Reversing The Curse

Well, if you would, let's open up our Bibles once more to Isaiah chapter 55.

Isaiah 55 · chapter mention

And this is our last week, believe it or not, here in this chapter.

For six weeks, six weeks we've been in this chapter, Isaiah chapter 55, sitting under these words.

Isaiah 55 · chapter mention

And I hope that you have been as encouraged as I have from these words here in Isaiah.

And so this morning we're going to be in verses 12 and 13 this morning.

Isaiah 55 verses 12 and 13.

Isaiah 55:12

And would you please just follow along with me as I read.

For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace.

The mountains and the hills before you shall break forth into singing.

And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress.

Instead of the briar shall come up the myrtle.

And it shall make a name for the Lord.

An everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.

Amen.

Let's pray together once more.

Lord, we thank you for your unfailing word.

This promise of hope that you've given us.

And we pray now as we unpack it.

As we bring this chapter of Isaiah to a close.

Lord, that you would bring your word down from heaven to earth.

Into fertile soil in our hearts this morning.

We pray.

In Christ's name.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, have you ever noticed that some of the most religious people in the world are sports fans?

They may or may not believe in God.

But when it comes to their favorite team, the way that they talk, the way that they act,

the way that they believe, the way that they celebrate can only be described as religious.

And, of course, the sports world is filled with language of blessing and cursing.

Religious rituals and superstition.

Especially this language of cursing.

Sports fans in the room, you may be familiar with the curse of the Bambino.

Have you heard of this?

Babe Ruth, he played for the Red Sox but was sold away to the New York Yankees.

Where, of course, he made himself a baseball legend.

And the Red Sox then went 86 years before the curse was finally broken and they finally won the World Series.

That's the curse of the Bambino.

A little bit deeper in the archives is the Billy Goat Curse.

I wonder if anybody's familiar with that one.

The Billy Goat Curse was allegedly placed on the Chicago Cubs by a man named William Sianis,

who owned the Billy Goat Tavern in downtown Chicago.

And I guess as a way to advertise the Billy Goat Tavern,

he would bring his goat, Murphy, to the baseball games.

Well, in game four of the 1945 World Series,

apparently Murphy the goat was disturbing some of the fans.

And so Murphy and William both were asked to leave.

And as the story goes, on his way out,

William Sianis shouted out for all to hear these hateful words,

Them Cubs ain't gonna win no more.

A curse had been pronounced.

Those who heard those dreadful words interpreted it to mean

that as long as William Sianis lived,

the Chicago Cubs would never again win another National League pennant.

As, again, sports historians would know,

the Cubs lost the series that year,

and they would not return to the World Series until 2016,

when they finally defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers

and finally won the National League pennant.

Get this, on the 46th anniversary of William Sianis' death.

After 71 years, the curse was finally broken,

and the Chicago Cubs went on to win their first World Series

in 108 years of losing.

Now, I'm a Braves fan myself,

so I don't know what it's like to lose for that long,

that consistently, to go that long without winning,

but you can put yourself in their shoes

and imagine the joy and the relief

and the triumph of every individual player for the Chicago Cubs,

but not just every individual player of that entire city of Chicago

as the curse was finally broken,

their hope has finally been manifested,

everything they've waited for is finally here,

the curse was gone,

now they finally get to rest and rejoice.

Why in the world am I talking about this this morning?

It's because, as we bring our time to a close

in Isaiah chapter 55 this morning,

Isaiah 55 · chapter mention

what we see in these two verses at the end of chapter 55

is our future hope.

What we see in these two verses is the triumphant reversal of a curse,

but this is no superstition.

This is the certain, sure promise of the unfailing Word of God

for any who come to Him.

Church, I would just remind you this morning

that our certain hope,

what we live in light of every day

is that one day Christ will come.

One day Christ will return.

And all that was broken,

all that was lost,

everything that's been twisted and marred

and ruined by the curse of sin

will one day be undone.

And all who know the Lord will rejoice

and rest and know peace.

That's the certain hope of the gospel.

And as Christians, again,

we ought to live every day

in light of that coming day.

That's our hope.

And so this morning,

in our conclusion to this chapter of Isaiah,

I want to remind us of three parts

of our hope this morning.

