Isaiah 53:1-12 NAS
1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? 2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. 3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face, He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. 4 Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed. 6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him. 7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth. 8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living, For the transgression of my people to whom the stroke was due? 9 His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth. 10 But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand. 11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.
STOP......Go back up and read the scripture please!
Now reread it.
Choices. God had a choice. He looked at His people. Sinful, rebellious, selfish people who were worshiping other gods, living for their own evil desires, sinning against God and their neighbors and who would come to him in times of trouble and expect to be saved. God had a choice. He chose love. Not only did He choose love but he choose to send His own Son. It wasn't a hard choice for God. He loved us with agape love that we can't fully understand unless we understand Jesus' sacrifice for us. Jesus' death is the only all encompassing, wonderful, amazing love there is. If you have been in love before and have continued to chose to love that person every day regardless of what else is happening in your life you have experienced love but not the agape love pf God. God chose to love us in spite of the fact that we are filthy, wretched sinners who don't deserve it. God did it willingly. If you have a child or are a parent or if you have ever know someone who has been a parent, or had a parent yourself you know what it must have been like. The Father CHOSE to lay the sins of the entire world: past, present and future, ALLLL of them onto His own son who was bloodied, beaten, weak, hurting and alone. God had a choice.
10 But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
God's choice PLEASED him. Can you imagine watching your only son die and being pleased about it. God was. God planned it all from the beginning. He knew that He would chose His son to die in our place. He loves us that much. I literally can not fathom that love. God chose to do it so Jesus would be rendered as a guilt offering. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
The really awesome part is that Jesus the Son, submitted to the Father and willingly gave of himself. John 10:15 says, "I lay down my life for the sheep."
12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
Why? Why? Why? You may ask. Why would you look at people who were sinful (that is all of us by the way), selfish, wretched, poor and who worshiped other gods and chose to send His own Son to die to reconcile us back to a relationship with him? He did it because He loves us. He saw from the beginning of time that our sinful nature would prevent us from having a relationship with Him because He is perfect. God can not associate with anything that is sinful, it goes against His very nature. He is perfect and we are not. He loved us and wanted to be in relationship with us so He chose to send Jesus to cover those sins with his blood and restore us to a right relationship with Him. God's grace is free, but it wasn't cheap. It cost Jesus his life.
Isaiah 53:5 5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us PEACE was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. NIV (up above was the NAS)
He was beaten, broken, bloodied, pierced, crushed. Each and every mark on Jesus' body has a name (or millions of names) associated with it. All of the nail piercings on his hands and feet. Each bruise on his body. Every single mark from the thorns. Every drop of blood that fell from his body and every tear that fell from his eyes. Each slash of skin. Pick one. The nail piercing on his left hand is for Sue. The bruise on his right knee is for Savannah. The bloodied scratch over his left eye is for Isaiah. The slash on his right upper back is for Tom. Pick one and put your name with it. Jesus bore it for me. Jesus bore it for you. God was pleased.
1 Peter 2:21-24 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22 "He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." 23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.
John 19:30 30 When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
If you read these scriptures (go back and read them again if you still skipped them) and really think about and pray about Jesus' death. If you are not moved then read it again. I have been crying on and off alll day long. Crying out of sorrow. Crying because I am sinful. Crying because I am not worthy. More than anything crying as worship. God is perfect. God is amazing. God is Holy. God alone can save us. I am not worthy. You O Lord are the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, Prince of Peace, the I am. You are Alpha, Omega, Beggining and End. I am not worthy. Jesus died. It was painful. It was long. It was awful. It is finished and He will not do it again.
It's Friday...........
But Sunday is coming!!
No comments:
Post a Comment