HE TOOK OUR PLACE

IOI CHRISTIAN MORNING MEAL

TOPIC: HE TOOK OUR PLACE

Isaiah 53:4-6

“All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (v. 6).

Someone has said that Isaiah 53:6 is the “John 3:16 of the Old Testament” because this verse makes the way of salvation so clear that we cannot miss it.
Was Jesus a failure? No!
Note that “all” is the first and the last word of verse 6.
We have all sinned.
We have all gone astray.
We have all missed the mark.
We have all turned to our own way.
We’re all in the same boat, and the boat is going down.
If God doesn’t do something, we’re all going to die.
At this point we encounter the great, glorious news of the gospel.

God has done something!
He could have looked at the mess we made and said, “They deserve it. They messed up. Now let them face the consequences.” If God had said that, he would be 100% justified. God was under no obligation to rescue us when we wandered astray.

God would not leave us alone!
We said, “Leave me alone!”
But God said, “I can’t do that.”
“And the Lord has laid on him.” That’s Jesus! That’s the great Servant of the Lord who came from heaven on a divine rescue mission.
God laid our sins on Jesus.
That’s the doctrine of substitution.
That’s the heart of gospel.
He took my place when he died.
God laid my sins on him.

Let’s suppose that all your sins have been written in one massive book. That book is heavy because it records every rotten thing you’ve ever said, every unkind word you’ve ever spoken, every mean thought, every lustful fantasy, every evil imagination, and all your bad attitudes from the day of your birth till the day of your death. Picture yourself trying to hold that massive book in your hands.

Now picture Jesus standing next to you. He is holy, perfect, pure and good. He has no book in his hands because he never sinned. You want to be rid of the book but you can’t seem to find a place to put it down. What will you do? Now picture Christ on the Cross, with the weight of millions of books upon his bleeding back. He bears that crushing weight as long as he can, then he dies.
Look closely and you will see that each book is the personal record of someone who lived on the earth. If you look closely, you can see your book too. He took your sins–the record of all your evil and all your failings and all your shortcomings–he took it all upon himself when he died on the Cross. Truly, the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Would you like to go to heaven?
You can.
Jesus did not go unwillingly to the cross
Isaiah 53 contains the good news we all need. He was bruised–for us. He was wounded–for us. He was beaten, betrayed, mocked, scourged, crowned with thorns, crucified–all for us. Our sins drove Jesus to the cross. But he did not go unwillingly. If our sins drove him there, it was his love for us that kept him there.

LET US PRAY
FATHER IN JESUS NAME, EVERYTHING THAT IS TAKING THE PLACE OF GOD IN OUR LIVES IS HEREBY CAST OUT IN JESUS NAME.

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Good morning friends