But He Was Pierced For Our Transgressions And He Was Crushed For Our Iniquities; The Punishment Brought Us Peace Was On Him And By His Wounds We Are Healed
The Old Testament Promise And The New Testament Proof
ISAIAH 53:4-6
“Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. 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. 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.
”Isaiah 53:4-6 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/isa.53.4-6.NKJ
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How could someone of the Old Testament understand the idea of Jesus Christ dying for our sins; actually bearing the punishment that we deserve?
The sacrifices suggested this idea, but it's one thing to kill a lamb, and something quite different to think of God's only begotten Son as that Lamb.
But God was putting aside the certainty of time to allow the people of Isaiah's day to look ahead into the suffering of the future Messiah and the resulting forgiveness made available to all people.
Isaiah speaks of Israel straying from God and compares them to wandering sheep. Yet God would send the Messiah to bring them back into the fold.
Today, we have the hindsight to see and know the identity of the promised Messiah who came and died for our sins. But if we know all that Jesus did for us and still reject Him, how much greater is our sin than the Israelites who could not see what we have seen?
The reality of Christ death and resurrection is unquestionable; Paul tells us, ”Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He was seen by Cephas, then by the twelve. After that He was seen by over five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain to the present, but some have fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles. Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.“
I Corinthians 15:1-8 NKJV
Have you given your life to Christ Jesus, the "good shepherd" (JOHN 10:11-16), or are you still going your own way like wandering sheep?
Today, Jesus continues to bear our grief, He carries our sorrows when we totally submit to Him in repentance and give it all to Him. Despite the fact that we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted, He was wounded for our transgressions (our betrayal toward God and others), He was bruised for our iniquities (immoral or grossly unfair sinful behaviour); The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
Like lost sheep we went our own sinful way, yet God laid upon Him (Jesus), God in human form (PHILIPPIANS 2:6), the iniquity of us all.
It’s impossible to fully understand the deep never ending love God has for His people and the extremes He has done to save all who believe on Him-those who turn away from sin toward God. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
John 15:13 NKJV
My beloved, Jesus Christ took upon Himself the sin of the world, and dealt with it with His own blood.
He took the sin of all who believe and made it His problem. “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.“
Romans 8:1 NKJV
It matters not of one’s past sin or future mistakes, nor his place of birth, for Jesus paid it all, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”“
John 3:16-21 NKJV
All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.
