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Sign #4: Prophecy That Describes the Savior: Part Two Isaiah 53
Sign #4: Prophecy That Describes the Savior: Part Two Isaiah 53
The Signs of Christmas
Sermon Series
Sign #4: Prophecy That Describes the Savior: Part Two
Isaiah 53
Introduction
- The Promised King Would Be Rejected (vv. 1-2)
- The promised king is rejected because He enters the world in a quiet way.
- The promised king is rejected because of how he looked.
- The promised king is rejected because He takes on himself the pain and “suffering” of the world.
“It was May 21, 1946. The place – Los Alamos. A young and daring scientist was carrying out a necessary experiment in preparation for the atomic test to be conducted in the waters of the South Pacific at Bikini.
He had successfully performed such an experiment many times before. In his effort to determine the amount of U-235 necessary for a chain reaction–scientists call it the critical mass–he would push two hemispheres of uranium together. Then, just as the mass became critical, he would push them apart with his screwdriver, thus instantly stopping the chain reaction. But that day, just as the material became critical, the screwdriver slipped! The hemispheres of uranium came too close together. Instantly the room was filled with a dazzling bluish haze. Young Louis Slotin, instead of ducking and thereby possibly saving himself, tore the two hemispheres apart with his hands and thus interrupted the chain reaction.
“By this instant, self-forgetful daring, he saved the lives of the seven other persons in the room. . . (A)s he waited. . for the car that was to take him to the hospital, he said quietly to his companion, ‘You’ll come through all right. But I haven’t the faintest chance myself’ It was only too true. Nine days later he died in agony.
“Nineteen centuries ago the Son of the living God walked directly into sin’s most concentrated radiation, allowed Himself to be touched by its curse, and let it take His life . . . But by that act He broke the chain reaction. He broke the power of sin.”[1]
The Promised King Would Save Us From Our Sins (vv. 4-12)
As A Substitute (vv. 4-6)
“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
(v. 5) “There is one emphatic subject in verse 5, he, and this initial stress is reflected in what follows: he was crushed, . . . upon him . . . his wounds. While he thus deals with our moral and spiritual needs and our broken personhood we are not even mentioned except as contributors of the sin which caused his pain.”[2] (v. 6) is focused on us, “we are like sheep, we have turned away from God, it is our iniquity that was laid upon Jesus.
The Promised One would be a man who would suffer because of what we have done. When we discover Christ, we find a Savior who was born into the world with the purpose to die for it. But when this Savior arrives, when the world sees him, “we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.” They mistook his suffering and being punishment from God – which is true, but it was not for his own sins He was suffering, it was for the ungodly.
(v. 4-5) Romans 5:6-8 “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We did not understand this, and we did not cooperate with God in this. God even while we were still opposing Him and rebelling against Him – Christ died for us.
This is the heart of the gospel of Jesus – substitution. Instead of collapsing in grief over our rejection, he bears our grief. Instead of increasing our sorrows as we deserve, he carries our sorrows. Instead of avenging our transgressions he is pierced for them in our place.
Instead of crushing us for our iniquities he is crushed for them as our substitute. And all the chastisement and whipping that belongs to us for our rebellion he takes on himself in order that we might have peace and be healed.
(v. 6) “We all, like sheep, have gone astray” – another way of saying this is “we all have sinned, and fallen short of the requirement to gain entrance into heaven.” and Isaiah specifically adds, “we have turned—every one—to his own way” “We all and every one expresses both common culpability and individual responsibility. We cannot blame a ‘herd instinct’ even though we are all alike implicated.”[3]
God knew that we would never be able to be without sin, so he sent His Son to take our place. And Jesus’ death “brought us peace” (shalom) – this peace is with God. God’s wrath is what awaits anyone who is not at peace with God. But The Promised One would act as a sacrifice for anyone who desired to accept this gift of God.
“His suffering was actually intended to effect the will of God. Gods’ will is no less that that all men should possess the full life in a covenant of peace (Num. 25:12; Ezek. 37:26; see 54:10), and so be healed of all their diseases (Ex. 15:26; Ps. 103:3).”[4]
As a Sacrifice (vv. 7-9)
“He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 8 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, stricken for the transgression of my people? 9 And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.”
(v. 7) Matthew 27:12-14 “But when he was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. 13 Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” 14 But he gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.” The lamb is blindly led to the slaughter; Jesus, however, went knowing full well what was ahead, He even sweated drops of blood in anguish of what was coming (see Matthew 26:38-39).
