|
A SATISFIED GOD
Hundreds of years before the birth of Jesus the Christ God was pleased to reveal His plan of salvation to Isaiah the prophet. Isaiah wrote: “He [God] shall see of the travail of his [Christ's] soul, and shall be satisfied: by his [Christ's] knowledge shall my righteous servant [Christ] justify many; for he [Christ] shall bear their iniquities,” (Isaiah 53:11). This verse tells us a number of things: one of which is that God would be satisfied when He saw the travail of Christ's soul. In the night in which Jesus was betrayed He and His little church were alone together in the Garden of Gethsemane. It was here that the “travail of His soul” began. “Then cometh Jesus with them unto a place called Gethsemane, and saith unto the disciples, Sit ye here, while I go and pray yonder. And he took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then saith he unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even unto death: tarry ye here, and watch with me. And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt,” (Matthew 26:36-39). Notice that the Scripture quoted says He “began to be sorrowful and very heavy.” Soon after this He would die in the place of His people. The God-man who had never known sin became sin for them. “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him,” (2 Corinthians 5:21). God made His own Son who knew no sin to be sin in the place of those for whom He died. God had a purpose. That purpose was that those for whom Christ died would be made God's righteousness in Him. Now those for whom Christ died are made the righteousness of God by faith in Christ. This has nothing to do with the ten commandments or keeping the Law. Paul wrote, “...if there had been a law given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by the law,” (Galatians 3:21). Those for whom Christ died are like Abraham. “For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness,” (Romans 4:3). Farther along in that same chapter we are told: “Now it was not written for his [Abraham's] sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead,” (Romans 4:23-24). Does God view you just as righteous as Jesus Christ? God was satisfied with Christ's travail which provides His righteousness for His people. For those who believe in a saving way on Christ, they are righteous in God's eyes. Righteousness is what God demands and what He provides in Christ.
|
