“All of us were like sheep that were lost, each of us going his own way. But the LORD made the punishment fall on Him, the punishment all of us deserved.” (Isaiah 53:6)
This is part of Isaiah’s prophecy about Jesus. Paul makes our condition without Jesus very clear. “As the Scriptures say: "There is no one who is righteous, no one who is wise or who worships God. All have turned away from God; they have all gone wrong; no one does what is right, not even one.” (Romans 3:10-12) He further says: “everyone has sinned and is far away from God's saving presence.” (Romans 3:23)
Unless one has come to know Jesus as a child, our lives were miserable, full of sin and in darkness. Paul noted that the Scriptures say the whole world is under sin. To understand that we have to return to the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve sinned, they literally handed humanity and all of God’s creation to the devil. They broke the covenant they had with God. Their eyes were opened to evil. Before they had no knowledge of sin. They only knew goodness, beauty and fellowship with God. The devil deceived Eve, but Adam sinned or literally rebelled against God’s command. They received a sin nature and condemned the whole of humanity. All of mankind inherits that sin nature from Adam and Eve. We are separated from God and condemned. “Sin came into the world through one man, and his sin brought death with it. As a result, death has spread to the whole human race because everyone has sinned.” (Romans 5:12) The punishment for sin is death.
“But the scripture says that the whole world is under the power of sin; and so, the gift which is promised on the basis of faith in Jesus Christ is given to those who believe.” (Galatians 3:22) The whole world was lost. But Jesus was sent to this lost and dying world. “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost." (Luke 19:10 & Matthew 18:11) Even before Adam sinned, God had a plan of redemption for man. Over and over, we see in the Scriptures how merciful and patient God is with sinners. He loves sinners. But He hates the sin. How much does He love sinners? He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus to be the scapegoat for us. “And just as all people were made sinners as the result of the disobedience of one man, in the same way they will all be put right with God as the result of the obedience of the one man.” (Romans 5:19) That person is Jesus. By our faith in Jesus and His redemptive sacrifice on the Cross, we are made right before God.
In the Old Testament, in the yearly cleaning from sin, the priest laid his hands on a goat. Symbolically placing all the sins on that goat, which was then led away forever. It represented that their sins were taken away from them. It was a representation of Jesus, the Messiah to come, Who had our sins placed on Him and as far as the east is from the west, is how far from our sins we are. “As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our sins from us.” (Psalms 103:12) The priests had to ceremoniously perform this rite every year. But the Blood of the Lamb is so precious to the Father, the Blood of Jesus is enough for the forgiveness of all people and all sin. “For Christ died for sins once and for all, a good man on behalf of sinners, in order to lead you to God. He was put to death physically, but made alive spiritually,” (1Peter 3:18) And in redemption, we are made alive spiritually. “But God's mercy is so abundant, and His love for us is so great, that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience, He brought us to life with Christ. It is by God's grace that you have been saved. In our union with Christ Jesus, He raised us up with Him to rule with Him in the heavenly world.” (Ephesians 2:4-6) Hallelujah!
Comments