RIGHT BEFORE OUR EYES
IF ISAIAH COULD "SEE" IT, WE SHOULD BY NOW BE ABLE TO GRASP IT--SINCE IT
HAS NOW COME TO PASS. He saw it prophetically; but the actualization,
the reality has happened and been recorded for us.
WHO HAS believed (trusted in, relied upon, and clung to) our message [of that which was revealed to us]? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been disclosed? For [the Servant of God] grew up before Him like a tender plant, and like a root out of dry ground; He has no form or comeliness [royal, kingly pomp], that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him. Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy]. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has made to light upon Him the guilt and iniquity of us all.
[Isaiah 53:1-6, AMP]
The revelation of Jesus Christ is before us. His Godness and His humanity are proven facts. God put on human flesh, even the form of a Servant, that He might suffer the death of the Cross--for our redemption. He came for Calvary. He came to pay a debt that He did not owe. He came to satisfy His own Godly requirement for holiness, that had to be atoned by a blood sacrifice. That had always been--since Moses, blood had been sacrificed for sin, but animals paid (they were innocent, too) for the sin of man. In order to stop the continual sacrifice of animals and remove the veil that prevented direct access to God, God would have to do it Himself. He wanted the same relationship with man that He had before the Fall when there was no earthly mediator between God and man. He wanted the intimacy restored. There was no man on the earth though, who satisfied the requirements to redeem mankind. None were sinless, none were willing, and none had the pure blood to offer for his own sins--much less for others.
God had to do it Himself. The Great I AM, while remaining God in every way, became Man--a holy and sinless man, Fathered by His own Spirit overshadowing a virgin who was upright--and willing, too.
Jesus, in His human body, lived a life of example for us. His death was all important, but we must not dismiss the life that He lived. From His holy birth to His sacrificial death, He was a Lesson in how to govern our lives--how to be like Jesus. We learn immediately from His birth that pomp and glory are not important things to have. From His youth, we learn that the most important thing must be His Word--the Word of God must precede family, our own comfort and desires, everything. From His adulthood, prior to ministry, we learn that timing is essential--we wait until the appointed time. Knowing that we are called doesn't mean that it is time to go forth. There is a time of preparation and getting ready (and a time for the hearts of others to be prepared, as well). Some ministry is so radical and life-changing that God has to make the way for men's hearts to be prepared to receive the revolutionary nature of the message.
From His ministry, we learn that in order to give, we must steal away to pray. We find out that others are more important than ourselves, and that love is supreme--and, it comes before anything else. We see clearly, that He hates the religiosity, and facade of holiness that existed then and exists now--and desperately wants the heart of man. We see that His goal is to save men--not to do miracles. Miracles are to point men to salvation--"that they may believe" on Him. He teaches us over and over that our treasure must not be earthly and carnal, but eternal--that which moth cannot corrupt. We know that He rebukes pride and those who will manipulate Scripture to suit their own whims and selfish desires. And, He also directly ties salvation to our willingness to care for "the least of these". Care for them and live with Him eternally. Don't care for them and experience eternal damnation.
Jesus taught us a lot about giving. It isn't about percentages--or amounts, but the heart. He said the widow, who gave about a 1/2 penny gave the most, even though the rich men had given great sums before her. She had given all that she had, they simply gave a small portion of their great riches. He said too, our giving is not a public issue--it's private, we don't ever do it to be seen of men, because then that will be our only reward.
Jesus wants us to look for heavenly rewards--not temporary, earthly ones--that is quite clear to those who honestly and contextually read His words.
His death was for spiritual purposes, too. Context teaches us that. He died for the horrific spiritual disease of our souls. His wounds were for our transgressions and His bruises were for our iniquities, and the guilt that was upon us, as a result. We were guilty--that was the verdict, until Jesus. His stripes healed our souls and made us spiritually whole--renewed and transformed from death to life. He was chastised so that we could experience the peace of God when the adversary accuses us--we have evidence to present that we are no longer guilty--by the power of the Cross and the Blood of Jesus Christ!
Oh, Precious is That Blood that makes me white as snow! No other fount I know--NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS!!!
