you to let this hand for a moment, represent God.
And then let this hand right here represent you. I'm going to put a phone on my hand here.
This is my phone. Let's just let this phone represent the record book of sin in your life.
By the way, if I had your phone, it would record the record book of sin in your life.
I'd know a lot about your phone if you gave me the password.
But God knows the password of our lives. He knows our thoughts, our actions, what we do,
what we say, what we think. That's on me. That's on you. And the weight of that is on me.
And the result of that is on me. And the reality is our sin separates us from this holy God,
who loves us, but is holy. Now, just a moment, for a moment, let's just see this hand now as
representing Jesus Christ. The word became flesh and dwelt among us. That's the Christmas story
right there from here to here. That's the Christmas story. The virgin is with child,
and she bears a son, and his name shall be Emmanuel, God with us. And so he lived
next to us, among us, God with us. The Bible tells us that in doing that, Jesus lived a perfect life,
and then he laid his life down on the cross to die for our sins. And that moment that Jesus died for
our sins, God saw him as an acceptable sacrifice for the sins of all of the world, your sin and mine.
And he was satisfied with the sacrifice of Jesus. The Bible says in Isaiah 53, 6, what we've talked
about. All of we have, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us to our own way. Now watch me.
But the Lord laid on him the sin of his soul. Where does that leave my sin? On Jesus. Where does
that leave me? Free from that sin, forgiven from that sin. Jesus was buried, rose again the third
day, stands at the right hand of God the Father, and you can have a relationship with him through
faith in Jesus Christ. Now you can clap. Now you can clap right now. You can do that.
That's what verse 6 says. Think about it with me for just a moment. Our salvation depends completely
on heroic action of this Messiah, lifting the weight of sin off of us. Completely. It does not
rest on your church attendance or your baptism or your doing good or your sincerity of heart.
It rests on Jesus Christ's sacrifice. The Messiah, hero, who died on the cross for you. That's what
your salvation rests on. When you put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, that's what gives you
the salvation and the forgiveness. He's the intervener. He's the forgiver. And only him.
Don't look for it anywhere else. Look for it only in him. It's Superman lifting the massive
vehicle off of us. It's Superman keeping the tottering skyscraper from falling on us.
And when we look at the cross, we're so used to the cross as being something so sad, so undeserved,
so unjust because Jesus was so perfect and it is. But it's also heroic. It's heroic because we
deserve to be on that cross. It's supernatural. And it's impossible for anyone but the infinite God
who came as Messiah to perform this for us. But he did come and he did perform it and it is
available to us. That's just the truth of this prophecy fulfilled in Christ. It is who he is.
It is what he was at the cross and it is who he is today for you. Now listen to this question. I
have a question for you. It's very important. Do you think for one moment, that the Messiah,
He who died on the cross for you and for the sins of all of mankind, who absorbed all the blows of
sin and death for you, would abandon you in your current situation? He would not. He would not.
He is among us. He also stands before us in your everyday situation. Listen.
Salvation is not just about eternity. It's about living with Christ now. It's about his help now.
Not just at the day of judgment, but now, day in, day out, his enabling grace, his strengthening
grace, his protective grace. It's Superman. It's Messiah, hero standing in front of us doing what
only he can do. Hebrews chapter 4 verse 15 gives us a great verse that reminds us of that truth.
It says, for we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who has been tempted in all ways as we are, in all things as we are, yet without sin.
This high priest, this Messiah, hero, understands everything we've gone through. Now Christ never
sinned, but in his humanity, he took upon himself the consequences of sin. He dealt with the result
of sin. He handled all the blows of those that sinned against him, that hated him, that reviled
him, that persecuted him. He handled the sin of the whole world while he hung on the cross,
so that he can today stand before us to take the bullets of sin and separation for us here and now.
