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NOW, THAT'S A DIFFERENT KIND OF LOVE - PART II
GOD’S WORD
Isaiah 53:4-12
DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT (Written by Rick Raymer, Major)
At the end of last week's devotional, I asked the following question. Am I living in a way that places Jesus back on the cross? If you still need to answer the question for yourself, do so right now before you read any further. If your answer is yes, seek His forgiveness as you repent of your sins and make an about-face as you walk in His Spirit moment by moment. If you do, I promise you - what you read today will have an even greater impact because of your decision.
We continue this week, starting with verse 4 of Isaiah 53, which says:
4 Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! 5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed.
6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s path to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all.
These three verses are all about us. Eleven references - OUR, OUR, WE, OUR, OUR, WE, WE, US, WE, OUR, US! Everything God allowed His Son to go through, He did willingly for us. Think about that as we continue.
Jesus was a man of suffering – and He took upon Himself all our imperfections. He carried our limp bodies and all of our hate, anger, disobedience, and sin all the way to the cross.
And He did nothing wrong, and yet God dropped the microphone on Him instead of us. All because we wanted to do things our way.
That may work in a song, "I Did It My Way," but that does not work if we want eternal life. Because the only way that that can happen is – God’s way and God's way was the love displayed through His son Jesus Christ!
“Now, That’s a Different Kind of Love”
These next three verses are all about Jesus. And there are thirteen references to Jesus, God's own Son.
7 He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet He never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, He did not open His mouth.
8 Unjustly condemned, He was led away. No one cared that He died without descendants, that His life was cut short in midstream. But He was struck down for the rebellion of My people. 9 He had done no wrong and had never deceived anyone. But He was buried like a criminal; He was put in a rich man’s grave.
Folks, the words oppressed and afflicted speak of Christ being overpowered like the Hebrews when the Egyptians ruthlessly enslaved them.
We talk about injustice in our world – that ninth verse speaks volumes about injustice. Jesus did nothing wrong, and we still treated Him unjustly, like we would a serial killer, and then we buried Him like a terrorist.
“Oppressed and afflicted” describes the single greatest display of human injustice in all of history. Yet amazingly, it is also the greatest display of God’s justice in all of History.
Verse 10
10 But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush Him and cause Him grief. Yet when His life is made an offering for sin, He will have many descendants. He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord’s good plan will prosper in His hands.
Did you hear what you just read? God’s whole plan and purpose from before Jesus’ incarnation - before he became Mary’s firstborn son. Was to crush Jesus. God was going to have Him suffer worse than anyone ever has. God was going to kill His very own son. Wow! Let that sink in for a moment.
The one whom He spoke these words from Heaven upon John’s baptism of Jesus.
“This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.”
Really? Isaiah just told us that God wanted all along to crush and kill Him. In our day, any dad that would do this to their son would be thrown into jail and the key thrown away! But Scripture teaches us that the love God had for His Son is so fierce and powerful that the blazing of the sun can not touch it for its intensity.
“Now, That’s a Different Kind of Love”
11 When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied. And because of his experience, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.
Again, Davis said: “I picture the Father having composed a magnificent violin concerto with every note penned by His sovereign will then hand it to His skillful Son who played it to perfection, filling the world with music so sublime we will be melting to its melody for all eternity. And despite all the anguish of His soul, Jesus would see the final success of God’s plan and be deeply satisfied with all He achieved. For by His death, Jesus justified the ungodly.”
That’s you and me, folks.
I feel Isaiah sees God throwing Jesus a party in this last verse.
12 I will give him the honor of a victorious soldier because he exposed himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels.
Now, that’s a different kind of love!
I don’t know about you, but I believe it was the weekend of Holy Week that the party truly began for all of God's people. Everything Isaiah said came true, and you and I need to keep the party going because “the Kingdom of God is a party,” so we better get used to it now. Hallelujah!
And friends, this party can only happen because Jesus was obedient and died upon an old rugged cross for you, me, and the whole world and was buried and rose from the dead and now intercedes on our behalf.
Isaiah saw this in his prophecy of the future. He saw God’s great love for you and me, and as a result, God crushed Jesus for our sins, and Jesus crushed satan by conquering death and gave you and me a way out of the curse that Adam and Eve brought to the human race.
And that is why we should take up our cross daily and make a difference for His Kingdom with all we come in contact with.
Friends, in eleven days, we will celebrate Holy Week and Good Friday but know that on Good Friday, “God dealt with sin, once and for all. It’s a problem you and I can’t solve, and because of that, He, Jesus, solved it for us.”
With a different kind of love.
A love you and I need to become more acquainted with. So, just take a moment right now and accept Jesus’ invitation to follow Him, repent, and you will quickly understand what’s so different about God’s love!
Amen!
OUR CORPORATE PRAYER
Father, thank You for the gift of Your Son that You wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger. This gift unfolded before mankind and grew into the perfect man that You knew He would. You were well pleased with Him. And because of His life, death, and resurrection, we have an advocate with the Father who listens to all the cries of our hearts and answers them according to His will. Thank You for loving us so much that You died for us upon an old rugged cross where Your blood was shed so that we might be redeemed and set on a path to eternal life. May Your precious Holy Spirit convict us of our sins and set us free from the bondage of Satan. This we ask in Christ's name, amen.
OUR WORLDWIDE PRAYER MEETING FOR MARCH 23, 2023 ~ ZIMBABWE AND BOTSWANA TERRITORY
REACHING OUT TO OTHERS
Spend some extra moments this week in prayer for all that God is going to do during these upcoming days in the life of the Church as Holy Week unfolds, and lives are transformed as a result. Let's believe God together for an outpouring like never before during these sacred days.
NOTABLE QUOTABLES
"I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
~ The Apostle Paul - Galatians 2:20
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Rick Raymer, Major
Territorial Spiritual Life Development Officer/THQ Chaplain
USA Southern Territory
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