07/13/2018
When we look around the world today we see such an overwhelming mess; killing, hatred, carnal sins of every description... the list seems to have no end, and its depth is bottomless. Becoming overwhelmed by Satan’s handiwork is easy, and letting it make us despondent, or allowing ourselves to be caught up in it can be equally easy. Is this world too big for God’s love and forgiveness? Is what we see too much for Jesus to carry onto the cross?
“Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.”Isaiah 53:4-5 ESV
Jesus seems so small; He is a man like us, so how can He possibly take all of this on Himself... yet that is exactly why He came, and precisely what He will do. The evil, the debauchery, the sin of a world that seems so lost as to be beyond salvation, and in our eyes is unworthy. If left to us we would walk away from it... wouldn’t we? Yet God’s love allows Him to see past these things and His Son is able to drink this cup of filth down as He brings salvation to a world immersed in sin unspeakable.
“Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.”Isaiah 53:11 ESV
This is our hope, and this is the promise of the gospel. From the enormity of God’s love, as made evident in Jesus Christ, we come to realize that although the vastness of this world overwhelms us, it does not challenge the grace of God, nor the obedience of Christ in carrying its burden. Jesus Christ makes intercession for much more than just you and me; He intercedes for the world in all of its putrid nature.
“Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”Isaiah 53:12 ESV
So we become despondent, and we lose heart, because this is the desire of the dark one... to take away our hope in Jesus, and the joy we have in God. Satan uses sin and evil as a tool, a pry bar, to separate us from our Father, from God’s love for us. Do not be deceived; the God that created the universe is up to the task of redeeming us.
When Jesus hung on the cross there were many who walked away thinking the battle had been lost, and that the world, as it was, had won out over Him... but this was just the beginning of His victory. We still walk away today... we still lose hope and believe that the solitary man who hangs on the cross saying “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me” has been defeated, but nothing is further from the truth. He prayed for mankind from the cross, and those prayers of intercession still resonate today.
“This was to fulfill what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah: "He took our illnesses and bore our diseases."”Matthew 8:17 ESV
Don’t lose heart. Don’t turn to walk towards Emmaus and force Jesus to come after you... believe! Our Lord is more than just the body we see, He is a Vessel into which all the rivers of sin flow, and yet never becomes full. He is capable, He is obedient, and He is worthy. Can you keep your eyes on the cross today as you are accosted by sin and evil? Can you hear Jesus praying in the midst of His suffering for you? Can you hear His intercession against your temptation?
Praise Him!
Prayer:
Father, thank you for your Son Jesus, who lifts me up to you from the very cross on which He was nailed for my sin. Thank you for allowing me to see how capable He is, and that even as He drinks down my sin, He is capable of consuming and destroying the iniquity of the world. Thank you Holy Father for removing my doubt and restoring my hope. In you I see the source of all good, and in Jesus I see the redemption of my sin, and the defeat of evil that has buffeted me from every side. Help me Merciful Father to recognize this ploy of Satan; help me to resist feeling hopeless because of the enormity of sin that is in the world around me. Your Son is sufficient, and your will has become His... help me to make it mine Holy Father. Pray for me Jesus, let my prayers mingle with yours before the Father’s throne, and be realized above the mercy seat. The sins of the world are but a sip of water to you, and evil falls like darkness before your light. Great is my God, and great is His Son Jesus who died that the world might be saved. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you my God; for your love has lifted the sins of the world in a cup, and your grace has offered it to your Son that they might be redeemed.
Rich Forbes