Three parts of our hope,

and this will be our outline this morning,

three parts of our hope

that we see here in Isaiah 55, verses 12 and 13.

Isaiah 55:12

Rescue from exile,

redemption of creation,

and the reversal of the curse.

Three R's, three parts of our hope.

Rescue from exile,

redemption of creation,

and reversal of the curse of sin.

First, we are trusting the promise of God

that one day we will be rescued from exile.

Let's remember again the context of our passage

here in Isaiah.

The Israelites are in exile.

After everything that they've been through,

the Lord redeeming them out of slavery in Egypt,

carrying them through the wilderness,

giving them his law,

providing for them food and water,

bread from heaven,

providing for them every step of the way,

conquering their enemies,

paving the way,

bringing them into the promised land.

How did they respond to the Lord?

They sinned against him.

They continued to pursue and chase after idols.

They did not listen.

They did not incline their ear to the word of God.

And so the Lord brought judgment upon them.

He brought the Babylonians down,

sent them to bring the Israelites away from their land

and into exile in Babylon.

You can imagine how they must have felt

after all of this,

being brought away from the promised land,

back into captivity.

Psalm 137.

Psalm 137 gives us a look into how they felt.

It says this,

By the waters of Babylon,

there we sat down and wept

when we remembered Zion.

On the willows there,

we hung up our lyres,

for there our captors required of us songs,

and our tormentors mirth,

saying,

Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

How shall we sing the Lord's song in a foreign land?

If I forget you, O Jerusalem,

let my right hand forget its skill.

Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth.

If I do not remember you,

if I do not set Jerusalem above my highest joy.

See, their joy had been taken away.

Their joy was the presence of God

and that place where they could dwell with Him

and be with Him and worship Him.

And they traded it all away for chains.

And their peace had been taken away.

What peace could they have

when they dwelled among their enemies

and served their enemies?

What peace could they have

when they were experiencing

the heavy hand of God's wrath against their sin?

What hope could they possibly have

in the midst of this terrible exile?

And in the middle of all of this anguish,

here comes a prophet.

Here comes Isaiah.

And he brings a word from God,

like rain coming down from heaven

to give life to all who would listen.

And he says this.

Listen, verse 12.

He says,

You will not always be here in exile.

Verse 12.

He says,

You shall go out in joy

and be led forth in peace.

What a promise.

What a promise for those who are in exile.

Imagine what it would be like

if you were in exile

and you heard these words.

If you knew that you did not belong

in this land of sin and darkness,

in this land of false gods

surrounded by your enemies,

longing to be in your place with your God.

And God sends this word here in verse 12.

You shall not belong here.

You shall go up from here.

You shall not always be here in exile.

This judgment is not forever.

There's future hope ahead for you.

And my unfailing word,

which always accomplishes my purposes,

it will succeed in bringing you out from here

in unspeakable joy,

in unimaginable peace.

Could you imagine?

Well, you know, of course,

for us who are in Christ this morning,

we don't have to imagine

if we were in exile, do we?

Because as we know,

if you are a Christian church,

the Bible tells us that we are in exile right now.

You and I are strangers,

aliens,

exiles here in this world.

Just like Israel,

we have been displaced.

We are displaced from our home.

And just like Israel,

we dwell in a foreign land.

We dwell in a foreign kingdom.

Just like Israel,

we live amongst foreign gods.

And just like Israel,

our only hope is God's promise,

His word,

that one day He will bring us home.

But unless we understand that we're exiles here,

this promise of deliverance

won't sound like good news to us.

And so I remind you, Christian,

that this place,

this land,

this country

is not our home.

America,

as great as it is,

as many blessings as we enjoy here,

is not our home.

We are in enemy territory.

And this place,

it does not even have

the slightest fraction

fraction of the joy

and the peace

and the freedom

that lies ahead

that we will enjoy

when we finally reach

our final home.

So I remind you

that our hope

is not in politicians.

Our hope is not

in political policy,

political gain,

is not in American revival,

though we may care deeply

for these things.

Our hope, church,

is rescue

from a strange

and foreign land

where we do not belong,

where we will never belong.

We have to remember, Christian,

that we are first and foremost

citizens of the kingdom of God.

