Through the Bible - 1 Samuel 3-5, Luke 13:28 - 14:1
Good morning,
When we think about God, most often we think of Him as being loving, holy, righteous, and good. Sometimes we feel that He doesn't know what we're going through and if He did that he wouldn't allow bad things to happen to us.
Today is Good Friday, and when you think about that day, the day Christ was crucified, there doesn't seem to be much good to it, until Sunday when you see what He accomplished through it. We see what God has done for us in "giving His only begotten Son" (John 3:16) that we can have eternal life.
Jesus suffered scourging, ridicule, hate, anguish from all angles including the criminals beside Him. One of them, having seen what Jesus had gone through had a change of heart and cried out to Him. When we consider what Jesus went through, for us, because of our sins, we realize that He knows more about suffering than we ever could.
As I was driving home from Anderson SC yesterday I had a lot on my mind. It had been a difficult week for many friends. I then heard a song by Mac Powell from Third Day "By His Wounds". It brought me to Isaiah 53 where we go for today's verse. In that tragic scene we find our greatest hope. Our darkest hours can bring healing as well as we trust in Him in the midst of them.
Isa 53:3 He was despised and rejected—
a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief.
We turned our backs on him and looked the other way.
He was despised, and we did not care.
4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried;
it was our sorrows that weighed him down.
And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God,
a punishment for his own sins! NLT
We "sorrow" for our sufferings, but how much do we sorrow over our sins. Whether you attended a Maundy Thursday service last night or will attend a Good Friday service tonight. As you prepare for communion. Consider your sins and the price that was demanded. Consider the payment. Rejoice in the healing offered, the sin forgiven, and the grace to carry on.
Read the words to By His Wounds from Mac Powell in praise and worship to Jesus, who suffered that we might by healed.
He was pierced for our transgressions
He was crushed for our sins
The punishment that brought us peace
Was upon Him
And by His wounds
By His wounds, we are healed
Chorus:
We are healed by Your sacrifice
And the life that You gave
We are healed for You paid the price
By Your grace, we are saved
We are saved
He was pierced for our transgressions
He was crushed for our sins
The punishment that brought us peace
Was upon Him
And by His wounds
By His wounds, we are healed
Chorus:
He was pierced for our transgressions
He was crushed for our sins
The punishment that brought us peace
Was upon Him
And by His wounds
By His wounds, we are healed
What can wash away my sin
Nothing but the blood of Jesus
Read Isaiah 53 below and consider what it means to you.
In Christ,
Mike
mikevw@bellsouth.net
More tools available at: http://mikesvotd.blogspot.com
Eph 1:7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace NIV
Isa 53:1-54:1
The Sin-Bearing Messiah
53 Who has believed our report?And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? 2 For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,And as a root out of dry ground.He has no form or comeliness;And when we see Him,There is no beauty that we should desire Him. 3 He is despised and rejected by men,A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
4 Surely He has borne our griefsAnd carried our sorrows;Yet we esteemed Him stricken,Smitten by God, and afflicted. 5 But He was wounded for our transgressions,He was bruised for our iniquities;The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,And by His stripes we are healed. 6 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.
7 He was oppressed and He was afflicted,Yet He opened not His mouth;He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,And as a sheep before its shearers is silent,So He opened not His mouth. 8 He was taken from prison and from judgment,And who will declare His generation?For He was cut off from the land of the living;For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. 9 And they made His grave with the wicked — But with the rich at His death,Because He had done no violence,Nor was any deceit in His mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him;He has put Him to grief.When You make His soul an offering for sin,He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,And the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. 11 He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied.By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many,For He shall bear their iniquities. 12 Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great,And He shall divide the spoil with the strong,Because He poured out His soul unto death,And He was numbered with the transgressors,And He bore the sin of many,And made intercession for the transgressors.
A
NKJV
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