Isaiah 53: a Weapon of Mass Destruction or a Shelter

  After listening to a very thought-provoking sermon from another pastor on Isaiah 53, I began to wonder how those who only want to focus on God's love and grace and get upset if you talk about sin think they will stand. God's character and our nature are basic principles of Truth. Getting them wrong separates one from the wheat and defines one spiritually as a goat. 

KJV Bible (Photo credit: knowhimonline)

 Maybe you think I am too harsh in my judgment but take a moment and read Isaiah 53. I'll wait...

 The pastor I listened to spoke of how this passage clearly defines what Christ was going to do and then answers over and over why He did it. So, why did God become man and suffer death on the cross to be raised again? Well, let's just look at the passage:

- Why? Isaiah 53:5a - he was pierced for our transgressions

- Why? Isaiah 53:5b - he was crushed for our iniquities

- Why? Isaiah 53:6a - All of us like sheep have gone astray 

- Why? Isaiah 53:6b - Each of us has turned to his own way

- Why?  Isaiah 53:8 - stricken for the transgression of my people

- Why? Isaiah 53:10 - his soul makes an offering for guilt

- Why? Isaiah 53:11 -make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities

-Why? Isaiah 53:12 - he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors

 Hmmm, seems that this short prophecy makes it very clear why the perfect sinless person of Christ died. It speaks of a well thought out plan that foreknew the cost. Obviously, it is rooted in love but the great cost came in part because God is holy, righteous, and just and to just let us slide after offending His very Word and nature would render Him none of those things. So Christ knowing that He would be despised and rejected (Is 53:3), came to take on our grief and sorrows (Is 53:4) and be stricken, smitten, afflicted (Is 53:4), pierced, crushed, chastised (Is 53:5), oppressed (53:7), judged (Is 53:8), put to grief (Is 53:10), anguished (Is 53:11), and poured out to death (Is 53:12) all for something that we should not talk about or focus on too much????

 How will a person stand if they discount sin? If you believe God is love (and He is), you can rest assured that He loves His Son. For all of us, who are enemies of God by nature, to shrug at sin and not take it seriously, not feel the heft of it, or understand the implications, we are rejecting the very work of His Son that reconciles us to God and piling up a condemnation of nuclear proportions. 

 Do you want to only focus on God's grace and love? Then I beg you to first rightly understand why you need grace at all and the great cost at which it comes. I beg you to be broken by Isaiah 53:7 and 11 knowing that God in the Father and the Son knew what it would take to be able to restore you and He suffered it all in spite of our rejection and mocking.  Any appeal to God's love is truly made through the work of His love. 

 Jesus as propitiation for our sin is the only shelter. 

Propitiation Has Nothing To Do With Bunnies

  It has been a rather challenging week. Although my daughter is doing quite well in her Lyme treatment, she has had some struggles. We hit a more difficult bout of insomnia and a few bumps with problems concentrating. Schoolwork has been a challenge this year more than any other and a talk with a teacher of an outside class was frustrating. Lyme does not make life easy and it does not help that it is not well understood. Beating myself up for being a slouchy home school mom crossed my mind but then I remembered Resurrection Day is coming and there is too much awe for wallowing. 

 This time of year is perfect for using my favorite word, "propitiation." The days are breaking open with new life and seem to proclaim the theme of restoration and renewal. Where there was death, there is now life. Oak trees drop their brown leaves and sprigs of chartreuse are peeking out. All of nature proclaims that there is redemption. It is marvelous. 

  Now I agree that we should celebrate and worship but how do a junk-food-delivering bunny, colored eggs, and marshmallow chickens factor in? Of course, I would agree that chocolate is great for any occasion BUT being removed from under the wrath of God makes even chocolate lose its appeal. My tongue feels too unworthy of reveling in sweet, melting confections. The love of God extends beyond the sentence against my rebellion to the point of offering His own Son in my place. Whenever I try to contemplate it in some way that is comprehensible, I end up feeling a great weight because it is really a terrible trade. The perfect Son of God for the girl who shook her fist at God and declared that she would only read the Bible to find ways to transgress against Him. The Righteous Lamb for the rebel who had a hard, vicious heart and wanted to self-destruct. Why? That is all I can ask. How can I hold my head up? 

 The answer comes loudly in the picture of Spring's reborn life. The propitiation through Christ was redeeming. Death was conquered. Sin was triumphed over. I have been made alive, justified, and made new. This hymn I think puts it best:

   When I survey the wondrous cross
    On which the Prince of glory died,
    My richest gain I count but loss,
    And pour contempt on all my pride.
    Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
    Save in the death of Christ my God!
    All the vain things that charm me most,
    I sacrifice them to His blood.
    See from His head, His hands, His feet,
    Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
    Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
    Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
    Were the whole realm of nature mine,
    That were a present far too small;
    Love so amazing, so divine,
    Demands my soul, my life, my all.

 Kind of makes bunnies and eggs seem ridiculous, don't you think?