And the church

is an embassy

of that kingdom.

And we are individually

ambassadors of that king.

So when we come here,

when we gather here,

we don't gather primarily

as Americans.

This is not an American gathering.

This is a gathering

of the kingdom of heaven.

We're gathering as citizens

of another kingdom.

And our hope,

according to the promise of God,

is that one day

Christ will return

and reign

as the King of kings

and the Lord of lords.

Not just for one people,

not just for one place,

but for every tribe,

tongue,

and nation.

Church,

our hope

is that we will be ransomed

from here.

Ransomed

from our exile

here in this place.

But we're not there yet.

So what

do we do?

The book of 1 Peter,

he addresses

that very question.

He addresses this book

to those who are

elect exiles.

The book of 1 Peter,

that is the church,

that is us,

those who have been

delivered from the domain

of darkness

and transferred

into the kingdom

of his beloved Son.

And he says this

starting in 1 Peter 1,

1 Peter 1:13

verse 13.

He says,

Therefore,

preparing your minds

for action

and being sober-minded,

set your hope

fully on the grace

that will be brought

to you

at the revelation

of Jesus Christ.

So look there.

Orient your lives there.

Don't place your hope

here or in anything

in this place.

Look there.

He says in verse 14,

As obedient children,

do not be conformed

to the passions

of your former ignorance,

but as he who called you

is holy,

you also be holy

in all your conduct.

Since it is written,

You shall be holy

for I am holy.

And if you call on him

as father

who judges impartially

according to each one's deeds,

conduct yourselves

with fear

throughout the time

of your exile,

knowing that you were ransomed

from the futile ways

inherited from your forefathers,

not with perishable things

such as silver or gold,

but with the precious blood

of Christ,

like that of a lamb

without blemish

or spot.

Again,

in chapter 2,

he says,

Beloved,

I urge you as sojourners

in exiles,

that's us,

church,

to abstain

from the passions

of the flesh

which wage war

against your soul.

Keep your conduct

among the Gentiles

honorable,

so that when they speak

against you

as evildoers,

they may see your good deeds

and glorify God

on the day

of visitation.

So what's the call?

Live as those

who don't belong here.

Set your hope

on the coming

kingdom of God.

Place your identity

in that kingdom,

not in this kingdom.

Live as citizens

of the kingdom

to come.

Don't look backwards.

Don't conform

to the ways

of this present age.

Don't regress.

Don't define yourself

primarily by earthly kingdoms.

Don't fix your identity

on anything.

Here is quickly

passing away.

Identify and claim

that eternal kingdom.

Live in light

of that coming kingdom.

Live as citizens

of the kingdom

to come.

Live as those

who have been washed clean

by the precious blood

of Christ.

So that

when others see

the way that you live

here as strangers

and say,

that's weird,

they would glorify God

on the day

of the return

of Christ.

Our hope is

as the hymn says

that Emmanuel,

God with us

would return

and we would be rescued.

O come,

O come,

Emmanuel

and ransom

captive Israel

that mourns

in lonely exile

here

until

the Son of God

appears.

Rejoice.

Rejoice.

Emmanuel

shall come

to thee,

church.

shall come

to thee,

O Israel.

So the first part

of our hope

here in these verses

is that we would

be rescued

from our exile

here.

We don't belong

here,

but there's more.

We're not just

rescued from

our exile,

we are also brought

into something

glorious.

So second,

the second part

of our hope

here in these verses

is the redemption

of creation.

redemption.

The redemption

of all

creation.

You might ask,

well,

where are we being

brought into?

Do we just disappear

and poof,

we're in the clouds?

Well,

no.

The hope

that lies ahead

of all

who know

the Lord

is a totally

redeemed

creation.

Look there again

to verse 12,

chapter 55,

verse 12.

And notice

what happens

when the people

of God

are brought

up out

of their exile.

It says this,

it says,

the mountains

and the hills

before you

shall break

forth into

singing,

and all the

trees shall

clap their

hands.

Now,

if you are

not used

to this

type of

language

in scripture,

this admittedly

has to sound

completely weird,

right?

This is

strange,

but this

is normal

biblical

language

for the

creation.