As the disciples sat around the table for the last supper, Jesus says, “for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:28. And when Simon Peter drew his sword and cut off the high priests servant’s ear in the garden before his arrest, look at Jesus’ comment to Peter, “Put your sword into its sheath; shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?” (John 18:11). Jesus knows that God the Father is sending Him to the cross, and He is going willingly.
Jesus was not just led to the slaughter, he was slaughtered as a sin offering. And like all the other lambs of the Passover or the sin offerings of Israel, he was slaughtered not for his own transgressions. He was slaughtered for the transgressions of his people. (v. 7) John 1:29 “The next day he (John the Baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”[5]
One commentator said, “Now, however. We stand on a very sacred spot indeed, within the Servant’s own consciousness, and we see him, not caught in a web of events, but masterfully deciding, accepting and submitting.”
The Promised One would sacrifice himself, He would be without sin in anyway – He never did, said, or even thought anything wrong. It was because of this that he was able to be a substitute and an acceptable sacrifice for our sin. “It is the very heart of our sinfulness that we sin because we want to. We do not want ‘this man to reign over us’ (Luke 19:14). Because of this, no animal can do more that picture substitution: only a person can substitute for a person; only a consenting will can substitute for a rebellious will.”[6]
(v. 9) Matthew 27:57-60 in discussing Jesus’ burial, “When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. 59 And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud 60 and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away.”
His body would be placed among the wicked and the rich when he died (just as God said). The Creator of all that exists was born as a man in a manger among the stench of animals, and he would die and was buried as a common man.
As a Complete Satisfaction (vv. 10-12)
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,10 and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,11 because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.
In these final verses we see why this servant of God has suffered. They were not accidental; they were intended.
(v. 10) “when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring;” When Jesus makes this sacrificial and substitutional gift of his life that satisfies the wrath of God, who are the offspring that Jesus will see? Those who would believe in Him, and place their faith on His gift of salvation. We stray away as sheep, but return as children.
God will pour out His wrath upon this Promised One and he will be all that we will ever need for salvation. We know that He has the power over sin and death because it says “After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied.”
All of the punishment man deserves was placed upon Christ – and he satisfied God’s justice for all of mankind’s sin – past present and future. He was numbered as one of us, he interceded for us, he bore all of our sin – and now Christ sits at the right hand of the Father.
(v. 12) “the work of the Servant is explained as a great victory. When Christ prevailed in death, He triumphed over Satan and earned the spoils of a victor. What seemed like a pitiful display of weakness turned out to be a victory of massive proportions.”[7]
Conclusion
“During the 17th century, Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, sentenced a soldier to be shot for his crimes. The execution was to take place at the ringing of the evening curfew bell. However, the bell did not sound. The soldier’s fiancé had climbed into the belfry and clung to the great clapper of the bell to prevent it from striking. When she was summoned by Cromwell to account for her actions, she wept as she showed him her bruised and bleeding hands. Cromwell’s heart was touched and he said, “Your lover shall live because of your sacrifice. Curfew shall not ring tonight!”[8]
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[1] https://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/s/substitution.htm
[2] Motyer, 429.
[3] Motyer, 431.
[4] George A. F. Knight, Deutero-Isaiah, A Theological Commentary on Isaiah 4-55 (New York, New York; Abingdon Press, 1965) 235.
[5] (v. 7) 1 Peter 1:18-19 “knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, 19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.”
[6] Motyer, 433.
[7] Wolf, 219.
[8] https://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/s/substitution.htm
Sign #4: Prophecy That Describes the Savior: Part One Isaiah 53
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Sign #4: Prophecy That Describes the Savior: Part One Isaiah 53
The Signs of Christmas
Sermon Series
Sign #4: Prophecy That Describes the Savior: Part One
Isaiah 53
Introduction
On January 13, 1982, the Boeing 737-200 registered as N62AF crashed into the 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River just after take off from Washington National Airport. The Washington Postpublished a story about the then-unidentified survivor of the crash, Arland D. Williams Jr.:
“He was about 50 years old, one of half a dozen survivors clinging to twisted wreckage bobbing in the icy Potomac when the first helicopter arrived. To the copter’s two-man Park Police crew, he seemed the most alert. Life vests were dropped, then a flotation ball.
