Thursday, March 16, 2017
Isaiah 53:3-4 He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
A LENTEN CONTRAST: THE MAN OF SORROWS BRINGS US JOY!
If we have no sorrow over our sin, then we have not read God's Law. The law, written in the heart or recorded in the Scriptures, serves as a mirror and shows us our sin, for "By the law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). From it we know that we deserve punishment for we have broken God's law. The fact that we deserve punishment should be enough to make anyone sorrow over sin. On account of sin, with no hope, mankind is grief-stricken as he thinks on his impending death.
This is the way the law works. I'm sure that death row is full of people who sorrow over their coming execution, but they have earned it by their crimes. If a crime is committed, it is the function of the law to convict and condemn! So each of us, as sinners are condemned to death. Mankind sorrows over the punishment he has brought upon himself through sin.
On account of our sin, on account of the fact that we could not pay for sin ourselves, God, out of His infinite grace, sent us Someone to take our sorrow away by taking our sorrow upon Himself. As we look at the crucifix with the figure of the anguished body of the Savior stretched out upon it; as we look at paintings depicting Jesus' bleeding, thorn-crowned head; as we listen to Jesus' words of despair as He suffered the torments of hell, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" we see the Man of Sorrows suffering all this for us! Our sins made it necessary for Christ to go to that cross! WE should have been the ones who were nailed up and lowered into the depths of hell! This Savior paid the eternal price necessary for sin, not deserve it. He did it to bring us joy everlasting in heaven!
As we continue further into the season of Lent may God grant us sincere sorrow over sin. But may that sorrow not be the sorrow of the world, which, while sorrowing over the punishment it faces, turns away from God, hiding its face from Jesus Christ and continuing to despise Him. May our sorrow be the sorrow of the believer, who sorrows over the sins that led Jesus Christ to suffer and die-- even as we turn to Him in faith. And may God grant that He never leave us in sorrow, but that the Holy Spirit ever work joy in our hearts, knowing that through the sorrows and griefs that Jesus Christ suffered, we have everlasting joy.
Let us ever praise God for His wonderful contrast. The Man of Sorrows has brought unto sinners everlasting joy!