Creation

in the Bible

is often

talked about

with almost

human language.

It is personified,

so the creation

rejoices,

and it exalts,

and it sings,

and it claps.

And this language

with the creation

rejoicing

is often

connected

with the coming

of the Lord

to the earth.

And so we see

in places

like 1 Chronicles

1 Chronicles 16 · chapter mention

chapter 16.

It says,

Let the heavens

be glad

and let the

earth rejoice.

Let them

say among

the nation,

the Lord

reigns.

Let the sea

roar and all

that fills it.

Let the field

exult and

everything in it.

And then the

trees of the

forest shall

sing for joy

before the

Lord,

for He

comes to

judge the

earth.

Now,

here in Isaiah,

this promise

of being rescued

from exile,

being led

out of exile

into the

promised land

is connected

again with

creation,

rejoicing,

and mountains

and hills

breaking out

into song,

trees clapping

their hands.

Now,

obviously,

this language

is poetic.

Trees don't

have hands,

right?

Right?

Okay.

But this

is describing

something very

real that we

need to

understand.

It's important

for us to

understand here,

and it's this.

Creation

shares a

trajectory with

the children

of God.

We are

bound up

together.

God created

all things.

He created

the world

that we live

in, and He

created us,

and all was

good.

And then Adam

and Eve

sinned.

They rebelled

against the

Lord.

And not only

were we

messed up,

people messed

up individually,

not only were

we messed

up, so was

the creation.

The creation

is also

impacted and

affected by

the curse

of sin.

It's not

just us.

This whole

world is not

as it should

be.

It's marred

and broken.

and twisted

and cursed

by the

presence of

sin.

And I

know that

I'm new

to all

and all.

How else

do you

explain

mosquitoes

the size

of helicopters,

anthills

about five

feet tall?

The creation

is cursed.

It bears

on it

the marks

and the

curse

of sin.

Romans 8

tells us

that the

creation

itself

groans

under the

curse of

sin.

Romans 8

Romans 8:19

verse 19

says,

For the

creation

waits

with eager

longing

for the

revealing

of the

sons

of

God.

Why?

What does

creation have

to look

forward to?

Verse 20,

For the

creation

was subjected

to futility,

not willingly,

but because of

him who

subjected it

in hope

that the

creation

itself

will be

set free

from its

bondage

to

corruption

and obtain

the

freedom

of the

glory

of the

children

of God.

For we

know that

the whole

creation

has been

groaning

together

in the

pains

of

childbirth

until now.

This is

what Isaiah

has told

us as

well.

Earlier

in the

book of

Isaiah

Isaiah 24 · chapter mention

chapter 24,

he says,

The earth

mourns

and withers.

The world

languishes

and withers.

The highest

people of

the earth

languish.

The earth

lies defiled

under its

inhabitants

for they

have

transgressed

the laws,

violated

the statutes,

broken

the everlasting

covenant.

In other

words,

the earth

languishes

because people

have sinned.

Therefore,

a curse

devours

the earth

and its

inhabitants

suffer

for their

guilt.

Therefore,

the inhabitants

of the earth

are scorched

and few

men are

left.

The creation

bears the

marks of

the curse

of sin.

Again,

our personal

sin is not

just personal.

It doesn't

just have

personal

effects.

Our

personal

sin has

cosmic

ramifications

for all

of creation.

The creation

itself has

been cursed.

When Adam

and Eve

sinned

against the

Lord in

the Garden

of Eden,

Adam was

told,

what?

Cursed

is the

ground

because of

you.

In pain

you shall

eat of

it all

the days

of your

life.

Thorns

and thistles

it shall

bring forth

for you

and you

shall eat

the plants

of the

field.

We live

in a land

of thorns

and thistles.

But our

hope,

what we

have to

look forward

to,

is not

only that

we will be

redeemed out

of this

world,

but that

the world

itself will

be set

free from

the curse

of sin

and remade

into the

most glorious

home imaginable.

no sin,

no death,

no suffering,

no howling

winds,

no crushing

waves,

no bites,

no stings,

no burns,

no fumes,

no death

at all.

It's just

beauty and

joy and

peace and

comfort and

delight in

the presence

of God.

