Dear Lighthouse,

            Isaiah 53: 4-6 records these words:

“Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. 

But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by his wounds we are healed. 

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to His own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”

            Isaiah wrote these words around 700BC.  At the time Assyria and Babylon were the two super-powers of the day and they both looked to carve up Israel to advance their kingdoms.  Isaiah had warned the people of Israel to repent and return to God.  But, as he foresaw, the nations of Israel and Judah did not and eventually fell into captivity.  At this point, when your culture had been destroyed, your people displaced, and your God had not intervened, you may see it as the end of your faith - but not Isaiah.

            No, he saw a future for his people, the Jews.  He saw the captivity and destruction of Jerusalem as a cleansing and a new start for a people that would take yet another step in their spiritual journey with the I AM.  He looked ahead to a time when the Lord God Himself would come and dwell among His chosen and heal the nation.  This day came nearly 300 years later when Jesus was born. 

“The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it…. He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.  He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him.”  John 1:5&10-11

            Isaiah wrote about Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb of God who came to give the blood sacrifice the was required under God’s Law for sin.  Blood represented the death of something to cover the death that was brought into the world through sin.  But who sinned?  You and I.  And there must be an accounting for it.

            When you and I sin we force God’s Hand into action.  That sin is a rebellion, an affront to God.  It must be covered in order to restore the relationship between the holy and the sinful.  The Jews understood this.  However, because of their lack of concern and repentance they slipped further and further away.  Eventually they stopped covering the sin by the prescribed sacrifices of animals that merely pushed back the stain of sin.

            When Jesus came He did not stop at imperfection.  He did not push back our sin so we could have a new start to be good from then on.  No, His sacrifice covers our sin – forever.  He is the one who brought an end to the Jews of old.  This is why they did not recognize Him, because He brought the ultimate change in their culture, their status, and their religion. 

            But, because of their rejection of the Messiah then, we who were outside the chosen have been welcomed inside.

“Yet to all who received Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God…born of God.”  John 1:12-13

            So, you see, Isaiah was right when he wrote those inspired words that preceded the events by over 300 years – we are indeed healed by the wounds inflicted upon the Christ.  Jesus came to fulfill what had been predetermined by the Mind of God from the very beginning.  Jesus came to pay the cost that God already knew was too much for us to afford.  Jesus came to open up the gates of Heaven to the Jew and to the Gentile – us.  He died for, all once for all.

            All of us, Jew and Gentile alike, have gone astray in our lives.  You and I are not perfect.  I thank God that He sent a Savior that was and that is.  I encourage you each this week to consider Him who died for your sins.  Look at the sin in your life and hate it.  Know that it is that sin that sent Jesus to the cross and set your mind to battle against your own sin.  Let’s see it diminish in 2004.

            Finally, if you are a Christian give glory to Him who saves.  Thank God for the grace you receive new each day.  Don’t look back on your sin and regret.  Look forward and rejoice.

            If you are not yet a Christian I encourage you to ask yourself why not.  What is it that hinders you?  Think you’re not worthy?  You’re not.  Think you don’t know enough?  You never will.  Think you’ll wait for the right time?  You already missed it.  My point is this: He came for the lost and I was right where you are now.  It’s far better to be found, I assure you.

            As we prepare to see The Passion this Friday I encourage you to prepare your hearts and your minds to see the events played out in a movie.  But don’t miss the opportunity to experience the real Jesus every day in your personal life by becoming part of God’s family. 

            We at the Lighthouse stand prepared to show you how.  Come glorify God with us.

Serving Him with you,

Evan