The man passed them to the others. On two occasions, the crew recalled last night, he handed away a lifeline from the hovering machine that could have dragged him to safety. The helicopter crew who rescued five people, the only persons who survived from the jetliner, lifted a woman to the riverbank, then dragged three more persons across the ice to safety. Then, the lifeline saved a woman who was trying to swim away from the sinking wreckage, and the helicopter pilot, Donald W. Usher, returned to the scene, but the man was gone.”
Arland D. Williams Jr. passed away the lifesaving line five times so that others in the icy waters of the Potomac could be saved. The repaired 14th Street Bridge over the Potomac River at the crash site, which had been officially named the “Rochambeau Bridge”, was renamed the “Arland D. Williams Jr. Memorial Bridge” in his honor by the city government of the District of Columbia in March 1985. On June 6, 1983, Williams was posthumously awarded the United States Coast Guard’s Gold Lifesaving Medal in a White House Oval Office presentation to his family by President Ronald Reagan. Arland Williams passed the lifesaving line away to other five times.
Romans 5:7 “For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” We will see today that Jesus (who was without sin) gave his life for the world (who are sinners). And Christians are called to give their lives up so that others may hear the gospel.
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The book of Isaiah was written 800 years before Jesus Christ would be born into the world, but its’ prophetic descriptions of Christ are extremely precise. Isaiah 53 lists the most remarkable and specific prophecies of the atonement of the Messiah.
When the Ethiopian eunuch read Isaiah 53 in Acts 8:34-35 “And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.” Isaiah 53 is a promise. A promise to send a Savior and it was a promise of good news. The Israelites were eagerly waiting until the day when they could see what is described in this passage.
God allowed Isaiah, as if looking through a time telescope to see what Jesus would be like and then to tell others of his day – this is what the Promised One will be like. Today we know that Jesus fulfilled this prophecy and is exactly as he was described.
Prayer
The Promised King Would Be Rejected (vv. 1-2)
Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.[1]
The prophet Isaiah begins the chapter is not referencing how many people have believed as a result of his preaching, but “the astonishing factors that would be hard for anyone to believe. Belief and trust are always at the heart of every person’s relationship to God, but sometimes God reveals things that are hard for a person to accept.”[2] He asks “Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?” – as though he is looking around and not seeing anyone.
“Romans 10:16-17 “But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” Jesus’ birth, his appearance, his challenge to the religious leaders – all of his life would stand counter to all the world knew, and when he “turns the world upside down,” (turn the other cheek, walk the extra mile, turns the money changer’s tables over, etc.) With this difficult message, it is God has to reveal Him to the hearts of men.
“to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed” God is omnipotent (all powerful), and all that He desires to happen will happen. So this revelation of the arm of God – is God’s omnipotent power displayed in the form of a suffering Savior. But this all-powerful God will show His power in a way not expected by the world.
It is my hope this morning that if you have never believed the Christmas story before that you will accept the good news of the promise of God and discover the true meaning of Christmas – not toys, not trees, or the terror of family coming over – but of a promise by God to send a Savior (a Messiah) to save mankind from his sin – and He is different than the Savior they were expecting.
The promised king is rejected because He enters the world in a quiet way.
“he grew up before him like a young plant” – This Promised One would not come into the world with pomp and circumstance, men would not watch him grow up, there would be no paparazzi. He would not be in the public eye. Only God would have His eye upon him. A shoot that grows out of the ground makes no noise – so the Promised One would make no loud noise about His arrival.
Many rejected Christ because of his humble background. Jesus is called the Son of David – to be from David’s family lineage meant that there was a degree of honor. But the king’s lineage had dried up and was not and grand as it had once been. A tender shoot would grow and the stump of a once great kingdom.
The Promised One’s family would be nothing great. Galilee especially was a looked down upon region. People would even say, “Is this not the carpenter’s son?” (Matt. 13:55). “and like a root out of dry ground”, nothing green, nothing great, was expected, in a country of such bad reputation that it was thought no good thing could come out of it.
John 1:45-46 “Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” Can this Jesus really be omnipotent God?
The promised king is rejected because of how he looked.
“he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.” Many of the Jews would reject Christ simply because of the way He looked. Isaiah tells God’s people what the Christ would look like – he would be a man who would not stand out in a crowd, average in appearance but extraordinary in purpose.
