Isaiah 53:4-7; “Surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet, we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds, 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. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearing is silent, so He opened not His mouth” (ESV – all emphasis is mine).
Whenever I read this prophecy from Isaiah, it reminds me that our Lord and Savior suffered for the sins of the world and, on a more personal note – my sins. Once I finally got that through my thick skull, I found that my need for a personal relationship with Him became strong, and no matter what the world may think, I gladly receive and accept Him as my eternal Savior.
Colossians 2:13-14; “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross.”
In Matthew 27:12-14, we see Isaiah 53 fulfilled. “But when He was accused by the chief priests and elders, He gave them no answer. Then Pilate said to Him, ‘Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?’ But He gave him no answer, not even to a single charge, so that the governor was greatly amazed.”
We have Jesus, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, one-third of the Holy Trinity, who knew we would be helpless without a pure, sin-free blood sacrifice that the Heavenly Father could accept. No longer would animals or birds or anything else be accepted after what He endured for us all (Hebrews 10-4). His was a once-for-all sacrifice.
In John 10:14-18, Jesus made it known that He knew exactly what He was going to do, who He was doing it for, and why He was willing to carry out His mission. “I am the Good Shepherd. I know My own, and My own know Me; just as the Father knows Me, and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one Shepherd. For this reason, the Father loves Me because I lay down My life so that I may take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from My Father.”
We are talking about a part of our triune Godhead who willingly came to this earth as a human to be made lower than the angels for a time (Hebrews 2:7&9), to be tortured and killed on a cruel cross as payment for our sins.
For those who try to say He was just a good prophet and the resurrection was just a myth, we look at John 1 1-3; “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.”
One thing to remember: Jesus could have stopped the process at any moment, and we would all be hopelessly lost. The Creator of the universe, knowing that more would accept the world than would accept Him (Matthew 7:13-14), decided that all who would believe in Him should be able to spend eternity with Him, no matter what the total number would be, and the cost to Him was very much worthwhile.
There is a cost on our part. We have to admit we’re sinners and cannot save ourselves. We must believe that Jesus died for us and was raised by the Father to conquer sin and death for us. We must call on Jesus to be our eternal Savior and receive and accept the free gift He gave for us at Calvary.
That’s it. No amount of deeds or works on our part, no amount of money we could ever spend, can give us one minute with Him in Paradise. For some people, the ABCs are just too simple and couldn’t possibly be all there is to it.
Ephesians 2:8-9 has been given many times, and we need to have faith and believe God’s word is true and complete. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works so that no one may boast.”
In numerous places, it is plainly stated in the New Testament that if we have the Son, we have the Father. Likewise, if we do not have the Son of God, Jesus, we do not have the Father.
What it comes down to is we need to surrender our worldly ways and accept Jesus as our Savior. In 1896, Judson W. VanDeVenter (1855-1939) wrote the hymn, “I Surrender All.” It’s a very uncomplicated yet inspiring message.
1.) All to Jesus, I surrender; all to Him, I freely give. I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily.
Ref.) I surrender all; I surrender all; all to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.
2.) All to Jesus I surrender; make me, Savior, wholly Thine. Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit, truly know that Thou are mine. (ref)
3.) All to Jesus I surrender; Lord, I give myself to Thee. Fill me with Thy love and power; let Thy blessing fall on me.
When we receive and accept Jesus, this does not mean we will never sin again. That will only happen after we leave this earth through death or by Rapture. However, our wonderful Heavenly Father gave us the pathway to forgiveness in 1 John 1:8-10 for the times when we do sin. In Matthew 18:21-22, Jesus gave us an example that shows the number of times that we can be forgiven does not have a set limit. However, once we do have Jesus as our Savior, we will want to live more for Him and less in the ways of this world.
There will come a time when the ability to choose eternal life with the Savior will end. That will be when we take our last breath here and leave this earth. All who refuse to receive and accept Jesus prior to that last breath will be scheduled for the Great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20:11-15. Anyone who arrives at that judgment will be lost in the lake of fire forever.
All who will have received and accepted Jesus as their Savior will have a forever Home in Heaven prepared by the Hand of the Savior Himself (John 14:1-3).
While you’re still able, the time to choose eternal life is right now. No one is guaranteed another day, but all who have Jesus as their Savior will be guaranteed forever with Him in Heaven.
Whatever the degree of sin anyone has committed can be forgiven if they will truly confess to the Savior and ask His forgiveness. Call on Jesus today and know that you will have eternal life, not eternal punishment in the lake of fire.
Maranatha – Come, Lord Jesus!
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