The Servant of the LORDMy Understanding: The Servant of the Lord is Jesus Christ, our Messiah, Savior and Lord. God the Father put His Spirit on him. Through his death on the cross, he paid the price for our sins so that we could go free. He is God the Son, yet he left heaven, came to earth, took on human flesh, suffered rejection, scourging, mocking, scorn, humiliation, false accusations, betrayal of a close companion, and denial and abandonment of his other close companions (the disciples). He was tempted in every way that we are tempted, yet without sin, so that he could become our faithful, compassionate and merciful High Priest. He was crucified on the cross, although he had committed no crime, and it was there that our sins died and were buried with him. He then rose from the dead, triumphing over death, hell, Satan and sin. He became the sacrificial Lamb to take away the sins of the world, and he lives in heaven as our High Priest to intercede for us between us and God the Father.
1 “Here is my servant, whom I uphold,
my chosen one in whom I delight;
I will put my Spirit on him
and he will bring justice to the nations.
2 He will not shout or cry out,
or raise his voice in the streets.
3 A bruised reed he will not break,
and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.
In faithfulness he will bring forth justice;
4 he will not falter or be discouraged
till he establishes justice on earth.
In his law the islands will put their hope.”
5 This is what God the LORD says—
he who created the heavens and stretched them out,
who spread out the earth and all that comes out of it,
who gives breath to its people,
and life to those who walk on it:
6 “I, the LORD, have called you in righteousness;
I will take hold of your hand.
I will keep you and will make you
to be a covenant for the people
and a light for the Gentiles,
7 to open eyes that are blind,
to free captives from prison
and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.
8 “I am the LORD; that is my name!
I will not give my glory to another
or my praise to idols.
9 See, the former things have taken place,
and new things I declare;
before they spring into being
I announce them to you.”
God the Father made Jesus Christ, God the Son, a covenant for the people, i.e. by his death on the cross for our sins and through his resurrection in conquering death, hell, Satan and our sins, he provided the new covenant, which replaced the old covenant. Under the new covenant, Jesus Christ became our mediator so that we can go directly to God without having to go through human priests any longer. Jesus Christ was the perfect sacrifice for our sins, so that making offering for sins no longer has to take place. He died once for all; for all sin. And, it is by God’s grace in providing this way of salvation for us, and through faith (repentance and obedience) in Jesus Christ and in what he did for us in taking upon himself all of our sins, that we are now able to be completely free from the penalty (eternal separation from God in hell) and the control of sin over our lives. Hallelujah!
Thus, the prison he set us free from is the prison of sin which holds us captive in its grip until, by his grace, through faith in what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross, we are set free from that prison of sin which once held us captive and which treated us like slaves. Jesus came to set us free from slavery to sin, and he set us free to be slaves of righteousness and to be obedient servants of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ, our Messiah, is also our light – to open eyes that are blind. When we are outside of faith in Jesus Christ, we are blinded by our sins and our own selfish desires, so that we do not do what pleases the Lord. Jesus Christ became that light to open our eyes so that we could see our sinful condition, and so we could see the way clearly to the new covenant relationship with Jesus Christ. He continues to be our light, via the presence of the Holy Spirit within us, once we believe in Jesus Christ, so that we are continually made consciously aware of sin so that we can daily repent of sin and commit our lives to humble, submissive obedience to Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, for whom we were set free to follow.
God said that He is the Lord and he will give his glory to none other than Jesus Christ, His Son, and our Savior, Messiah and Lord – the servant of the Lord. He will not give his praise to idols. We are to follow his example in giving all glory, honor and praise, and adoration to the King of kings and Lord of lords, Jesus Christ, by how we live our daily lives – in attitude, action, behavior, speech, thought, etc. We are not to follow after other gods or to make men or things of this world our gods, i.e. things or people who replace or who or which become of greater importance to us in devotion, time, thought, passion, longing, etc. than our commitment to Jesus Christ as our Savior, Lord, friend and husband. He is to be our first love, and he is to be in first place in our lives – in thought, attitude, word and deed.
His desire for us is that we come to him with child-like faith. This kind of faith is very trusting, believing, and acts based upon that simple faith in humility and surrender. So many people say they “believe” in Jesus Christ, and yet their lifestyles say just the opposite. It is not enough to make intellectual or even emotional assent to who Jesus Christ is or to what he did for us in dying on the cross for our sins. To come to him with child-like faith means that we surrender all to our Lord in humble obedience, that we turn from our sin, since he died to set us free, and that we make a conscious choice to follow him and to commit our lives to him, knowing that it is him working his salvation in our hearts and lives as we surrender and we cooperate with him in the purifying process. This is what it means to believe in Jesus Christ. It means we are no longer boss of our lives or sin is no longer our master, although we will not be completely sinless, and that Jesus Christ is now our master and Lord of our lives and our goal is now to do what pleases him. May we all have this kind of child-like faith that comes to Christ in simple faith, obedience and surrender.
Child-like Faith / An Original Work / May 24, 2011
Based off of Matthew 18:1-9
Child-like faith He requires of us all:
“Who is greatest in God’s Kingdom?”
“Unless you change and humble yourselves,
You will never enter His Kingdom.”
“Whoever welcomes a little child
Like this in My name, he welcomes Me.
If you cause a believer to sin,
You stand in danger of God’s judgment.”
“Grief to you ‘cause of what causes sin.
Grief to the man through whom these things come.
If some part of you leads you to sin,
Throw it off, and never give in.”
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
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