God's Suffering Servant

God’s Suffering Servant

Isaiah 53

Some 700 years before the birth of Christ, the prophet Isaiah gave us a picture of the provision that God had already made for us.

5 Facts About The Messiah

1. He would be without personal Guilt (9)

“He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.” (1 Peter 2:22)

2. He would Suffer as a direct result of the sin of his people (5, 6, 11-12)

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24)

3. He would suffer as a Substitute for his people (4-6,10)

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,” (1 Peter 3:18)

Vicarious means “performed or suffered by one person as a substitute for another and to the benefit or advantage of another.”

4. God’s own hand Inflicted the Messiah’s suffering (10)

“for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.” (Acts 4:27–28)

5. His death would result in tremendous Rewards for us (5,11)

“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21)

“And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,” (Colossians 1:21–22)

A two-fold exchange:

• The charging of a believer’s sin to Christ results in Forgiveness

• The crediting of Christ’s righteousness to the believer results in Justification/Righteousness

“The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” (Mark 1:15)

“and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” (2 Corinthians 5:15)

Reflect:

• Have I responded to God’s perfect provision of Jesus Christ with genuine repentance and faith?

• Am I living for Him who for my sake died and was raised again?