SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 11/29/2013
11:18 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
Startled at the Servant’s Exaltation
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Isaiah 52:13
Message of the
verses: “Behold, My servant will
prosper, He will be high and lifted up and greatly exalted.” “Behold, my servant shall deal prudently, he
shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high (KJV).”
We mentioned in yesterday’s SD that these last three
verses in Isaiah 52 pictured the Lord
Jesus Christ’s appearance on the cross (vs. 14); His exaltation (vs. 13); and
His Message (vs. 15). What we have here
is a picture of His sufferings on the cross, His resurrection and ascension,
and then the world wide proclamation of the Gospel. All these are pictured in these last three
verses. We will try to look at the last
two from verses 13 & 15 in our SD for today.
Verse thirteen speaks of the resurrection of Jesus Christ
from the grave, and we could surely write a lot of things about His resurrection,
things like this was all prophesied to happen is one thing we could go into
detail about, and since we are in a prophetic book of the Bible that tells of
this happening that speaks of an all knowing God who had this all planned out
from eternity past. Paul speaks about
the “weak” things of God, that they are more powerful than any power man
has. 1Co 1:27 “but God has chosen the
foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak
things of the world to shame the things which are strong.” Paul also writes about Christ’s exaltation in
his letter to the Philippians 2:9-11 “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him,
and bestowed on Him the
name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus EVERY
KNEE WILL BOW, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11
and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of
God the Father.”
Jesus Christ came to earth to accomplish His Father’s
will as seen in Luke 2:49 “And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me?
wist ye not that I must be
about my Father’s business?” That
will was to die for the sins of those who would one day accept the forgiveness
that was purchased for them on the cross, and at the end of His human life on
planet earth, while dying for the sins of the world Jesus concluded His life by
saying in John 19:30 “Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said,
"It is
finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.” The Greek
word that is translated “it is finished” is one work, and that word means paid
in full. This word was put on a person
release paper who was serving time for a crime and the crime was paid for.
Startled at the Servant’s Message (Isaiah 52:15): “Thus He will sprinkle many nations, Kings
will shut their mouths on account of Him; For what had not been told them they
will see, And what they had not heard they will understand.” “So will nations give him honour; kings will
keep quiet because of him: for what had not been made clear to them they will
see; and they will give their minds to what had not come to their ears (BBE).”
Paul writes the following words to interpret this verse
in Romans 15:20-21 “20 And thus I aspired to preach the gospel, not where
Christ was already named, so that I would not build on another man’s
foundation; 21 but as it is written, "THEY WHO HAD NO NEWS OF HIM SHALL
SEE, AND THEY WHO HAVE NOT HEARD SHALL UNDERSTAND.’”
Dr. Wiersbe writes “Many people have been tortured and
killed in an inhumane way, but knowing about their suffering does not touch our
conscience, though it may arouse our sympathy.
Our Lord’s sufferings and death were different, because they involved
everybody in the world. The Gospel
message is not ‘Christ died,’ for that is only a fact in history, like ‘Napoleon
died.’ The Gospel message is that ‘Christ died for our sins’ (1 Cor. 15:1-4, italics mine). You and I are as guilty of Christ’s death as
Annas, Caiaphas, Herod Antipas, and Pilate.
“Now we see why people are astonished when they
understand the message of the Gospel:
This Man whom they condemned has declared that they are condemned unless
they turn from sin and trust Him. You
cannot rejoice in the Good News of salvation until first you face the bad news
of condemnation. Jesus did not suffer
and die because He was guilty, but because we were guilty. People are astonished at this fact; it shuts
their mouths.”
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: The Gospel of
Jesus Christ has changed so many things in my life. I think of what the Apostle Paul wrote to the
Corinthians “For if a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether—the
past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new (2 Cor. 5:17 Philips).” One of the new things that came about in my
life is that my desires are all new, not the sinful desires that I had before
the Lord saved me. I guess that I can
say like Paul said in Romans 15:21b as seen above which is a quotation from
Isaiah 52:15.”
My Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to continue to grow in my walk with
the Lord Jesus Christ.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
Question: “Jonah” (Jonah 3:7-4:1).”
Today’ Bible Question: “What is the Christian’s blessed hope?”
Answer in our next SD.
11/29/2013 12:42 PM
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