Our world is so focused on image, name brands, trends, and fashion that we exchange our purpose for popularity. We swap the sacred for the secular – but the Promised One never would.
Philippians 2:8 talking about Jesus “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross!” Jesus was obedient to His Father His whole life, all the way until he said “It is finished.” It was not His face that people would be drawn to, it would be His love. His face would be beaten beyond recognition, but there is no question of recognizing His love.
Christ’s face would be painted thousands of times by thousands of artists – but it is the story of his love told millions of times over that continues even today to turn the world upside down.
But why would the world reject such love? He was so lowly and unimpressive that our aspirations for power and reputation felt evil. His happy poverty made our wanting more and more feel foolish. His willingness to suffer for others made our craving for comforts feel selfish. When we stand next to Jesus all of our flaws are shown as a light in the darkness. So, when we look at him, and our sin is exposed we despise him.
Are these feet ugly or beautiful?
Romans 10:14 “How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?3 And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”” Whether you see Jesus and being beautiful, or someone to be despised and rejected all depends on if you understand His purpose.
This revealing of our flaws is not for condemnation but to show us that we need a Savior. John 3:16-17 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”[3]
The promised king is rejected because He takes on himself the pain and “suffering” of the world.
“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”
In Luke 2:52 in describing Jesus as a young man, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” Jesus had men’s favor but eventually these same people would grow to resent him, to reject him, and to despise him. It was when he went out and began his ministry and to call out sin, to expose hypocrisy, and he showed where the world had turned from God.
“esteem” is an accounting term, so when mankind observes this suffering savior, they would add up where he came from, how he looked, all of it – and as a result of their addition it would result in zero; they “esteemed him not.”[4] In fact when they observed him, they would grow to despise him and reject Him from their lives.
(v. 3) Luke 23:18-19 “But they all cried out together, “Away with this man, and release to us Barabbas”— 19 a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection started in the city and for murder!” (v. 3) John 1:11 “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.”
Isaiah tells us that his will be “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” – The language indicates that this man would be known because of his suffering. It is not that he experienced suffering, “others connected his life and reputation to a time of great suffering. Suffering was not something that he was peripherally acquainted with on the rare occasion; it was a pivotal factor in his life.”[5]
Because of Christ’s humanity, He would completely understand what it would be like to be rejected, to be despised, He would know the humiliation in suffering, He would know what it is like to be looked down upon. This Messiah would know how you feel and will be able to help you through your heartache and despair because He has been through it Himself. There is one who knows; there is one who can empathize with your pain.
There is one who can carry you through. There is one who is very acquainted with what you are going through. In Isaiah’s day they did not know His name – but they knew He would come. Their Messiah would understand. Today we know the name of the God who became man. We know the name of the one who understands and can comfort us. His name is Jesus.
“He was despised and rejected by men, and as one from whom men hide their faces” – this is depicting a scene where people hide their faces because they do not want to see him or be reminded of this person. They would see a man suffering all this pain but they did not understand why. There are so many people who wear a cross of gold around their necks, but have no idea what it means. When we look on Jesus on the cross – what do you see? Like the feet of those who bring good news,” it all depends of what you do with the good news of the gospel.
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[1] Isaiah 53 is mentioned three times in the NT and each time is reference to Jesus; Matthew 8:17, Acts 8:32-25, 1 Peter 2:21-35.
[2] Gary Smith, The New American Commentary, Volume 15B, Isaiah 40-66 (Nashville, Tennessee; B& H Publishing, 2009) 444.
[3] “The first-person plural pronoun occurs ten times as Isaiah describes Christ’s suffering for us.” Herbert M. Wolf, Interpreting Isaiah, The Suffering and Glory of the Messiah (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Zondervan Publishing, 1985) 216.
[4] J. Alec Motyer, The Prophecy of Isaiah, An Introduction & Commentary (Downers Grove, Illinois; IVP Academic, 1993) 429.
[5] Smith, 447.
The Fundamentals of Our Faith; What We Believe Sermon Series “We Believe that Jesus Will Return” Miscellaneous Verses
The Fundamentals of Our Faith;
What We Believe Sermon Series
“We Believe that Jesus Will Return”
Miscellaneous Verses
Introduction
“Both the Old and the New Testament contend that history is moving to a climax and that the sovereign God is in control.”[1]
In the Bible, God has revealed many things about the end of time. But if we don’t believe what God has revealed about the future, we may be fearful or depressed at the evil in the world, wondering how good can ever triumph. We may also, be tempted to live a sinful lifestyle, not believing that you will ever be held accountable for our actions. Also, if you don’t have heaven to look forward to, you may have little reason for joy in life and you lose a major reason for hanging in there when the going gets tough.
