Key Verse: "The Lord looked and was
displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, He was
appalled that there was no one to intervene; so His own arm worked salvation
for Him, and His own righteousness sustained Him."
Isaiah 59:16
I realize that there may be some impatience
here with my continuing to address the subject of our sin. Today, especially,
we want so badly to get to the happy ending. We don't want to think about the bad
stuff. We want to move on to Easter. But, remember, for the followers of
Christ, at Jesus’ death, there was no knowledge of an Easter coming. Their hope
had been snuffed out. Jesus had come and gone. The Romans were still in
control. The law still oppressed the people. The writings that they had to
contemplate were such as these from Isaiah.
Paul tells the Corinthians, "Godly sorrow
brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly
sorrow brings death." (2 Cor. 7:10) At this point, all Jesus’ followers
knew was that sin leads to death no matter how much sorrow was expressed. They
did not yet understand that God was fully aware of their helpless condition and
that He Himself had acted to bring about the true justice that was required.
Read Isaiah 59 for yourself. Can you make it
personal and join in the lament and recognition expressed here? Spend time
reading slowly and putting yourself in the place of other pronouns. Let it move
you to godly sorrow. Then, recognize the truth of the verse above. God has
taken matters into His own hands. He has acted in the name of justice and He
has forgiven. He is the only one who is truly righteous, the only One who could
do so. If He has forgiven, you are forgiven in deed.
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