Healed!

Healed!

Isaiah 53:5 KJV

[5] But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

The account of the verse makes for a very interesting read. The events described here are presented as having happened, yet the prophet who was given the prophecy lived about 600 years before Jesus was even physically manifested. How could the prophet Isaiah be so sure? This tells me that the death of Jesus on the cross was not a mistake or an afterthought; it was the plan that God would provide a worthy sacrifice to deal with the eternal problem of sin. God knows the problem as well as the fitting solution. No one subject to the same law of sin could provide that solid solution; it had to be one born under the law but not subject to it. Thank God for His power and wisdom. 

The prophecy is presented as concluded even before the vessel of change was born into the world. The sacrifice on the cross was part of God's plan for redemption that was laid out in the Garden of Eden, where the first sin occurred. Reflect on this: the place of the first sin of man also became the place of the first pronouncement of mercy for man. The seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent. All that sin brought would be dealt a mortal blow by the death and resurrection of Jesus. As He hung on the cross, remember all that happened to Him; a crown of thorns was placed on His head; he was whipped with scourges; He was nailed to the cross, and even after He had died, a soldier pierced His side with a sword, drawing blood and water.

Men thought they were powerful; God used the actions of men laid out above to achieve His earthly and eternal purpose for man. The wounds He got dealt with our transgressions. We were the natural objects of wrath, but He took our place. The lashes He got dealt with our iniquities. We were the ones who really deserved the beatings, but He went in our place and took the beatings. Now, not only did He take our place, but He also secured something precious and amazing for us: peace with God. Nothing else could have done this: no amount of animal sacrifices or labour under the law could get us what Jesus got for us: healing. We now can claim a blessing reserved for those who come by faith into a new relationship with Jesus. Are you one? God's time of favour is here.