Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the founder and perfecter of our faith who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2
Read that again, “Who for the JOY that was set before Him.” Jesus went to the cross joyfully. But, it wasn’t just a duty for Jesus to die on the cross for your sins. He joyfully suffered the misery of it all. He suffered physical punishment and torture. He suffered mental and emotional anguish. But most of all, He had to endure the complete Wrath of God for the sins of the world, your sins, and mine.
Who has believed our report? And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness, And when we 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. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Isaiah 53:1-3
Though He did nothing wrong to deserve this punishment, He never sinned. On the contrary, He gladly took all this punishment for you, knowing He was opening the door of opportunity for you. For your Salvation and communion with Himself, the Father, and all who live in Heaven.
Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes, we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, everyone, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:4-6
Think about it. Jesus is God and had the foreknowledge of all the suffering to come. He didn’t have to do it. Yet, He endured it all for your sake. All the wickedness you have ever done, spoken or thought of, and the devious things that have come from your heart. He suffered everything for you.
Every lie you have ever spoken. Every theft you have ever committed. Every lustful look, thought, or action you have ever done. Your hateful words, covetous ideas, and disobedient things you have ever done. Jesus took that punishment for you. So you would not have to pay for your own sins in Hell, the place He will send the wicked.
He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep, before its shearers is silent, So He opened not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment, And who will declare His generation? For He was cut off from the land of the living; For the transgressions of My people He was stricken. And they made His grave with the wicked— But with the rich at His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was any deceit in His mouth. Isaiah 53:7-9
God was pleased to crush Jesus; He had to satisfy His Wrath so His children may be saved. Because His righteousness and holiness demanded a perfect blood sacrifice, God had to punish the only one who could bear the penalty of sins, Jesus. But He was willing to make that sacrifice for you because of His great love.
Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You 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 labor of His soul and be satisfied.
By His knowledge, My righteous Servant shall 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 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. Isaiah 53:10-12
Now Jesus is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. He loves you so much that He waits all day long for you to hear His Gospel and turn to His open arms for forgiveness. That you may hear and listen to His call for repentance. To run back and jump into His loving embrace and reward for your obedience.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. “He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:16-18
Again, He suffered and died for your sins. Then because He is God and death could not hold Him, He rose from the grave. He can forgive your sins and free you from death because of what He did, conquering sin and death. He holds His hands out to you with the offer of Salvation. He has extended mercy and grace to you, a gift you do not deserve and could never earn. Nevertheless, it is a free gift. Any person doing good works cannot receive this gift, but it only comes through faith in Jesus. Good works come later after you are secure in His arms.
If you believe in Jesus by faith, repent and turn from sin. Follow and trust Him for your Salvation. He will grant you eternal life. He will forgive all your sins, forgetting them as far as the East is from the West. Which is what He has promised, and He can not lie.
Repent and turn to Jesus today before it is too late. He desires for all to come to repentance and Salvation. But, because those who continue in their sins and do not believe in Jesus will have to suffer and pay for their sins in Hell for all eternity on their own, don’t refuse the greatest gift ever given.
All of us have broken God’s Law, the Ten Commandments. You broke the Law; Jesus paid the fine. But you must receive His gift by forsaking your sinful ways and believing in the only way to the Father, Jesus Christ.
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6
The Soul Sower 