THE WORD 4 ev 1

Today’s reading is Matthew 27 (click here for link)

The Death of Jesus Christ is the acting in history of the very Mind of God. This was no accident. His death was not something that might have been prevented: His death was the very reason why He came. I invite you to meditate on these words from Isaiah 53:

Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed? He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

It would be untrue entirely to build a theology on the premise that God forgives us our sins because he loves us. Yes, he does love us, but he hates our sin. Jesus Christ on the Cross is the proof of his hatred for sin. We must never believe that God has sympathy for us sinners. There is no sympathy from the perfect justice and righteousness of God; He does not sympathize with sin. He condemns it! If God does forgive sin it is only by the death of Christ. This is the mercy of God: that he sent Jesus to become the curse that was hanging over our heads.

Pastor Aaron