Spending March w/ Jesus 3-1-09 "Jesus Foretold"

For the next 30 days I will be studying through a "Reading Plan" called 30 days with Jesus. Each day I will go through the life of Jesus and blog about what I am learning. I will share what God is doing in me personally and in my life all together. I invite you to join me on this journey. Each day I will give the scripture reference that I read along with thoughts.

Jesus Foretold. Read Isaiah 53

There are so many amazing things about this passage of scripture but lets start with the author. Isaiah is referenced in the NT more than 65 times which is far more than anyone else from the OT. His name literally means "The Lord is salvation" and I think that meaning applies so strongly in this passage. This is probably the most referenced passage in all of scripture when we think of the prophecies of Christ. Isaiah literally walked me through the entire life of Christ even to the details of his appearance and method of death. All of that being said, it was written 700 years before Christs birth. Isaiah was a great man of God. Ministering for about 60 years without seeing one convert as far as we know. Tradition has it that he was martyred by his king by being literally cut in half with a wooden saw.

The one point that I want to pull out of this portion scripture is this. "What Christ has done, directly impacts those who believe. This entire chapter is about Jesus of Nazareth, but yet was written hundreds of years before his earthly existence. Colossians says that he is the image of the invisible God; the firstborn among all of creation. From my study, I counted that Christ is referenced over 40 times by using the words "Him" or He". Almost every time that Christ is referenced, there is an application to what He has done for those who believe. You can see that when you count that amount of times the words "We, Us, My, Our, etc." are used. In just 12 verses I counted over 25 times that those words are references.

The big theme here is "Atonement". That word can literally be taken as meaning "At one with God" or in other words, "What Christ has done, through his life and death on the cross, created a way for us to be one with God." Through what was done in Christ's life and death, those who believe, can come to him and actually know the Father.

In small group last week I made a comment to someone which was quite controversial. This is what I said. "God does not hear the prayers of those who are not born again." Now, I did not just throw that out there because I felt like it. The reality is that we all want God to hear and answer our prayers. However, listen to what Isaiah says in Chapter 59:1-2.

Surely the arm of the LORD is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear. But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear.

In essence, this is stating that our sin separated us from God and because of that we do not know him. How can we talk to someone who we don't know?

However Isaiah closes chapter 53 with these words:

"For he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors."

That is a beautiful statement in which I need to continue to remind myself. I need to remember that "I Know God." I am no more special than anyone else in the world. I am wicked in my thoughts, deeds, and motives. I struggle like everyone else and sometimes I think I struggle more. However, I know God. I know he hears me and listens to me. He speaks to me both through scripture and supernatural revelation. He loves me and cares for me. I am able to cast my issues onto him and trust that he is both Good and Sovereign in everything that I walk through. More importantly I am a part of his plan. He knew me before the creation of this world. He knew that I would run from him and sin against him. And through it all, Isaiah prophesied 700 years before that a Savior would come and provide a way for me to know God. I celebrate that truth today; the truth that "I know God."