And he stands before us to rescue us, Superman-style and greater than that, every single day from day
to day. He knows what grief is because he's gone through grief. He understands loneliness
because he's been lonely. He knows what it's like to be abandoned and to be betrayed
because all those things have happened to him. He knows what it means to be rejected and spat
upon because he was. He was mocked in our place and he absorbs all that for you. And he stands
before you as your Messiah, hero, when all those arrows come your way and all those arrows come
your way and all those bullets come your way, your Messiah Jesus stands in front of you and before you
and for you. That's who he is. That's who he is. You're not sure if you believe that? Then look at
the life of Jesus on the earth when he ministered for those three years. He protects the woman
caught in adultery. He raises the man named Lazarus who died of a sickness. He healed the
paralytic. They went to Peter's mother-in-law and healed her of her fever. He turns around a
discouraged disciple named Peter after the crucifixion. He shields a doubting Thomas from
further despair and further disbelief by appearing to him in a room. He accepts and inspires a
rejected woman at the well one day. Why is he doing this? He's doing this because this is who he is,
because he intervenes into people's lives. He stands before us. He's a friend of sinners. He's
an advocate for the desperate and hurting. I know this. There have been times in my life where I
could only, out of frustration, being at the end of a road of a situation, not understanding what's
going on around me, in grief and despair, there have been times when I could only put my face in
my hands and weep. I can tell you in times like that, he's been very near me and very real.
I can tell you in times like that, he's intervened and he's worked in powerful ways and things that
I could never do. But I walk away from those moments of despair and grief and loneliness and
all things I feel like I've absorbed and I realize there's someone greater than me that's
absorbed them all and he stands with me in the middle of it all. And the God who did not ignore
me when he died on the cross to pay for my sins will not ignore me now when I come to him and say,
Lord, I need you. I need you now. He's there. He's the God who intervenes. He's the God who stands
before us. How do you do that pastor? I mean, how do you really have that happen in your life? Let
me tell you three things that are very simple. First of all, acknowledge that he's with you.
By faith. Just acknowledge God, I know you're there. I don't see you. I mean, I feel you. I
don't hear you, but I know you're there by your own promise and you're a promise keeping God.
You are there by faith. I know you're there. Secondly, ask him to help you.
Lord, I need you to absorb the pain for me. I need you to somehow give me strength. I need
you to help heal me right now. But I'm going through a tough time. You have not because you
ask not, so ask. And ask your Messiah, a hero, to come alongside you. It's what he does. And thirdly,
trust him. Trust him that he will. And then get up and move forward knowing he's with you, knowing
that's what he does, knowing that he's promised and he has fulfilled his promises to you. And
walk by faith with your Messiah hero. Otherwise, you're going to do that on your own. You're going
to forget who's with you. Forget what he does. Jesus is your Messiah hero, absorbing life's
hardest shots directed your way. That he wants to come alongside you. The story of Jesus begins with
Jesus being among us. And the story of Jesus continues with him being within us.
And so now he's within you and is always ready to help you.
So Jesus is a Messiah hero who is present with us. He stands before us. But finally,
and the most important thing, is that he is sufficient for us. I mean, it doesn't really
matter if he's with us. It doesn't matter if he stands before us if he's not able,
if he's not competent, if he's not sufficient for all the things we're talking about. I mean,
this is pretty attractive to have a Messiah hero, isn't it? It's pretty attractive to have someone
die for your sins and take the penalty and punishment for sin. But is he sufficient?
And Isaiah says, this Messiah will be so sufficient, he will absolutely please God the Father
on your behalf. He will satisfy God on your behalf. Let's look at what it says in verse 10 and 11.
But the Lord was pleased to crush him. And this is the only way to understand this verse, by the
way. Why else would a heavenly Father be pleased to crush his Son? He was pleased to crush him.
He was pleased to crush him, put him to grief, if he would render himself as a guilt offering.
As a result of the anguish of his soul, Jesus' soul, he, God, will see it and be satisfied.
So everything we've said so far about the Messiah is good and wonderful. But if our Messiah hero is
not sufficient to satisfy sin's penalty and God's holiness, it's all in vain. Just like if Superman
can't really lift up the car or if Superman can't keep the bullet from hurting us and penetrating us.
If God's not strong enough, if Jesus is not strong enough to lift it all and to protect us all,
it's all just a fantasy Messiah. It's all just words that are hopeless and worthless. It's all
just a religious make believe God. But the reality is Isaiah said that this Messiah fully satisfies
God and is therefore sufficient to protect us and give us what he promised.
Notice that Jesus is sufficient because of his perfect life.
When people talk about Jesus, they don't talk about any sin he committed. They talk about his
perfection. The fact that he did all things to please the Father, one of those statements that
Jesus made is, I always do what's pleasing to the Father. And we all know how hard that is,
how difficult that is, how we sometimes want to do what's pleasing to the Father but don't.