I can't even

imagine what

that will be

like.

Some of

you may

remember the

2009 film

Avatar.

Have you all

seen that

one?

If not,

it's a

three hour

long movie

about a

bunch of

blue aliens

that live

on another

planet that

somehow became

the number

one highest

grossing film

of all time.

Did you know

that?

So if you

haven't seen

it, you're

in the

minority.

The highest

grossing film

of all

time.

And the

planet that

these blue

people lived

on, stick

with me, I

promise we'll

have a point,

the planet

that they

lived on

was beautiful.

Okay?

And what

happened for

so many

people was

that after

they saw

the movie,

they went

into a

state of

depression.

And some

of them

even became

suicidal.

You can

look it up.

They call it

the Avatar

Blues.

Look it up.

And this

wasn't just

one or two

people.

This was

widespread.

It was a

phenomenon,

the Avatar

Blues.

but here's

why they

were all

depressed.

This is

what they

said.

They said

that they

longed to

experience the

joy and

the beauty

of this

imaginary

planet,

but they

knew in

their heart

of hearts

that they

never could.

And it

crushed them.

Sent them

spiraling to

imagine something

so profoundly

spectacular,

just to get a

glimpse of

something so

beautiful,

and then to

know that it

wasn't real,

that you

could never

actually

experience them.

It led

them into

an increasing

state of

despair.

What a

terrible way

to live.

And to

have a

glimpse of

something so

beautiful,

and to

know that

it's all

just make

believe.

You can

never go.

But church,

our experience

ought to be

the exact

opposite,

shouldn't

it?

We have

in these

verses a

glimpse,

just a

glimpse,

of what

lies ahead

of us,

a totally

redeemed

creation.

It's free

from the

curse of

sin,

free from

the pains

of suffering

and death,

no more

thorns,

no more

thistles,

just peace

and joy

and beauty,

the whole

world,

a garden

to walk

with our

God for

all of

eternity.

To know

that this

is not

imagined,

that this

is real.

Church,

that ought

to lead

us into

an increasing

state of

ecstasy,

to long

for that

place,

to long

for that

day when

Christ will

return and

make all

things right.

It ought

to lead us

to wish

for it,

to long

for it,

to pray

for it.

When can

I go

and be

in that

promised

land?

Do you

long for

the Lord

like that?

See,

the promised

land is not

just a patch

of dirt

on the

earth

somewhere,

okay?

The promised

land is

all of

creation,

totally

restored,

totally

remade,

totally fit

for the

presence of

God with

his people

forever.

That's our

hope.

Our hope,

church,

is not this

place,

not this

country,

it's not

even ultimately

heaven.

Our ultimate

hope is the

new heavens

and new

earth,

a redeemed

creation

in the

eternity

that we

have to

look forward

to with

God.

But to

get there,

something

must first

be done.

God

cannot

just

bring

sinners

into this

perfect

creation.

The word

says nothing

accursed

shall ever

be in it.

So something

must be

done about

this curse

of sin

that we

deal with

here,

here in

ourselves,

here in

our creation,

here in

our lives,

something must

be done

with this

curse,

which is why

third,

the third

part of

our hope

here in

these verses

is the

reversal

of the

curse.

Our hope

is that

the curse

of sin

would be

reversed.

Look with

me to

verse 13.

Look with

me to

verse 13.

Isaiah

says,

Instead

of the

thorn

shall

come up

the

cypress.

Instead

of the

briar

shall

come up

the

myrtle.

And

it

shall

make a

name

for the

Lord,

an

everlasting

sign

that

shall

not

be

cut

off.

Now,

here in

this one

verse,

we have

the story

of the

entire

Bible.

And so

with the

time that

we have

left,

we're going

to cover

the whole

thing.

All right?

And we're

going to

summarize the

entire thing

here.

This big

picture,

so stick

with me

because it's

all here.

This is the

climax of

this chapter.

It's the

crescendo that

Isaiah has

been building

up to,

giving hope

for sinners

like us.

If you've

been tracking

with us for

the past

six weeks,

this is it.

This is what

Isaiah has

been building

to give

us this

hope.

The hope

for any

sinner in

the world

is that

God would

take it

upon

himself

to fix

what we

have broken

by our

sin.

