LOOKING TO JESUS

ISAIAH 45:2

A. "LOOK UNTO ME, AND BE YE SAVED, ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH: FOR I AM GOD, AND THERE IS NONE ELSE."
  1. This gracious invitation is indicative:
    1. That the eyes of humanity are fixed upon all else but God.
    2. The lust of the eye, the pride of life, and the lust of the flesh have turned the hearts of men away from God - 1 John 2:15, 16
  2. The eye is the light of the body and reveals the condition of the heart: Matt. 15:19-23
B. LET US CONSIDER, BRIEFLY, THE OBJECT OF HEAVEN'S INVITATION TO LOOK TO JESUS
  1. By looking at Him we see ourselves as we are seen:
    1. Sinful and lost - "O wretched man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Rom. 7:24
    2. All our righteousness is as filthy rags - Isa. 64:6; Rom. 3:23; Isa. 1:4
  2. To us as we should be:
    1. Saved - redeemed - Matt. 1:21; Isa. 6:1-6; 43:1-9
    2. Perfect and sinless - Tit. 2:14; Eph. 5:27; Rev. 14:1-5
  3. To see God in His fullness:
    1. "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father" - John 14:9
    2. "Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature" - Col. 1:15
    3. "For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily" - Col. 2:9
    4. "The express image of his person" - Heb. 1:3
C. BLESSING OF LOOKING AT JESUS
  1. Moses was directed by God to make a serpent of brass for the people, that had been bitten by the poisonous reptiles, to look at the brazen serpent to be healed: Num. 21:9
  2. Even so, God invites sinners to look to the Son of God hanging on the tree to be saved from their sins: John 3:14, 15
  3. Vivid exhibits of salvation:
    1. The thief on the cross - Luke 23:42-44
    2. Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast out seven devils - Luke 8:2-6
    3. Saul of Tarsus - Acts 9:1-11; 1 Tim. 1:15
  4. Transformation follows a look at the Lamb of God:
    1. "By beholding, has become changed" - 2 Cor. 3:18; John 1:29
    2. We will be transformed into the same image - 1 John 3:1-3
  5. Universal salvation:
    1. All human barriers are removed between God and men - Eph. 2:14-16
    2. Nationalities, color, wealth or fame, are removed also - Acts 10:34
    3. The hope of a troubled world is not in the vanities of men, but in a look to the Redeemer.
    4. How wonderful it is to direct a bewildered and confused humanity to the only hope left to man - Isa. 45:22


Design © John Bryant 2011