But Jesus demonstrated that he could do that. He demonstrated the truth. Jesus demonstrated love
and acceptance to the impoverished. He confronted the very face of evil and the temptations in the
wilderness. Everything Satan could throw at him, he absorbed and dealt with, yet did not sin.
He lived his life in complete obedience to the Father and was in every way a perfect lamb without
blemish to be offered as a sacrifice on our behalf. That's what we've been talking about.
Jesus is also sufficient because of his perfect sacrifice, because of the fact he did give himself.
He was a sufficient guilt offering for sin. That's what Isaiah 53 talks about.
And that's why I love the word sufficiency. That's why I use it a lot. Because sufficiency simply
means that he is competent, he is able, he has the authority to do what he promised that he would do.
And if you look at Isaiah's prophecy here and the promises, it promises that the Messiah would
please God and satisfy God fully in making this offering for our sin. Now do you remember what
Jesus' dying words were? Jesus, as he was dying, said, it is finished. It's a commercial word,
and it means paid in full. It means that he came to lay his life down, to pay for sin on our behalf,
to please the Holy God and our Father. And he said as he died, paid in full. I live my life in a
perfect way. I live my life down as a perfect, without blemish sacrifice. This price of the weight
of the sin of mankind has been paid in full. That's what he did. He said it's enough.
But the most miraculous thing, as though there was something more miraculous than that,
is that he didn't just come to live a perfect life and die to give the perfect sacrifice.
And it's not just that he died and rose again the third day. All those are amazing and incredible.
But that he satisfied the righteous wrath and the indignation of a Holy God against the sin of
mankind. His greatest feat, his greatest act was paying that debt, and he did it.
Our hero, our hero did what we were unable to do in paying the debt of sin to God,
your sin and the sins of all of mankind. A couple of years ago, we entered into an agreement with
an organization in this area. We took a special offering in order to remove the debt, the
insurmountable debt of people who had medical bills and couldn't pay them. So our church gathered,
we explained the need, we realized that we could intervene on their behalf. They would never know
really who we were, but these people had medical debt that they had to have because they needed
treatment, but they couldn't pay. And so they would be writing small checks to the organization,
the hospital, or whatever company it was that secured that debt from them, and they knew they
would never pay it off in their lifetime, but they just kept paying as much as they could.
And through this organization, we were able to take the money that we gave and apply it
to their debt, and it freed people from the debt. And they received a letter in the mail.
This letter in the mail said, all of the people who had medical bills and couldn't pay,
all of your medical debt to such and such an organization has been paid in full
without writing more checks. And we got to see videos of people as they read those letters.
And boy, I'm telling you, what an incredible thing to watch, people who thought their debt would
never be paid for, a debt they could never possibly, possibly take care of, be paid for
on their behalf by people they didn't even know. What a moment of rejoicing. Some of them stood
up and shouted. Some of them clapped. All of them wanted to write letters to the organization that
did that, which in this case was us. It was a privilege to be able to take care of debt
that people could never pay on their own by people who may never meet them. Well, I take that
scenario, and I want to multiply that a million times. And I want to say that's exactly what your
Messiah, He wrote it for you. You did not know what He was doing. You did not know what it involved,
but He got on that cross and paid for the debt of our sin, the sin of all mankind, and sets you free
in a way that you could never set yourself free. That's what He accomplished on the cross. That's
what this Messiah came to do. And the Bible says that God was pleased by that. In fact, when you
go back and look at your verses that we've just read, God sees it. That is the sacrifice of Jesus
and is satisfied. When God sees it, the sacrifice of Jesus, when He sees you, it means it's completely
satisfied. And every time God looks at you, He looks at you through the sacrifice of Jesus,
through the blood that your Messiah, He wrote shed on your behalf, and He just sees that payment,
that blood. And when He sees you, He doesn't see you in your sin. He doesn't see you in your
inability to keep the loss. He sees you through Jesus. Let me tell you what that means. It doesn't
mean that we are no longer concerned about sin. No, the truth is we are more concerned about sin
because we know we're forgiven of that, and we want to please the one that forgave us of that sin.
But what it does say is that when God sees us through the act, the loving, merciful act of Jesus
Christ on the cross, He sees that sacrifice and He is fully satisfied. Here's what I want you to do.