WHO HAS believed (trusted in, relied upon, and clung to) our message [of that which was revealed to us]? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been disclosed? For [the Servant of God] grew up before Him like a tender plant, and like a root out of dry ground; He has no form or comeliness [royal, kingly pomp], that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him. He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him. Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains [of punishment], yet we [ignorantly] considered Him stricken, smitten, and afflicted by God [as if with leprosy]. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our guilt and iniquities; the chastisement [needful to obtain] peace and well-being for us was upon Him, and with the stripes [that wounded] Him we are healed and made whole. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has made to light upon Him the guilt and iniquity of us all.
[Isaiah 53:1-6, AMP]
The revelation of Jesus Christ is before us. His Godness and His humanity are proven facts. God put on human flesh, even the form of a Servant, that He might suffer the death of the Cross--for our redemption. He came for Calvary. He came to pay a debt that He did not owe. He came to satisfy His own Godly requirement for holiness, that had to be atoned by a blood sacrifice. That had always been--since Moses, blood had been sacrificed for sin, but animals paid (they were innocent, too) for the sin of man. In order to stop the continual sacrifice of animals and remove the veil that prevented direct access to God, God would have to do it Himself. He wanted the same relationship with man that He had before the Fall when there was no earthly mediator between God and man. He wanted the intimacy restored. There was no man on the earth though, who satisfied the requirements to redeem mankind. None were sinless, none were willing, and none had the pure blood to offer for his own sins--much less for others.
God had to do it Himself. The Great I AM, while remaining God in every way, became Man--a holy and sinless man, Fathered by His own Spirit overshadowing a virgin who was upright--and willing, too.
Jesus, in His human body, lived a life of example for us. His death was all important, but we must not dismiss the life that He lived. From His holy birth to His sacrificial death, He was a Lesson in how to govern our lives--how to be like Jesus. We learn immediately from His birth that pomp and glory are not important things to have. From His youth, we learn that the most important thing must be His Word--the Word of God must precede family, our own comfort and desires, everything. From His adulthood, prior to ministry, we learn that timing is essential--we wait until the appointed time. Knowing that we are called doesn't mean that it is time to go forth. There is a time of preparation and getting ready (and a time for the hearts of others to be prepared, as well). Some ministry is so radical and life-changing that God has to make the way for men's hearts to be prepared to receive the revolutionary nature of the message.
From His ministry, we learn that in order to give, we must steal away to pray. We find out that others are more important than ourselves, and that love is supreme--and, it comes before anything else. We see clearly, that He hates the religiosity, and facade of holiness that existed then and exists now--and desperately wants the heart of man. We see that His goal is to save men--not to do miracles. Miracles are to point men to salvation--"that they may believe" on Him. He teaches us over and over that our treasure must not be earthly and carnal, but eternal--that which moth cannot corrupt. We know that He rebukes pride and those who will manipulate Scripture to suit their own whims and selfish desires. And, He also directly ties salvation to our willingness to care for "the least of these". Care for them and live with Him eternally. Don't care for them and experience eternal damnation.
Jesus taught us a lot about giving. It isn't about percentages--or amounts, but the heart. He said the widow, who gave about a 1/2 penny gave the most, even though the rich men had given great sums before her. She had given all that she had, they simply gave a small portion of their great riches. He said too, our giving is not a public issue--it's private, we don't ever do it to be seen of men, because then that will be our only reward.
Jesus wants us to look for heavenly rewards--not temporary, earthly ones--that is quite clear to those who honestly and contextually read His words.
His death was for spiritual purposes, too. Context teaches us that. He died for the horrific spiritual disease of our souls. His wounds were for our transgressions and His bruises were for our iniquities, and the guilt that was upon us, as a result. We were guilty--that was the verdict, until Jesus. His stripes healed our souls and made us spiritually whole--renewed and transformed from death to life. He was chastised so that we could experience the peace of God when the adversary accuses us--we have evidence to present that we are no longer guilty--by the power of the Cross and the Blood of Jesus Christ!
Oh, Precious is That Blood that makes me white as snow! No other fount I know--NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS!!!
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