Do you like those moving sidewalks at the airport? I don’t. I prefer to walk on ground that doesn’t move, thank you very much. Artificial Intelligence (AI) feels a bit like a moving sidewalk to me. I know it can be useful, but like a moving sidewalk, it makes me feel a bit dizzy. The part that bothers me the most is not knowing fact from fiction. Scrolling through Instagram is a time-killer as it is, but I at least want to know that cute animal video is real and not AI-generated!

In a day where truth is hard to find, God’s Word remains the same. The best news you will ever hear is not only true, it was predicted 700 years before it happened. I am pleased to share this good news with you from the Hebrew book of Isaiah.

In 2019, the LORD called me to see Jesus in Isaiah. It’s not hard – He is everywhere in Scripture. In fact, we read in John 1 that Jesus is the Word. As I began to dig into the large and sometimes confusing book of Isaiah, it became apparent why God gave me this mission.

I have been on a treasure hunt with the LORD ever since, discovering so many interesting facts about the Hebrew book of Isaiah, which is sometimes referred to as the fifth Gospel. Written about 700 years before the Word became flesh, Isaiah is a book shared by Jews and Christians. Isaiah writes about a Messiah who would come and rescue the people from their sin. Even though Isaiah makes this point clear, the Jews were looking for a very different Messiah.

As Jesus said in Luke 24 to the disciples on the road to Emmaus:

“…You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering His glory?” Luke 24:25,26

I believe we are all naturally foolish and slow to believe as the disciples were back then. You see, when God spoke the words, “meet Me in Isaiah” to my heart back in 2019, I assumed that He wanted me to immediately share the Gospel to the Jewish people from their book of Isaiah. Years later, I humbly realize that He was first inviting me to meet Him. Although my head believed the Gospel (for decades), my heart struggled to catch up. I have certainly enjoyed fleeting moments of Gospel clarity, but I was also in a deep battle with fear, which is clear evidence that I was not fully perfected in love as John the beloved disciple explains in I John 4:18.

Even if you have heard the Gospel a thousand times, I invite you to ask the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of your heart afresh to receive it today.

We are all dead in our sin and in need of rescue. God made Himself clear on this issue in Isaiah 1. He tells His people that they are sick from head to toe. It’s as if He is saying – It’s really that bad. He loves us too much to pretend we are okay.

“Listen, O heavens! Pay attention, earth! This is what the LORD says: ‘The children I raised and cared for have rebelled against Me. Even an ox knows its owner, and a donkey recognizes its master’s care – but Israel doesn’t know its master. My people don’t recognize My care for them.’ Oh what a sinful nation they are – loaded down with a burden of guilt. They are evil people, corrupt children who have rejected the LORD. They have despised the Holy One of Israel and turned their backs on Him. Why do you continue to invite punishment? Must you rebel forever? Your head is injured and your heart is sick. You are battered from head to foot – covered with bruises, welts, and infected wounds – without any soothing ointments or bandages.” Isaiah 6:2-6

Ouch. This is all of us without Jesus. This harsh diagnosis is what we need to bring us back to reality. Imagine how cruel it would be for a physician, equipped with a cure to tell a sick patient that is he well. Many of us have gone years thinking we are well when we are in fact lying bleeding on the street in need of the Great Physician.

“…There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, There is none who seeks God…” Romans 3:9-10

If we think we can contribute anything to our salvation, then we still don’t understand.

“We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags…” Isaiah 64:6

Sin entered the world with Adam and Eve and has produced death and destruction ever since. This sin separates us from God who is holy. Isaiah gives us a picture of God’s holiness in Isaiah 6.

“It was the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of His robe filled the Temple. Attending Him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. They were calling out to each other, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Heaven’s Armies! The whole earth is filled with His glory!’ Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.” Isaiah 6:1-4

So, how do we – the one who is sick from head to toe – approach this unapproachable God? The nature and correct response is that of Isaiah’s:

“Then I said, ‘It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man…” Isaiah 6:5

Here’s the good news – which is what the word “Gospel” actually means! God is love. He is full of compassion and went ahead of us to make a way for us to be right with Him. He makes us spotless before Him so we can boldly approach this terrifying throne that Isaiah described. In view of Isaiah’s vision, it seems absurd for any of us to be able to even come near to His throne, much less boldly approach it as Hebrews 4:16 says.

Isaiah 53 explains how the Messiah would come to save Israel and the rest of us – to as many as would receive Him (John 1:12). In fact, even before Isaiah was written, God says this to Abraham:

“And through your descendants all the nations of the earth will be blessed…” Genesis 22:18

The simple Gospel message can be found in Isaiah 53. the paragraph actually begins in Isaiah 52:13 where God tells us that His Servant will prosper. this Messiah who would come and save His people would be successful in His mission and will be “highly exalted.” The words “highly exalted” remind me of the picture of the Lord on His throne in Isaiah 6! God tells us clearly throughout Scripture that He will not share His glory.

“I am the LORD; that is My name! I will not give My glory to anyone else…” Isaiah 42:8

Of course, Isaiah 9:6 also gives us a pretty big hint that the Messiah would be God Himself.

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.” Isaiah 9:6

So, here is the Gospel according to Isaiah: God’s Messiah, His Son would be our sin substitute. He would come to earth and live a perfect life and then die for our sins, making us right with God. God would look at His Son’s perfect record instead of our blemished one and count us as righteous and worthy to be His sons and daughters! I know, it sounds too good to be true. If it sounds too good to be true, then you probably actually understand it!

“But He was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be made whole. He was whipped so we could be headed. 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.” Isaiah 53:5,6

Jesus perfectly fulfilled this promise when He died on the cross about 700 years later. Not only that, Isaiah 53 even predicts His resurrection from the dead!

“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. 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 their sins.” Isaiah 53: 10,11

Do you wonder if Jesus read Isaiah 53 to the men on the road to Emmaus?

“Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” Luke 24:27

I have often said that if I could choose to be anywhere at any point in time in history, then I would be on the walk to Emmaus as Jesus explained who He fulfilled all the prophecies of Scripture. The great news is that we all get the chance to walk down that road with Jesus! If we will just ask the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to what we are reading, then every encounter with Scripture is supernatural. We have the privilege of looking back and seeing the perfection of the fulfillment of God’s promises in Jesus, our Messiah.f

So, does your heart understand the good news yet? Sometimes it takes some time for the news to travel from your head to your heart. It did for me and I still have to remind myself how good this news actually is.

“Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins…But God is so rich in mercy and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead (it is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!).” Ephesians 2:4,5

If you are unsure about the truth of the Gospel, then why not ask God today? Ask Him to show you for yourself, in a way that you can understand in your heart. He will answer you.

Learn more and hear stories of hope on the Meet Me in Isaiah Podcast.