Jesus, Son of God, came to earth to set things right and restore a right relationship between God and mankind.  Jesus work on the cross was God’s Plan to save us from the beginning.  God knew we would sin.  God cannot be where sin lives, so there had to be a Way to remove sins, once and for all, so that a relationship with God could be had.  God chose His Son. 

“The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin so that he’d see life come from it—life, life, and more life. And God’s plan will deeply prosper through him.”

Because Jesus was part God, sent from God, He was the only perfect, without sin, sacrifice that could fulfill what needed to be done.  Jesus was the One and Only who could complete the task of saving the world.  Jesus was God’s Plan all along, Isaiah relates in advance of His coming.  Jesus took our sins, all the sins of everyone, and his shoulders took what we desired as punishment.  Jesus, who did no wrong, was the precious Lamb of God as the sacrifice for our sins. 

Do you really believe what God did and said through Jesus His Son really real?  This is a question we must deal with each day we wake up or we will quickly lose sight of real believing.  Staying in touch with the Father, as Jesus did, strengthens our belief and resolve.  Truly our behaviors will reflect the depth of our believing with each action. 

Do we walk humbly with our God because of this believing? 

Is God the first thought at waking to a new day?

Do we truly desire what God wants for us?

Answering these questions reveal the depth of our relationship with God.

Who believes? Isaiah asks all of us as he describes all the details of the One who will come centuries later to take away the sins of the world all because God so loved….

Isaiah 53, The Message

Who believes what we’ve heard and seen?
    Who would have thought God’s saving power would look like this?

^2-6 The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
    a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
    nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
    a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.

One look at him and people turned away.
    We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
    our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.

We thought he brought it on himself,
    that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
    that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!

He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
    Through his bruises we get healed.

We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.
    We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong,
    on him, on him.

^7-9 He was beaten, he was tortured,
    but he didn’t say a word.
Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered
    and like a sheep being sheared,
    he took it all in silence.
Justice miscarried, and he was led off—
    and did anyone really know what was happening?
He died without a thought for his own welfare,
    beaten bloody for the sins of my people.
They buried him with the wicked,
    threw him in a grave with a rich man,
Even though he’d never hurt a soul
    or said one word that wasn’t true.

¹⁰ Still, it’s what God had in mind all along,
    to crush him with pain.
The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin
    so that he’d see life come from it—life, life, and more life.
    And God’s plan will deeply prosper through him.

^11-12 Out of that terrible travail of soul,
    he’ll see that it’s worth it and be glad he did it.
Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant,
    will make many “righteous ones,”
    as he himself carries the burden of their sins.

Therefore I’ll reward him extravagantly—
    the best of everything, the highest honors—
Because he looked death in the face and didn’t flinch,
    because he embraced the company of the lowest.
He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many,
    he took up the cause of all the black sheep.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

• Jesus is God’s Son.  Jesus came to earth to seek the lost and bring salvation to all, taking away all sins of the world then, now, and forever.  Jesus lived as a servant.  Jesus came to serve, show us how to serve—not be served.  See John 13 for how the full extent of God’s love is expressed in serving.

• Be like Jesus.  Believe in God and live daily in relationship to God, seeking His will above our own will.  God has us on his mind.  Do we have Him on our mind?  God has a plan for each of us that is His best plan for us.  See Philippians 2 for examples of how to live like Jesus.

• Only Jesus saves.  We are not Saviors. Our work is to point the way to THE SAVIOR and teach people how to find and follow Jesus.  See Matthew 28.

• Believe and be saved.  Call on the Name of Jesus and He will hear and respond to us.

Lord,

As I read this passage, I am reminded again of why I really believe in who you are and what you did for me—for us!  Scriptures written by the prophet, Isaiah fulfilled in you, dear Jesus!  There is not one detail left out.  You came to save us.  You saved me.  Yes, I believe and I will always point the way to others so they will know, believe, and follow you.  I love you, Lord, with all my heart, mind, and soul.  Help me to speak clearly.  Give me wisdom to tell what you did correctly.  To you be the glory!

In Jesus Name, Amen