Yet He Bore the Sins of Many

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

About 700 years before the crucifixion, Isaiah wrote what Christians believe to be a prophecy of that very event. Here is what he said (Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12 English Standard Version):

“Behold, my servant shall act wisely; he shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted. As many were astonished at you—his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—so shall he sprinkle many nations; kings shall shut their mouths because of him; for that which has not been told them they see, and that which they have not heard they understand.

Who has believed what he has heard from us? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth. 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, stricken for the transgression of my people? And they made his grave with the wicked and with a rich man in his death, although he had done no violence, and there was no deceit in his mouth.

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”

We are now about 2,700 years from that prophecy and 2,000 years from the death and resurrection of Christ. His Passion is still the power of God unto salvation. His suffering accomplished righteousness for us, and through it, both God and Christ followers are satisfied.

Easter/Christmas

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

  

There are two major holidays on the religious calendar—Easter and Christmas. Judging by the number of participants, Christmas wins, hands down. It’s the time of year families get together, gifts are exchanged, and festivities abound. Easter? For the most part, it’s just another long weekend away from work.

But I must say in all honesty, we must never relegate Easter to a second-rate holiday. If there were no Easter, then Christmas would have no meaning. If there were no empty tomb, a baby in a manger is meaningless. Take away Easter and the meaning of Christmas is reduced to a fat guy in a red costume, reindeer, snowmen, twinkling lights, carols, and a few elves—without Easter, Christmas is meaningless.

That may sound a little rough, but think about it! No major biblical doctrine is based on the Virgin Birth. But the resurrection, now that is another story! Paul said that everything in Christianity has its foundation in the resurrection. (See 1st Corinthians 15)

The resurrection of Jesus is repeated over and over. Read the sermons recorded in the Book of Acts. When the early Christ followers preached, they didn’t mention Bethlehem and a manger; they talked about Jerusalem and an empty tomb!

They were overwhelmed by the power and mystery of the resurrection on that Sunday morning. They never got over it. And neither should we!

People that God Chooses

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

When I read the Scriptures, I’m awestruck at the people God chose to do His work. Typically He chose those that most of us would have overlooked. When I managed grocery stores years ago, I was responsible for new employee hiring. I was always on the lookout for people with impressive resumes—people I thought met MY work ethic standards. In times past, I thought God would do the same; that He would choose the most qualified, the most brilliant, the bravest, but that was not the case.

There are many examples of that: Moses, who admitted being slow of speech; Gideon, who hid from the Midianites behind a winepress just to sift a little grain; all the disciples of Christ, who couldn’t grasp the Lord’s teachings, and who fled in fear when He needed them the most; and many, many more.

Another example is found in Acts, when the church at Antioch discovered a major problem. Money was given to the church to meet the need of others, but some widows, in special need, were being overlooked. How do you mend a problem like that? Who do you choose to solve the problem? The Holy Spirit had the answer. He had the leaders of the church to choose seven men.

If I were going to select the men, I would probably have looked for men with MBAs from Harvard. Financiers from Merrill Lynch. CEOs or COOs from major corporations. That seems logical to me, how about you?

But the leaders at Antioch had a different approach. In Acts 6:3 we find that, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, they chose “men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.” With that, problem solved!

God does not require the best-of-the-best to solve any problem or to change the world. He is quite capable of doing that by Himself. But in His wisdom, mercy, and love, He allows us to work with Him—to impact our little sphere of influence for His glory. And with that, just as in times past, He doesn’t have to have the smartest, best looking, or most talented of people. Glory, that means He can use me!

One of my Bible College professors was fond of saying, “God seldom chooses the ‘able,’ but He always chooses the ‘available’—men and women dependent on, and available to the Holy Spirit for His enabling.”

An Entirely New Me

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

The Bible is filled with contrasting elements to teach essential truths. Take “light” and “darkness” for example. When Paul wanted to teach the people at Ephesus about their old and new natures, he said, “You were formerly darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). I cannot think of anything with more of a contrast than light and darkness.

Please notice that he didn’t say they were “in” darkness, he said they “were” darkness. Likewise, he didn’t say they were “in” light, he said they “were” light. His point was that God had changed their nature. He didn’t just improve their nature; it was much more than that. He gave them a completely new nature. Because of that, they needed to learn to walk in harmony with their new nature—“…walk as children of light.”

Why would that be important for them, and for us? It was so they/we could be like Christ, not just act like Him. John said it like this in his first epistle, “This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all” (1^st John 1:5).

God knew that we couldn’t solve the problem of the sinful nature by improving our behavior. He had to give us an entirely new self—Christ in you, the hope of glory. That is an act of grace on His part.

Our new nature comes as we surrender our lives to Christ and receive the fullness of what He accomplish for us on Calvary. Only after He changes our identity and makes us a partaker of His nature will we be able to change our behavior—to “walk as children of light.”

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Me First

eDevotion

Encouragement for your daily walk with God

Here’s a question for you. Just how does the Body of Christ get the ear of those who need to hear the Gospel? How do we get its attention? (OK, that’s two questions.) Let’s try this: Start living out a genuine faith before it.

Whether we like it or not, whether we want it or not, the world is watching us. They see us at our best and worst. The best thing we can do is to live out our best and worst in all holiness. So, when you say you are going to do something, then do it. When you fail, don’t whine, get up, admit it, and then keep moving on. Don’t cheat, claw, or scrape your way to the top and leave a pile broken people in your wake. Put God first in everything and live a holy life in front of them. These things (and more holy behavior) should become a part of your character. It should emanate from you in every circumstance of life—before the watching world. Change will happen in the world, but it must FIRST start with us—with ME!

The following is written on the tomb of an Anglican Bishop in Westminster Abby (1100 A.D):

"When I was young and free and my imagination had no limits, I dreamed of changing the world. As I grew older and wiser, I discovered the world would not change, so I shortened my sights somewhat and decided to change only my country.

"But it, too, seemed immovable.

"As I grew into my twilight years, in one last desperate attempt, I settled for changing only my family, those closest to me, but alas, they would have none of it.

"And now, as I lie on my deathbed, I suddenly realize: If I had only changed myself first, then by example I would have changed my family.

"From their inspiration and encouragement, I would then have been able to better my country, and who knows, I may have even changed the world."

Real, lasting change in the world will not take place until we change. That is the place to start.