Who has believed our messageMy Understanding: The message to be believed here is the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The arm of the Lord is often a reference to his power and strength, but an arm is also an extension or an outgrowth of something. In this case, this is a reference to Jesus Christ as the arm (branch) of God the Father, who has now been revealed to the world.
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 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.
3 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.
4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.
5 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.
6 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.
7 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.
8 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.
9 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.
10 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.
11 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.
12 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.
Jesus Christ was not a man who was outwardly physically attractive to people, so people did not flock to him because of his outward appearance. Yet, his outward appearance was more than just physical appearance. He preached strong messages that many people did not want to hear, and in fact, many of his followers left him because of his messages. He was not a charismatic personality or a smooth talker who won people over by his appealing speech. He bulked with tradition if the tradition was based in empty pious self-righteous ritual lacking in love, so he often went head to head against the religious leaders of his day. So, he was not voted most popular, and, in fact, the people despised him (though not all people) and they rejected him. He was so dishonored by those whom he loved and ministered to on a daily basis, who did not see him for who he truly was and is.
He was a “man of sorrows and familiar with suffering” because of how those to whom he came to bring salvation treated him, but much more than that, because of what was in their hearts that they would treat him so. In other words, he felt the pain of their sinful conditions and he longed to have them be free from the control of sin over their lives. So, when they rejected the messages he gave them, which were for them so that they could be free from sin’s grip on their lives, what pained him most was that they were choosing to continue to live in sin and they were choosing to be out of fellowship with and to deny their creator and the purpose for which they were created. This act of rebellion against God began in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve and has continued throughout mankind’s history, which is why Jesus came to the earth to die for our sins so that we could be free from sin’s control and so we could be free to walk in perfect fellowship and communion with our God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. When he died, he took upon himself the sins of the entire world, which was the worst suffering of all. He did this so that we could go free, and yet the people considered that he must have committed a crime and was being punished of God for his sins, yet it was our sins for which he was pierced, stricken by God, afflicted, rejected, ridiculed, mocked, scorned, despised, rejected and crucified. He took upon himself our punishment for sin so that we could go free from the ultimate penalty of sin (eternal separation from God and eternal torment in hell) and so that we could be at peace with God, in a right relationship with him, back in fellowship with God, and could have eternal life in heaven with God. Yet, our peace that comes through what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross is also the peace that comes from being free of the control of sin over our lives on a day-to-day basis, too.
The reason Jesus came to die on the cross for our sins is because we, like sheep, have all gone astray, i.e. we are all sinners by nature. By nature, we tend to want to go our own way and to do what we want to do without, or with little, regard for God and for what he desires for our lives. So, Jesus Christ, God the Son, came to earth, took on human flesh, suffered as we suffer, was tempted as we are tempted, yet without sin, and then he took on himself all our sins, crucified them with him, buried them with him, as well, and then he rose from the grave victoriously over hell, Satan, death and sin so that we don’t have to live according to the sin nature any longer, but we can be free to be slaves of righteousness and can be free to have that kind of sweet fellowship with God to where we walk and talk with him each day and we live in obedience to him, as he created us to have that kind of relationship with him.
Man thought he had control of Jesus when he was arrested, taken to trial, mocked, spit upon, whipped, and then crucified. They thought they had finished him, and that they were victorious over this man whom they feared, yet they had no control but what God gave them and that he gave it to them for a purpose. So, it was the will of God the Father to crush his own son and to cause him to suffer so that he could be that perfect Lamb sacrifice for the sins of the world for all time. Because of what Jesus Christ went through on the cross and in his death and suffering for our sins, and because he came back to life and now lives within us in the person of the Holy Spirit, we, through faith in Jesus Christ via repentance and obedience, are now his spiritual offspring, so he lives on inside of us and out through us. Now we are the branches that are the offshoot of Jesus Christ, the vine.
As his offspring, we, too, as we walk in obedient fellowship with him, will face many of the same kinds of suffering as he faced, which is also part of God’s purpose and plan for our lives to conform us into the image of Christ, to make us holy, to purify us, and to mature us in our faith and our walk with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If we are following Jesus Christ and we are his faithful servants in carrying on his ministry on this earth, we will not have people attracted to us, either, because we will not be giving them messages that tickle their ears and that appeal to their fleshly appetites. When we deeply care about the sins of others and we care enough to speak the truth in love to help them go free from the bondage of their sin, we will face rejection, persecution, mocking, dishonoring, etc., too, because people will look at us just like they looked at Jesus Christ, entirely from a human standpoint, and they will misjudge us and our intentions, too.
Yet, God does not work like we may think he does, and what he does and who he chooses to use as his servants may not make sense to us, as human beings. Yet, it is God’s will that those who believe in Jesus Christ should come to the cross of Christ in all humility, to leave their lives of sin behind them, to choose to walk in faith and obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ, and to take up our cross daily and to follow him, even though it may mean being treated just like Jesus Christ was treated. Yet, our Lord Jesus did this because he loved us so much. In response to his love for us, we must be willing to share in the fellowship of his sufferings for the same purposes as him, and that is that those who are walking in darkness can see the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ and so that they can believe and can be set free from sin once and for all and can be free to walk in perfect fellowship with our Lord Jesus Christ, no longer controlled by sin’s deceitfulness, but rather becoming slaves of Jesus Christ and slaves of righteousness, which is where true freedom is found.
The Joy of You / An Original Work / June 8, 2011
Based off of Philippians 3:7-14
Jesus, keep me near the cross.
Let me count my life but loss
Compared to the joy of You;
Transformed life; walking anew.
Faith in Christ, turning from sin;
Holy Spirit now within.
Sin’s dark sway, overcoming;
Sharing in Christ’s sufferings;
Becoming like Him in death;
Meeting Him at my last breath.
I am not yet made perfect.
I press on as God’s elect
To reach the goal before me,
God has picked in destiny.
Forgetting what is behind;
Keeping what’s ahead in mind.
Fellowshipping with my Lord;
Walking with Him, one accord;
Obeying His every word;
God has called me heavenward.
Song Lyrics @ Public Domain
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