A life that points to Christ
Isaiah
From Isaiah we learn that a true vision of God's holiness humbles us and then commissions us, and that God cleanses the unclean and sends the willing. His life teaches worship, confession, and availability, and his prophecies point with startling clarity to the Suffering Servant, Jesus.
“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.”Isaiah 6:8
“Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.”Isaiah 6:5
“But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.”Isaiah 53:5
“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”Isaiah 1:18
Their story, honestly
Isaiah was a prophet who, in the year King Uzziah died, saw a vision of the LORD high and lifted up, with seraphim crying, holy, holy, holy. Overwhelmed, Isaiah cried, woe is me, for I am undone, a man of unclean lips. A seraph touched his lips with a coal from the altar, and his guilt was taken away. Then he heard God ask, whom shall I send, and Isaiah answered, here am I, send me. He prophesied for decades, warning and comforting God's people, and wrote some of the most stunning promises in the Bible, including the vision of a Servant who would be wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities.
What their life teaches us
First, Isaiah teaches that encountering God's holiness rightly humbles us; his first response to glory was not pride but the confession, I am undone. Second, he teaches that God cleanses before He commissions; the coal touched his lips and took away his guilt, and only then came the sending. Third, he teaches glad availability; when God asked whom He should send, Isaiah did not calculate the cost but simply said, send me. His life models the pattern of true calling: see God, be humbled, be cleansed by grace, and go.
How their life points to Christ
Isaiah saw the glory of the LORD, and John's Gospel says he saw the glory of Jesus and spoke of Him. Isaiah's greatest prophecies read like an eyewitness account of the cross: He was despised and rejected, wounded for our transgressions, and by his stripes we are healed. Centuries before Bethlehem, Isaiah foretold a child called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, and a Servant who would bear the sins of many. The prophet cleansed by a coal from the altar points to the Christ whose blood truly cleanses us, the Suffering Servant he saw from afar.
Questions people ask
What does Isaiah's vision teach about meeting God?
That seeing God's holiness rightly humbles us before it uses us. Isaiah's first response was not confidence but confession, woe is me, for I am undone. Then God cleansed him and sent him. It teaches the true order of calling: humility and grace come before service.
How does Isaiah point to Jesus?
His prophecies describe the Messiah with remarkable precision centuries in advance, especially the Suffering Servant who was wounded for our transgressions and by whose stripes we are healed. The New Testament repeatedly applies these words to Jesus, and John says Isaiah saw Christ's glory.