Accept the sacrifice of Jesus on your behalf. Rest on the sacrifice of Jesus on your behalf.
Appreciate the sacrifice of Jesus on your behalf. Rejoice in the sacrifice of Jesus
for your life. And realize this, I can never be enough. I can never do enough that Jesus
is enough, and Jesus did enough for God to be satisfied. His sufficiency makes me complete.
And His sufficiency makes you complete. In Colossians 2, there's a great series of
statements about what Jesus did on the cross. Colossians 1 and 2 are all about what He did
there. That's the conclusion of that narrative of Jesus on the cross and all of the accomplished
spiritual way. Paul comes to Colossians chapter 2 verse 10, and here's what it says.
Out in Him you have been made, what's that word? Complete. And He is the head over all rule and
authority. Now I want you to take a step back and look at that. Jesus has all rule and authority.
The authority to declare, the rule and the power to declare things as they are. At the end of the
day, and He has declared through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross that in Him, in Christ,
you have been made complete. You can't earn it. You can't make God love you anymore or any less.
You can't do any more for God or less for God to secure this because Jesus has already secured
all of it for you, and in Him you have been made complete. And what that means is that our Messiah
has come and accomplished all of this so that you would be complete before God. God has pronounced
you complete and forgiven and justified, and He's the head over all rule and authority. It is
indisputable, and He has declared to you that if you put your faith and trust and confidence in
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. What a Messiah. What a hero. What a salvation. And it's all found
in Jesus Christ. Now most of you know that when Superman is not actually facing a battle,
he's doing something else. What's he doing? He's flying out, hands outstretched like this,
over the city, looking right and left for situations into which to intervene. How many of
you remember that Superman? You know the one that was out of shape. He didn't really have abs, right?
That old Tommy costume, I mean that was a real mess, a messed up thing. That's what he did.
When he wasn't rescuing someone, he was looking for someone to rescue. He was looking for some
situation to intervene into. Flying over the city, watching for anything that needs rescuing.
Now we've been talking about not just this fascist Superman, but this Messiah hero.
You know what he's doing when he's not battling, something like the cross?
He's walking within those who follow him with you every day, facing all the things you face
by giving you power to live with. He's in you. He's completely sufficient for all that you need.
He is your Messiah hero that came to live with you. Now that's what makes this such a different
story. He came and he did all that he did. He rose again on the cross. He came to the cross
again on the third day, ascended into heaven, and he's coming back for us again. But in the meantime,
he's with us every step of the way. So that means I walk in a different way because of this Messiah
hero. I live in a different way because of this Messiah hero. And I've already said it, first of
all acknowledge him. Lord, you are obviously my Messiah hero. Secondly, ask him to absorb all the
heartbreak difficulty you're going through, whatever that is, just like he absorbs your sin.
And number three, trust him to do it and walk with him with an awareness that he helps you
every step of the way. Our God who intervenes. How many of you need intervening right now? How
many of you need a God to intervene into your life, into your relationships, into your situations?
Some of you in this room need a God to intervene between your sin and a holy God because you've
never trusted him for salvation. Here's my invitation to you today. Number one, before you
leave this room, stop by a decision station and tell them this. Tell them, I need a God who
intervenes into my life. I need a God who can help me with my sin and forgive my sin. And we will
talk with you, we will walk with you through what it means to make a decision to follow Christ. I
can't wait for you to stop and have that conversation. It'll be a life-changing conversation.
Secondly, I invite you who are our guests, if you don't have that kind of decision in a moment,
then take a moment and stop by our guest reception area. I'll be in that room, love to meet you,
love to talk to you about the church that this God builds called the Church of Jesus Christ and our
church here. Love to talk with you about that. Thirdly, as you leave today, consider that you are
an inviter of friends and others to come and join us from week to week to hear the word of God,
but also tonight to celebrate with us this Messiah hero. You've heard all the dates and times.
We'll have some information for you to hand out when you leave today. But today, do something.
Do something in response to this Messiah hero who did everything for you. Would you stand with me?
Will you bow with me in a word of prayer? Father, I am so grateful that we have a Messiah hero,
so grateful that you sent your son Jesus, so grateful for his sufficiency for every area of
our lives. And Lord, just as we trust you for our salvation, we're going to trust you
for the grace we need day by day, moment by moment, for the healing and help we need.
Walk with us. Thank you so much. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.