9/26/11

Who is HE?

"I am far beyond BLESSED!"
Isaiah 53:1-11
1 Who has believed our message
   and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
   and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
   nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
   a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
   he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.
 4 Surely he took up our pain
   and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
   stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
   he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
   and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
   each of us has turned to our own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
   the iniquity of us all.
 7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
   yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
   and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
   so he did not open his mouth.
8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
   Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
   for the transgression of my people he was punished.
9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
   and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
   nor was any deceit in his mouth.
 10 Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
   and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
   and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
11 After he has suffered,
   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.
12 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 sin of many,
   and made intercession for the transgressors.

When I first heard this whole chapter, I had tears rolling for the description of the pain and anguish that Jesus went thru. In the New Testament, not many parts in there take it to the core of all He suffered thru for us, not like this one in Isaiah. Now, wait a minute-I was a newbie. One that rarely read much prior Matthew, as for that is a whole additional part of growing tight with your walk with Christ, as He leads you in time. I never opened a Bible prior searching for Him in 2003. So, listening to this a few months into my walk just gripped my heart!! As for while the pastor read it, I didn't think twice who Isaiah 53 was because it was obvious to me it was totally about my Lord and Savior--Jesus Christ!!! But as this pastor continued, I finally heard what the AMAZING part about this Isaiah 53 is!!! It is in the Old Testament-BC-Before Christ was born, raised, entering into what His Father, God, called Him to do; telling people the Good News-what God, His Father brought Him into the world as human to share what He was about to do, die-after many listened to His Good News and accepted Him as the Son of God, yet so many rejected then, and foretells for even today we would be like lost sheep, rejecters, others swayed into different cults that sound "perfect." No ones life is perfect. Christ, whom is perfectly sinless through God, did not live a life that was filled with perfection. On the contrary, He lived a life of the most suffering you can't even imagine so that we, who are not perfect, would have a chance to have our sins wiped away. And with that chance comes accepting our Amazing Lord, Jesus Christ into our Lives-forever we need Him, forever we desire Him. As for what they foretold so many years prior to His life sharing the Way, Truth and Life.. all can only get to His Father (God) except thru accepting Jesus into life. Before He was crucified He shared His purpose there, told them Good News. He also did marvelous things that would amaze you, as it did me, when you read it. It made me look back at my whole life when I wasn't into Jesus-and I could blatantly see He was in my life since I was in my mother's tummy!!! Jeremiah 1:4 !!! 
So, when I heard that part, actually foretelling from the Old Testament that Jesus, the Messiah was coming to save us!! Thru Him, His blood washes away our sins forever!!  FOREVER-as we call on Jesus who was crucified for our sins, to take the punishment for us all-as for God knew how all of us were going to be once the sinning of Adam and Eve occurred--we were from that point on just to worsen in sin, so way back before it all occurred He had the plan of His Son to come clean up our disasters of sins for His Father, our God. So I just have to read the amazing two verses again, that I just marvel over.
Isaiah 53:4-6
  4 Surely he took up our pain
   and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
   stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
   he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
   and by his wounds we are healed!! 

Those two verses are just pure truth. And it is so gripping, that if tears don't flow, than the heart pounds with pure love for all He has done, and is yet to do throughout my life. He has already done way past anything I could imagine...yet what is AMAZING is that we cannot, will not EVER be able to try to pay our "sealed promise" back. No "works" even us out. We can't, nor could imagine it. His love is never-ending, His promise is sealed for life here on earth until we finally go to Heaven, where it is sealed forevermore there!!!
How do we ever thank Him?? We praise Him constantly, at home, school, work, shopping, travels etc!! This is now our chance to really show Jesus how much we love Him!!! But we also stand up and share our suffering, as for we are to suffer, just as Jesus did for us. Won't compare to His-but He says at times it will catch us questioning Him, His true Love and Word of promise to be walking tightly with us always, and in hard times just to trust-all things have a purpose that will touch so many lives, even if we suffer, and feel like He isn't there. He is-and is doing remarkable things!! I re-learned today, from a friends video of prayer, yet loss of an infant -  to stand up with our belief, pick up the Cross and deny our old life, pressing forward to share His LOVE from near to far for the life yet to come, forever more!!!

This is a precious friends video, that I had no idea, with my own selfish suffering for almost two years, that this all was going on, and sent on-to be with our Lord and Savior. Hear about some amazing true faith here, from @jasonthebaldguy , Jason Carroll - his gift to Christ!! We love you all!!