Bible prophecy matters the most, when things are the worst. It tells us that God is going to make everything all right, that justice may seem deferred but will not be denied, that the good and gracious purposes for which God created the world will all be fulfilled.
Bible prophecy helps us get a glimpse of the certainties of God’s future so that we may live wisely, righteously, passionately, and boldly today. If we know with certainty that Jesus is returning, then we will constantly be asking the question, 2 Peter 3:11 “what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness. . .”
Prayer
Prophecy and End Times (A Few Things To Consider)
There is considerable disagreement among Christians regarding the end of time (the rapture, the millennium), nevertheless, among those who believe that the whole Bible is the inspired word of God, there are a number of things which we can all agree:
- Jesus is coming again, and when He does, God will set all things right. In the end all will be well for God’s people. In the meantime, we must live in light of His return.
- Jesus is the ultimate focal point of all prophecy. The Old Testament looked forward to His coming; the New Testament looked back at His coming; unfulfilled prophecy looks forward to His coming again.
- Holiness should be the end result of prophecy. The Bible was not given merely to satisfy our curiosity, but to tell us how to live.
- We must be personally committed to the Great Commission. If the end is coming, must we not warn others?
- God is sovereign, and, in spite of seeming evidence to the contrary, is guiding history to a meaningful conclusion, just as He said He would.[2]
Terms To Understand Regarding the End of Time (Nine Terms)
The first appearance of Christ is the nativity and his 3-year ministry on the earth. “at the second coming of Christ, he will come as the Reigning King: Isa. 9:6-7 “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, . . .”
Acts 1:10-11 “And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
When we discuss the end of time there are some key terms that we need to know and understand:
The Second Coming: this is the return of Jesus to the earth at an unknown time in the future, John 14:3 “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
The Rapture: this is the sudden departure of all Christians to meet Christ in the air (1 Thess. 4:16-17). For more on this topic click here.
The millennium: This refers to a period of time in which Christ reigns on earth in righteousness (Rev. 20:1-10).
The Great Tribulation: this is a period of time in which there will be unprecedented suffering (Mark 13:19). “Satan’s longtime and persistent opposition to God’s work will accelerate to an extreme and be seen by all.”[3]
The Antichrist: This person embodies evil and is the key agent of Satan’s resistance to the plan of God in the last days (1 John 2:18-22). “Satan will empower the Antichrist to act supernaturally with a view to deceiving and persuading men.” Those that oppose him will face trouble so great that unless God shortened the days no one would survive (Matt. 24:21-22).
The judgment seat of Christ: this is the place where all Christians will receive their reward for the quality of their life on earth (2 Cor. 5:10). “This is a judgment, not for destiny, but for adjustment, for reward or loss, according to our works, for position in the kingdom: every man according as his work shall be.”[4]
The great white throne judgment: this is the place where all who have rejected God receive punishment for their unbelief and their life on earth (Rev. 20:11-15). “The purpose of the final judgment will not be to ascertain the quality of an individual’s character, but rather to disclose his character and to assign him to the eternal place corresponding to what he is because of his trust or lack of trust in God.”[5]
Hell: this is the ultimate destination of all people who did not truly believe in God and commit their lives to Him (Matt. 10:28).[6] “The word translated “hell” in the NT comes from the Greek word Gehenna. It is derived from the name of the valley of Hinnom, located just south of Jerusalem, which was a city garbage dump that burned twenty-four hours a day every day.
In this dreadful place, human sacrifices were once offered to the god Molech (2 Kings 23:10). It was used as a burial for criminals and for burning garbage. It came to be a metaphor for the everlasting state of the unsaved.”[7]
The literal truth behind the horrible imagery created by the prophetic language is that hell is a place or profound misery where the unsaved are separated from the presence of God forever and suffer whatever is the opposite of God and heaven for eternity. The unsaved will be cast from God’s presence forever, without any hope of restoration experiencing an eternity of no peace, no love, no joy, no fellowship.
