Daily Devotional for Saturday, January 4

Sin and Payment

"But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed;' Isaiah 53:5.

I had aseminary instructor that taught us something humbling about this passage in Isaiah 53. He suggested that everywhere in the passage that the words "our" or "we" are used, we consider ourselves in place of those pronouns. In other words, instead of simply reading it as "He was wounded for our transgressions," I should consider that Jesus was wounded for my transgressions. Please understand, my teacher was not altering or corrupting the Word of God. He was only reminding us how personal this prophecy about Jesus' suffering should be to us.

Jesus did not have to die for His sins because He was sinless (Hebrews 4:15). His suffering was by choice because of His love for us, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?" (Matthew 26:53). Jesus understood what He needed to do so that you andI could have eternal life through Him (verse 54). Jesus willingly paid the price for sinful humanity. Without His death, burial and resurrection, there would be no hope of eternal life. Sin came into this world at a great cost. That cost may seem inconsequential to you, or you may think you have avoided any penalty. The truth is that sin separated all of us from God (Isaiah 59:2, Romans 3:23). Sin also results in death. "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23). These are tremendous penalties that have been levied against all humans. We are all born into sin (Psalm 51:5), and we will all die (Hebrews 9:27).

But Jesus made away of escape because He paid the ultimate price for sin in His sacrifice for us.

REFLECTION

Jesus suffered, bled, and died for you and me. What a humbling picture of God's love!

Chris Floyd