But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
Dear Ones:
Amy Carmichael was an English missionary to India many years ago. She never returned to England once she left for India, serving the Lord there for many years. Part of the ministry that God had entrusted to her was the rescue of children from decadent practices in local temples. Often these children, having suffered terrible abuse, were significantly scarred in their minds and hearts, not to mention, their bodies. Amy’s attitude towards these children, regardless of those scars, would be to say of them: “All my geese are swans.” It was her perspective that would be the stepping stone to bringing these children to life, and blessing.
When Jesus died on the cross, He truly saw us for what we were, lost, helpless, dead (spiritually), and dying, scarred by the sin and suffering of this fallen world. Regardless of such a sad and disastrous scene, when we were ALL His enemies and sinners, He chose to proclaim, and demonstrate, in the most powerful way, that He loved us still. Before we were born “in our sin,” He loved us, and made provision to save us, forever. However, it would be at GREAT cost.
The book of Isaiah has sometimes been called the gospel of the Old Testament. In it is the unmasked revelation of what sinful man is, and what he is capable of. It is also a revelation of his helpless, desperate need of redemption. There, with the dark backdrop of sin and death, there is unveiled an eternal Light, the Life-giving beam and power of which is Christ Himself. As we see Jesus on the cross in the gospels of the New Testament, so we see Him also in this “gospel” of Isaiah. In chapter fifty three, we have the curtain drawn back, with Christ being brought center stage, declaring and proclaiming in the most precise and powerful terms, that the love of God is the greatest life-changing truth pertaining to man’s existence.
In one of Charles Wesley’s great hymns, he writes: “Behold Him, all you that pass by, The bleeding Prince of life and peace! Come, sinners, see your Savior die, And say, ‘Was ever grief like His?'” In Isaiah 53, we see the Lord Jesus, “despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief.” (v.3) We see Him also, as the spotless Lamb of God, taking upon Himself voluntarily, “….our griefs, and our sorrows.” The vision goes further, “…He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement (punishment and suffering) for our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.” (v.5) Perhaps the most important truth that God would have us grasp in this picture of the suffering Lamb of God, is this, “…and the Lord (the Father) has laid on Him (the Son) the iniquity of us ALL.” (v.6)
Dear Father, there is no greater revelation of the love of God to sinful man than this, that Christ has suffered and died to save us because of Your love for us. In light of what Your Son has done, and what it cost You to give Him to save us, grant that our lives will be wholly, and forever, lived for You. We thank and praise You, in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Love, Dad