The prophet Isaiah said that the Messiah would be a suffering servant. (Isaiah 53)
– He was despised and forsaken of men.
– He was pierced through for our transgressions.
– He was crushed for our iniquities.
– He was oppressed.
– He was afflicted.
The good news is that Jesus did all this because of God’s great plan to redeem us from the mess that we made.
“By his knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, as he will bear their iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:11)
God gave us the amazing gift of choice but he also had choice! He chose to make a way for us to be restored to relationship with him.
Often when wronged, we will not seek reconciliation, but God did. He made a choice to not only forgive and pay the penalty, but also to search for the lost ones.
God is love. His love extends to all! His love is for the rich, the poor, the blind, the deaf, the happy, the sad, the lonely, the discouraged, and for you and me!
“God showed his love for us when he sent his only Son into the world to give us life. Real love isn’t our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven. Dear friends, since God loved us this much we must love each other.” (1 John 4:9-11)
When a leper came to him, Jesus reached out His hand to heal him. (Mark 1:40) When the thief on the cross cried out, Jesus promised him life. (Luke 23:43) When a woman was caught in adultery, Jesus forgave. (John 8:11) When faced with great personal suffering, Jesus obeyed the father and prayed, “not my will but thine”. (Matthew 26:39)
The choices God made have always been birthed out of his love for each soul that has or will ever live! This is why I worship him and serve him! He has taught you and me to choose love first! When it’s not easy, when people are not deserving, or when we have to make a tough choice, we only need to look to God as our example.
The cost was never a factor in the decisions that God has made. He paid the cost no matter what it was! Imagine the cost of patience that God has for mankind. It is staggering to think that generation after generation has passed with God continuing to reach out to all with loving arms.
“Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t and doesn’t wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.” (Romans 5:6, The Message Version)
I am so grateful for God’s loving choice! We appreciate your Comments