DECEMBER 27 READING…ISAIAH 53-55 & PSALM 65 & REVELATION 18
Isaiah 53 teaches us what the Messiah would do to make sinful mankind right with God. The justice and holiness of God requires that sin be punished. Isaiah speaks to us of the Messiah’s substitutionary atonement on the cross…this means that Jesus went to the cross, suffered and died, in our place. He took upon Himself the full punishment for our sin. This means for those who put their trust in Him, and what He has done, their sin has been punished and paid for completely. We are all sinners, so we are all in need of a Savior. Jesus came and was rejected by men. They put Him on a cross, and on that cross His own Father poured out His judgment on Jesus, in order that our sin could be paid for. He has healed our greatest need…the healing of our sin condition. Because the Messiah did this for sinful mankind, and also rose from the grave…He can legitimately promise restoration and salvation not only to Israel, but to the entire world. What is required on our part? We are to trust and believe in Him for who He is…the Messiah, the Son of the living God, and what He did…He died for us, and overcame sin, death, and hell, by His Resurrection from the dead. The Psalmist speaks of the fact that God is our provider, and even more, He is our provision. Revelation 18 tells us that all the endeavors of mankind to live without God will come to nothing. John speaks of the destruction of Babylon, the kingdom of Antichrist. Both the political and economic systems of this world, that people thought would bring them security and salvation, will crumble to nothing. People will then have nowhere to turn, for they have rejected the Lord. There is no hope and no salvation apart from Jesus. He is the only Redeemer who can give any person eternal life. My hope and prayer as we come to the end of 2023 is that you have a personal faith-based relationship with God through trusting in Jesus as your Lord and Savior.
Please share your thoughts.
TOMORROW’S READING…ISAIAH 56-59 REVELATION 19