Our hope

is that

he would

reverse

the curse

of sin

and bring

us home

with him.

So here

we go.

Here in

this verse,

we see the

problem,

the plan,

and the

point of

the whole

Bible.

The

problem,

the plan,

and the

point of

the whole

Bible.

Do you

see it?

What's

the problem?

Thorns

and

thistles.

Thorns

and

thistles.

The

problem

is the

curse

of sin

in the

world.

Thorns

and

thistles

it shall

bear

for you.

All

of our

lives

are

marked

and

cut

and

scraped

and

made

difficult

by

thorns

and

thistles.

Our

relationships

are

made

difficult

by

thorns

and

thistles.

Our

work

is

filled

with

difficulty.

We

get

sick.

We

get

tired.

We

get

weary.

Eventually

our

bodies

will

fail

us

and

we

will

die.

That's

all

a

part

of

the

curse

of

sin

in

the

world.

And

the

worst

part

of

it

is

that

we

are

separated

from

God

in

our

sin.

There's

this

infinite

gap

between

us

and

God

that

we

cannot

possibly

bridge

by

our

own

doing.

That's

a

problem

for

sinners.

So

what's

the

plan?

God

is

going

to

reverse

the

curse.

Verse

13

Instead

of

the

thorns

there

will

be

a

big

healthy

flourishing

cypress

tree.

Instead

of

briars

there's

a

big

healthy

myrtle.

And

I

don't

know

much

about

plants

but

Google

has

told

me

that

these

are

evergreen

trees

which

means

that

they

bear

fruit

year

round.

Is

that

right?

God

is

going

to

reverse

this

curse

and

here

in

the

pages

of

the

Old

Testament

as

an

Israelite

hearing

this

prophecy

you're

stuck

wondering

how?

Are

you

trust

that

he's

going

to

do

it

but

how

will

this

happen?

How

will

this

ruined

world

be

redeemed

and

this

curse

finally

be

broken?

And

you

have

some

of

the

pieces

of

the

puzzle

but

the

answer

isn't

quite

completely

clear

yet

but

what

is

clear

is

the

point

of

it

all.

What

is

it?

It's

the

glory

of

God.

This

reversal

it says

shall

make a

name

for

the

Lord

forever.

An

everlasting

sign

that

shall

not

be

cut

off.

That's

the

point.

So

the

point

of

this

entire

incredible

act

of

redemption

is

that

God

would

be

glorified

and

his

holy

name

prays

forever.

That

his

glorious

name

would

be

magnified

throughout

the

world.

That

the

new

heavens

and

the

new

earth

would

be

united

in

this

universal

chorus

of

worship

as

it

should

be.

The

point

of

your

redemption

Christian

is

the

glory

of

God.

The

point

of

all

of

this

this

out

working

of

God's

unspeakable

unimaginable

thoughts

and ways

in human

history.

The

point

of

it

all

is

that

his

name

would

be

magnified

and

exalted

in

and

worshipped

for the

rest

of

eternity

that

the

glory

of

God

would

be

magnified

but

how

will

it

be

done?

Of

course

on

this

side

of

the

cross

we

know

the

answer

don't

we?

is

in

the

gospel

of

Jesus

Christ.

The

wonderful

plan

of

God

from

before

the

ages

began

was

to

send

his

son

into

a

broken

world

to

redeem

it.

This

was

the

plan

of

God

that

Jesus

Christ

would

enter

into

the

brokenness

of

this

world

and

live

in

the

place

of

sinners

and

die

in

the

place

of

sinners

and

rise

on

behalf

of

sinners

to

secure

a

glorious

hope

of

eternal

life

in the

new

heavens

and

the

new

earth

the

eternal

kingdom

of

God

for

any

sinner

who

would

come

to

him

in

faith

to

the

praise

of

his

glorious

grace

for

the

rest

of

eternity

so

you

can

think

of

the

story

of

the

Bible

as

a

story

of

three

trees

three

trees

the

Bible

starts

with a

tree

in the

garden

of

Eden

the

Lord

God

commanded

the

man

saying

you

may

surely

eat

of

every

tree

in

the

garden

but

of

the

tree

of

the

knowledge