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Jesus, The Guilt Offering

“Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.” Isaiah 53:10 (NIV)

God had to allow His Son to die such a painful death and put Jesus through the suffering of the Cross. The religious leaders of the people of Israel wouldn’t listen to Him. The Father used the Son as an offering to absolve the people’s guilt. Jesus was the ONLY one who was worthy and pure enough to bear the burden. He took this abuse willingly. Because Christ shed His blood for us, we will be able to see Him again. Also, God’s kingdom will enlarge as thankful people follow Him and His Son until the day they will see Him.

God made Jesus the offering for our guilt. As His children, we should acknowledge this selfless act of the Son each and every day. Everything we are and everything we have are given to us by God through His son. These things are made precious when we remember how it is we have them.

Jesus The Justifier

“After the suffering of his soul he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.” Isaiah 53:11 (NIV)

After Jesus went to the cross for us, he saw the outcome of his suffering and fully understood His Father’s will in all He went through. Jesus justifies us -‘justasifI’d not sinned’ and bears all of our sins for us.

Has anyone else done that for us? We have friends do some very nice things for us when we have a need. Sometimes we receive a gift from a friend that we don’t expect.

But Jesus is the only one who makes us clean before God.

Jesus suffered terribly for us. Death on a cross was an excruciating punishment, reserved for the vilest of criminals. He died this horrific death, bearing our sins, so that we would be called to enter heaven when we leave this earth.

Jesus’ Portion

“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 sins of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” Isaiah 53:12 (NIV)

God allows Jesus to share His home. Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of the Father because He gave up His life so that we may be considered sinless and enter into the realm of Heaven when God calls us.

But, in order to do this, Jesus had to endure accusations of stirring rebellion against the Roman government and overthrowing it.

At this writing, I am aware of several families who have had a loved one enter Heaven. One left us very suddenly taken from us in an instant. But we know he was ready to go. He was a servant in the church. He and his wife worked as custodians of the church. Another went too quickly after a diagnosis. The year before he entered God’s presence he went on two mission trips. A third gentleman left us for Heaven very shortly after his diagnosis. He always had a ready smile and a gentle hug for whomever he met. Two ladies, one of whom endured illness for several months. Her diagnosis came as a shock. But, God called her home. Before her illness she served where she could; she served as chairman of the Trustees of our church. Another dear saint faced a long road through her disease but God chose to allow her to enter His presence in a very short time. He called her to Christian drama. All of these saintly people were able to serve their Lord because of what He did on Calvary.

Jesus received His reward from the Father because of what he endured. The Son chose to be counted as evil in order to allow us to be deemed worthy to enter God’s presence. He shares His reward with those who have served in the Father’s kingdom.

"Bible verse and quote" from Jan Couns

Bible and Quote - February 18-22