Have YOU Believed the Report?

Originally posted 6/14/2012      Updated:  2/28/2020

In the book of Isaiah Chapter 53 and verse 1 (KJV), the Prophet Isaiah raised a question. He asked:  Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed?

Isaiah and other prophets gave clear and specific descriptions concerning the coming of the Lord. Let’s look at a quick review of the circumstances that led to the need for a Messiah to deliver humanity from the results of sin.

God created a man that He named Adam, gave him a wife that was ideally suited for him, gave him meaningful work and good food. His voice walked in the Garden of Eden and fellowshipped with Adam and Eve every day. Adam sinned through disobedience and lost his status in the Garden of Eden and was consequently was forced to leave the idyllic setting. He began to die at the moment of his sin. He and his offspring were headed for Hell with no hope. But God loved us too much to leave us in that hopeless situation. John 3:16 says  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Jesus, God’s only begotten son, did indeed fulfill His assignment. He came to earth, lived among sinful men, but himself did no sin. He demonstrated how men were to live holy. He healed the sick, raised the dead, and modeled love itself. He gave us a picture of the Father through his behavior. His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension opened the door for all men to be saved and delivered out of the hand of the enemy. Jesus overcame death, Hell, and the grave so that we might have a right to the tree of life. But wait. With this kind of deliverance available to men, why are there still people on earth that are lost? Perhaps some have not heard the good news. But what about those who have? What about the ones who simply refuse to believe the report?

In 1960 there were approximately 3,000,000,000 people on the face of the earth. Today, in 2012, there are over 7,000,000,000 people on earth. That means that without Jesus’s dying, billions and billions of people would be without hope. Hell would be the destination of all men and women. The only thing available for humanity would be an inevitable fearful waiting for the horrors of Hell. Because of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection for our sins, billions and billions of people should be saved and either in or eligible to enter into heaven. Sin should be a thing of the past, and we should all be praising and worshipping God. But you and I know that sin is still on the rampage. Why is this? Why have people all over the world refused to believe the report of Isaiah and others concerning Jesus Christ?

You and I were not on earth when Jesus hung on the cross for us. Someone had to report it to us. And as a result, we had to believe the report to be saved.

Isaiah 53:2-3 (KJV)   For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.  He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

The Prophet Isaiah presents several reasons for why the Jewish people did not receive Jesus as the Messiah. Some of those reasons still stand today.

1. They might have rejected the reports related to Jesus because they didn’t like him as a person. Isaiah says He was despised and of low esteem. Jesus was born to everyday working people. Mary claimed to be (and was) a virgin when she conceived. Jesus and his earthly father was what we would call today, a blue-collar worker, a carpenter.
2. Jesus was born in a manger, not at the Palais Royale or in a comfortable hospital. He came into the earth poor, not wealthy.

Luke 2:7 (KJV)   And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

3. The words “a root out of a dry ground” in Isaiah 53 tells us that he was born in the north, in Galilee, to a family from which nothing significant was expected. He was also born in a country of such small reputation that many thought that no good thing could come out of it.

John 1:44-46 (KJV)   Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city of Andrew and Peter. Philip findeth Nathanael, and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law, and the prophets, did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.  And Nathanael said unto him, Can there any good thing come out of Nazareth? Philip saith unto him, Come and see.

4. The Scripture further states that he hath neither form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him; there is no beauty that we should desire him. The Jews might have expected the Messiah to be beautiful in his face and person. They might have expected their coming Messiah to “blow them away with his beauty,” but there was nothing of this kind in him. He was not deformed or misshapen, but he was not an extraordinary looker either.
5. Some might have expected that when the Messiah came he would make a public entry, and come in pomp and splendor. But, instead, he grew up quietly, before God and, not before men. God kept His eye upon Jesus, but men disregarded him.
6. I’m sure many expected him to live a high life. Some might have thought that He would at least have had transportation comparable to a Lexus. But instead, he walked almost everywhere he went. They might have expected Him to have a mansion, but he did not even own a home.

Matthew 8:20 (KJV)   And Jesus saith unto him, The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

8. There is no record that he ever laughed, but he did weep.

John 11:35 (KJV)  Jesus wept.

9. He was a man of sorrow. Even though he committed no sins, living on earth among sinful men made him a sorrowful man.
10. As a result of all of these issues, many rejected him and still reject him today.

But I have some significant reasons for why all should believe that he is the Son of God, who taketh away the sins of the world.

1. The report itself. Before Jesus came to earth, God told humankind on many, many occasions that he would send a Savior. The Word was delivered through prophets down through time. God even let Adam and Eve know, as they were ejected from the Garden of Eden for the sin of disobedience, that they would have a Savior one day. When God cursed the serpent for tricking Eve and Adam into eating of the forbidden fruit, this is what he said:

Genesis 3:14-15 (KJV)   And the Lord God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

He was telling them was that the woman’s offspring would bruise the devil’s head, although the Savior would be bruised through his sacrificial death.

2. The many miracles that He did to confirm the report. The report was not only predicted, then fulfilled through the life of Jesus, but many miracles were performed to prove who He was. He healed the sick, opened blinded eyes, opened deaf ears, raised the dead, and performed other great miracles.

The Conclusion. If you believe the report, then act on it. The only thing that remains for humanity to do is to believe the report and accept it, because, brothers and sisters, no other Savior is coming. Jesus is coming back again to receive His own unto himself. He is coming in majesty and power this time, and He will be looking for people who have believed the report. He is our propitiation for sin and our only hope of glory. I strongly encourage you to receive Him today. Repent of your sin. Ask Jesus to come into your life and ask for the infilling of the Holy Ghost. To quote the late Great Apostle Lobias Murray: “If you believe it…Say, AMEN!”

Romans 10:10 (KJV) For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

Dake’s Annotated Reference Bible