It’s probably safe to say that we have all been hurt, angry, lonely, or tired. Most likely you are one of these, right now, maybe more.
Unfortunately, life will get you down at some point. You can get up, but after a while it’s hard to get up.
Help is on the way.
God is real. God is alive. God loves you. God knows where you are at and what you are going through.
God has sent help your way!
We have all been caught with our hand in the cookie jar. The truth is that our mistakes separate us from God.
Yet our Father God has a plan for your redemption.
Jesus is the Way to real love and peace in a relationship with God.
Jesus is a Messiah that was predicted!
Throughout the Old Testament of the Bible we read the words of Father God wanting to get back to the life, the purpose, and the relationship the He had with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Before they disobeyed, before they broke away from the relationship with God it was easy to walk with Father God and talk with Him. They had no fear. They had no guilt. They had everything they needed. They had peace. They chose to break that relationship.
God planned to send help. He planned to send His Son as a Messiah.
What is a Messiah?
Messiah: “anointed one” ancient custom of consecrating priests, prophets, and kings by anointing them with oil. Jesus held each of these offices. – Unger
Messianic Prophecies – God had been planning for centuries to send us His Help!
Isaiah 53 and other prophecies about Jesus can help us see that Jesus didn’t just show up unannounced.
1 Who has believed our message?
To whom has the Lord revealed his powerful arm?
2 My servant grew up in the Lord’s presence like a tender green shoot,
like a root in dry ground.
There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance,
nothing to attract us to him.
3 He was despised and rejected—
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
He was despised, and we did not care.
4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrowst that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins!
5 But he was pierced for our rebellion,
crushed for our sins.
He was beaten so we could be whole.
He was whipped so we could be healed.
6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.
We have left God’s paths to follow our own.
Yet the Lord laid on him
the sins of us all.
7 He was oppressed and treated harshly,
yet he never said a word.
He was led like a lamb to the slaughter.
And as a sheep is silent before the shearers,
he did not open his mouth.
8 Unjustly condemned,
he was led away.t
No one cared that he died without descendants,
that his life was cut short in midstream.t
But he was struck down
for the rebellion of my people.
9 He had done no wrong
and had never deceived anyone.
But he was buried like a criminal;
he was put in a rich man’s grave.
10 But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him
and cause him grief.
Yet when his life is made an offering for sin,
he will have many descendants.
He will enjoy a long life,
and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in his hands.
11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish,
he will be satisfied.
And because of his experience,
my righteous servant will make it possible
for many to be counted righteous,
for he will bear all their sins.
12 I will give him the honors of a victorious soldier,
because he exposed himself to death.
He was counted among the rebels.
He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
What were your observations?
How does this make you feel?
How does this effect your view of Jesus?
Here’s a little more to consider about the many ways Jesus the Messiah, “Help on the Way”, was predicted…so that you would know Him as God’s Help for you.
“The Old Testament, written of a one-thousand-year period, contains nearly three hundred references to the coming Messiah. All of these were fulfilled in Jesus Christ, and they establish a solid confirmation of His credentials as the Messiah.”
“Twenty-nine prophecies from the Old Testament, which speak of the betrayal, trial, defeat, and burial of our Lord Jesus Christ, were spoken at various times by many different voices during the five centuries from 1000-5000 B.C. Yet all of them were literally fulfilled in Jesus in one twenty-four-hour period of time.”
The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict – Josh McDowell
Here’s a few examples of this:
Born of the seed of woman Genesis 3:15 “And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
Born of a virgin Isaiah 7:14 “The Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’).
Son of God Psalm 2:7 “The Lord said to me, ‘You are my son. Today I have become your Father.
Son of Abraham – Genesis 22:18 Son of Isaac – Genesis 21:12 Son of Jacob – Numbers 24:17
Tribe of Judah – Genesis 49:10 Family Line of Jesse – Isaiah 11:1 House of David – Jeremiah 23:5
Born at Bethlehem – Micah 5:2 Presented with Gifts – Psalm 72:10 Isaiah 60:6
Jesus seen as… Prophet – Deuteronomy 18:18 Priest – Psalm 110:4 King – Psalm 2:6
“A consideration of Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming of the Messiah reveals that there were two streams of thought. One stream spoke of the deity of Christ, while the other spoke of the humanity of Christ. The Jewish interpreters of the Old Testament could not reconcile these streams. They could not understand how the Messiah could be divine, and yet also human. “ KJ Conner
Deity of Christ
Isaiah 9:6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders.
And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Jeremiah 23:5 “For the time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land.
Psalm 2:7 really should read the whole chapter
“I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You.’”
Humanity of Christ
Deut 18:15 “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear,
Isaiah 11:1-2 There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots.
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.
Numbers 24:17 “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near; A Star shall come out of Jacob; A Scepter shall rise out of Israel,”
These verses serve as good reminders that Jesus the Messiah was predicted for thousands of years.
Even better to learn from watching the heart of God revealed through His work over the centuries!
What was His redemptive plan?
What does that tell you about His love for you?
Do you believe it?
Pastor Ben Malmin 