Isaiah 53, written 700 years before the birth of Jesus Christ, is an accurate description of His ministry on Earth.
Isaiah 53
Who hath believed our report? To whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of the dry ground; he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised and we esteemed him not.
Surely, he hath borne our grief, and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes, we are healed. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep, before her shearers is dumb, he opened not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment; and who shall declare his generation? He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people, he was stricken. He made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was there any deceit in his mouth.
Yet, it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief; when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied; by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore, I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
So many times I have wanted to be more of His than I am and it is difficult to consider what it would take to be that close to God. The fifty-third chapter of Isaiah tells of the Servant of the Lord who went through agony and pain for Him and even though it is in the “Old Testament” it is speaking clearly of Jesus Christ. God loves each of us because He put each molecule of our being together before we were born. Lovingly crafting His children, even though some would not accept Him, because their gifts and abilities would be useful in this world. Some would not be useful to Him but they would be useful in the world that they lived in. Discovering cures or treatments or ways of doing things that others might not think of, would be their gift.
Being a servant of God is a calling. It is not something that you choose to do on your own. Just as accepting the call of God in your life to be a preacher, being a servant of God is something that is serious. Although, many people don’t seem to look at becoming a Christian as a calling that is exactly what it is. You wouldn’t be looking for Jesus if He had not called you by touching your heart and letting you know that the part of you that feels empty needs Him to fill it.
All Christians are called by God to become followers of Jesus, so it truly is a calling. Living your life by that calling every day is not an easy task but with His Holy Spirit touching your heart and strengthening you it can be done. Though it may not be perfect, since we are human, you can live it every day because of His strength and His grace in your life. I pray that everyone who reads this will seek Jesus to become their Savior soon because the time for the church age is coming to a close. We don’t know the day or the hour so be sure you are ready when that Trumpet sounds.
In the days that we are living through, what gives you hope? Religion? A good job? Financial security? Hope is a commodity that is rare and hard to find today. We all say that we have it but what is our “hope” based on? What or who is your hope placed in or on?
The only true hope that any of us have is in Jesus Christ. Many of us place our hope in things or in our jobs but those are only temporary. Whether you believe in God or the Bible, there is an eternity waiting for each of us. We don’t just go “poof” when we die! Our soul goes somewhere and it lives on. Not believing in it doesn’t change it at all. Just like “not believing in gravity” won’t stop it from killing you if you fall from a great height.
Eternity is our reward for living our lives according to God’s will for our lives. Even if we don’t live according to His will, eternity is still ahead of us whether we experience it in heaven or hell. The world around us is ignoring everything that has been spoken of and foretold in the Bible and going on as if nothing will change. But one day soon that will change in the blink of an eye. Of course, they will come up with some “explanation” for the disappearance of everyone who believes in Jesus as their Savior but it won’t be one that has anything to do with Him.
Jesus is the only person in history that has had as much influence on the entire world and yet three-quarters of the population on Earth refuses to believe in Him. Why? Because of the influence of the false religions that are all over the Earth and the one who has had the most influence on religion…the devil himself. Conveniently, most people in the world also choose not to believe in his existence as well.
One day soon, all of this “non-belief” will be moot and the proof will be very visible to everyone. Whether they believe their own eyes at that point or not won’t make much difference. I pray that most will put two and two together before it is too late.
The Living Message of Christ 