The Purpose and Passion of the Messiah

 

Summary

On these four Sunday evenings in the month of November we are going to consider the topic “The Purpose and Passion of the Messiah.”  Now when speaking of the Messiah the word “passion” is traditionally taken to refer to the suffering he endured in the last hours leading up to his death. But the word “passion” in general means far more than this. It speaks of a heart set on fire. It speaks of an unswerving purpose. It speaks of dedication and determination. It speaks of deep commitment and enthusiasm. It speaks of unquenchable zeal. At Christmas time we often read those ancient, beautiful words from the book of Isaiah chapter 9 commencing, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders.”  The passage concludes with these words: “The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this; the zeal of the Lord Almighty. What I want us to think about over these next few weeks is this: what is it that God is so zealous about, so passionate about, and that His Messiah pursues with such total commitment and determination. What is the purpose and passion of the Messiah?

Why should we do this?  There is nothing, nothing more important for us to do than to seek the heart of God, to learn to understand the passion that beats within His heart, and then to allow that passion to consume our hearts, minds and lives.

To help us in this search we are going to consider four aspects of the ministry of the Messiah over these four Sunday evenings:

• the Messiah’s Mission
• the Messiah’s Manifesto
• the Messiah’s Methodology
• the Messiah’s Mantle.