Two Gospel Encouragements

I would like to tell you two things that the Lord Jesus Christ that should give great comfort to us as believers. The first thing is what Christ has done for us as our suffering servant and the second thing is what He does for us as our all-sufficient God. First of all we will look at Christ as our suffering servant. It comes from Isaiah 53. This passage is directly cited no less than seven times in the New Testament and with more than forty allusions. Jesus, in Mark 10:45, weds Isaiah’s suffering servant to Daniel’s Son of Man (Daniel 7:13, 14) and thereby redefines for us who and what Messiah will be.

This is exciting: What does this text tell us about the servant of the Lord? The list is staggering. He bore our grief (Isaiah 53:4). He carried our sorrows (53:4). He was wounded for our transgressions (53:5). He was bruised for our iniquities (53:5). He was chastised for our peace (53:5). He healed us by His stripes (53:5). He bore our iniquities (53:6, 11). He was oppressed and afflicted (53:7). He was slaughtered (53:7). He was cut off (53:8). He was stricken for our transgressions (53:8). He was bruised by the Lord (53:10). He was put to grief (53:10). His soul was made a sin offering (53:10). He poured out His soul to death (53:12). He was numbered with the transgressors (53:12). He bore the sin of many (53:12). He made intercession for the transgressors (53:12). (Christology: the Study of Christ by Daniel L. Akin). This reminds us of the price Jesus paid to redeem us from our sin.

The next thing to see is what the Lord Jesus does for us. In Ephesians 3:20, 21 Paul says: “Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be the glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.”

He who loved us so much that He spared not His own Son to make us His children (Romans 8:32) invites us to come to Him freely and confidently but He also promises to bring the full measure of the wisdom and powers of His Godhead to answer us. How do we measure what He can do? He holds the whole earth in His hand, He created the universe but continues to control the light in your room and the decay of an atom in the most distant galaxy. He make the flowers grow and the snow fall, He rides on the wings of a storm and holds a butterfly in the air, and He who was before the beginning of all we know still uses time as His tool of healing, restoration, and retribution. Our thoughts are as a window to Him, generations to come from us are already known fully to Him who loves our family more than we do. He looks at the length of our life as a handbreadth, and makes our soul, though sinful, His treasure forever. Such is the God who hears our prayers and is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or can even imagine. (Commentary on Ephesians, Bryan Chapell)

In Philippians 4:19 Paul the apostle said: “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches and glory by Christ Jesus.”

James Boice asks us “Who is the God of Philippians 4:19? He is the God who calls Abraham out of Mesopotamia when he was an idol worshiper like his contemporaries and sent him on his way to a new land promising that he would be blessed and there would be greater blessing to all people through his descendants. The God of Philippians 4:19 is the God who called Israel our of Egypt, who took her through the Red Sea, who preserved her for forty years in the wilderness, and who finally enabled her to conquer the land of Canaan. He is the God of David, of Elijah, of Jeremiah, of all the prophets. He is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who died for our salvation and then triumphed over the tomb. This God stands behinds His promises.”

The God of whom Paul speaks is a God who will support His people and will never let down the one who trusts in Him. If you believe in Him and desire to obey Him you will find Him strong in your need and entirely faithful to you. These are just two wonderful attributes of who God is.

See you Sunday.

Dick