Hell is a place described as everlasting fire (Mark 9:43; Matt. 25:41). It is spoken of as a lake of burning sulfur (Rev. 20:10). It is a place of darkness (Matt. 8:12). It is described as a place of eternal punishment and torment (Rev. 14:10-11). “If figurative language is involved, it is obviously symbolic of something so awful no one in his right mind could be indifferent to avoiding it.”[8]
Jude 13 “. . . for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.”
Some tend to shy away from these descriptions of hell by holding to annihilation (where we cease to exist at some point), or that over a period of time someone will cease to be in hell, but the same word, eternal, is used to describe both punishment and life. Matthew 25:46 “And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”
God’s justice requires that sin be punished. Your sin must be punished – in His grace He provided through Jesus’ death on the cross the way for a person to be freed from that punishment (Jesus took the full brunt of God’s wrath against sin).
But a person is not made to receive this gift, he is presented with a choice – just as Adam and Even in the Garden were presented the choice to honor and obey God. But we only have the few days on this planet to make the choice – we are locked into our state in eternity (saved or lost, righteous or unrighteous). Therefore, God does not send anyone to hell – each person chooses it when they reject Christ’s gift of salvation.
Heaven: this is the ultimate destination of all people who truly believe in God and committed their lives to Him (Acts 1:9-10). Heaven is where God is. It is a place of rest (Heb. 4:9), of glory (2 Cor. 4:17, or purity (Rev. 21:27), or worship (Rev. 19:1), of fellowship with others (Heb. 12:23), and of being with God (Rev. 21:3).
Revelation 21:3-4 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
The Bible uses the word heaven in different ways. One is in reference to creation, or the entire universe. Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” Jesus said in Matthew 5:18, “For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”
Another way the Bible uses the word heaven is a synonym for God. When the prodigal son confesses his sin to his father, he says, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you” Luke 15:18. When Jesus questions the Pharisees, “The baptism of John, from where did it come? From heaven or from man?” Matthew 21:25.
The third way heaven is used, is to indicate where God lives. Jesus instructed the disciples to pray, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name” (Matthew 6:9). Angels come from and return to heaven, and dwell in heaven.[9] They are also referred to as the heavenly host.
Heaven is also the ultimate place where followers of Christ will end up. Jesus even went to heaven to prepare a place for those that follow Him, John 14:2-3 “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”
Heaven is also a place where believers can store up treasure now, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” Matt. 6:19-20.
Heaven is also the place where, as children of God, they receive their inheritance. 1 Peter 1:4-5 “. . . to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,”
Believers will receive crowns – the crown of life (James 1:12), the crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4), and the crown of righteousness (2 Tim. 4:8). Those who have been won for Christ through our witness become our crown of rejoicing (1 Thess. 2:19).
Eventually, those around the thrown of God will cast their crowns before the Lord. Revelation 4:11 “They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
Also, everything in heaven will be new, 2 Peter 3:10, 13 All that we know in this world will be burned “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed. . . But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.”
God’s kingdom will be established when Philippians 2:10-11 “so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
It’s hard for us to comprehend heaven in all its’ glory, but John Newton once said in his song Amazing Grace, “When we’ve been there ten thousand years Bright shining as the sun, We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise Than when we first begun.”
Ultimately, heaven is intended to be a word that helps us understand that it is where the presence of God dwells, and that those that place their faith in the Son of God, Jesus will have an rightful place with Him there (an inheritance, a job there, a special name will be revealed, gathered treasure, a place for you to dwell, etc.)
All of this revolves around a relationship – “God’s intention from the beginning, to have fellowship with man, led first to his creating the human race, then to his dwelling in the tabernacle and temple, then to his coming in the incarnation, and finally to his taking humans to be with him (heaven).”[10]
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[1] Paul E. Little, Know What You Believe, A Practical Discussion of the Fundamentals of the Christian Faith (Colorado Springs, Colorado; Cook Communications, 1999) 137.
[2] Anders, 172.
[3] Little, 140.
[4] Little, 146, quote by William Evans.
[5] Little, 146.
[6] Max Anders, New Christian’s Handbook, Everything New Believers Need to Know (Nashville, Tennessee; Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1999) 166.
[7] Anders, 177.
[8] Little, 147.
[9] Matt. 28:2; Luke 22;43; Luke 2:15; Mark 13:32, heavenly host Luke 2:13
[10] Millard Erickson, Christian Theology (Grand Rapids, Michigan; Baker Book House, 1985) 1228.
