Isaiah 53:7 - The Lamb Slain

He was oppressed, and He was afflicted

yet He opened not His mouth;

Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so He opened not His mouth.

In this verse, the lamb-like qualities of the Savior are emphasized as His sufferings are further explained. The primary lamb-like quality to which our attention is drawn is silence. The explored aspect of His suffering is its essential injustice.   

The Nature of Christ's Suffering: Injustice

Our Lord was oppressed as men--His own creation--placed Him under their authority and exercised their false judgments against Him. He was afflicted and humbled as He willingly subjected Himself to this treatment. At the same time, He received from the Father all of the wrath and condemnation that should have been borne by sinners, and submitted Himself to the will of the Father. Man's judgment against Him--as He stood innocently before human rulers--was unrighteous, untrue, and hateful. God's judgment against Him as He stood in our place was righteous, accurate, and an act of infinite mercy.  

The comparison to a lamb that is led to slaughter brings our attention to the nature of His death: a sacrificial offering lovingly made on behalf of guilty sinners.

Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Jesus' death and suffering was "for us" and it was "to God." And this is what Christian love always is: sacrificial (i.e. unselfish) action that is done FOR OTHERS (to benefit them) and TO GOD (to honor Him). The cross of Jesus radiates this love in full power, and our lives of faith--sharing in the sufferings of Christ as well as His resurrection power--can radiate it, too. We are commanded to WALK in this love. Steps of sacrifice, steps of mercy, steps of worship, steps of joy. "Offering and sacrifice" are the language of worship. 

Jesus' worship of the Father was further expressed in His response to the oppression and affliction He experienced. 

Christ's Response to His Sufferings: Silence

Jesus' use of words was perfect. His selection of verbiage was precise. He knew when to keep silent, when to utter a few efficient words, and when to unleash a torrent of speech. We usually hold these matters in reverse proportion, remaining sinfully silent when we should speak, and babbling incessantly when we should hold our tongues. Jesus' silence before his accusers and His quiet acceptance of suffering remind us that He went willingly to the place of sacrifice. 

The silence predicted by Isaiah was demonstrated by the Lord when He was questioned by the High Priest: 

Matthew 26:62-63a And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But Jesus remained silent.

Mark 14:60-61a And the high priest stood up in the midst and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” But he remained silent and made no answer.

Silence in the face of false accusations, injustice, and suffering is a dauntingly difficult discipline to master (or to practice from time to time, or even to achieve once). Jesus' mastery of this discipline is evident. 

Nevertheless, He did not remain entirely silent and later answered in wisdom and truth, thereby ensuring a false condemnation. His silence had merely set the stage for the answer that would follow, building the sense of anticipation and drawing attention and emphasis to His final reply. In this way, He assured His own condemnation while securing our release from divine wrath. He accepted man's false judgments against Him and He embraced the Father's true judgments that were rendered for us. He willingly chose to be condemned and graciously chose to die in our place.

Matthew 26:63b-66 And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” 

Even from the cross, His statements are few and deliberate. As He dies, Jesus' words are life-giving. How much more as He now lives and sits exalted in the heavens!

Dear friend, do you trust in Jesus' sacrifice on your behalf? Do you hang on His words? Do you confess a confident and sure trust in the One who suffered and remained silent, then spoke deliberately and accepted the sentence of death--only to rise again in victory?

There are many problems in the world today. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only answer to the greatest of them. And it is the only answer to your greatest problem, and mine: sin against a wise, holy, and loving God, and the condemnation it brings. With this problem resolved forever, you and I go free, and we are set free to walk in God's holy love.    

An Outline of Biblical Christology

The Lord has graciously allowed me the opportunity to teach a class on the Incarnation. What a grand topic!  The outline below was developed to help view the Incarnation in its wider theological context. You may find it useful for your own edification and Gospel meditation, and perhaps also for study and teaching. 

This type of systematic Biblical study highlights the fact that the doctrine of the Incarnation is dependent upon the doctrine of the Trinity; the doctrine of the Cross is dependent upon both the Trinity and the Incarnation; the doctrine of Christ's Final Victory is dependent upon the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Cross. And the doctrines of Salvation, Sanctification, and Glorification are inextricably tied to all of the foregoing. In other words, if Christ was not God and Man, and Suffering and Victorious, we would have no hope. Thank God He IS, and therefore we DO!

AN OUTLINE OF BIBLICAL CHRISTOLOGY

      I.        I. Pre-Incarnate Glory

And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed. (Jn 17:5)

a.     Divinity

… the Word was with God, and the Word was God (Jn. 1:1); He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature (Heb. 1:3)

b.    Sonship

… He gave His only Son … (Jn. 3:16)

c.     Work as Creator

For by Him all things were created … all things were created through Him and for Him (Col.1:16)

d.    Revelation as Messiah

Immanuel (Isa. 7:14); A Prophet like Moses (Deut. 18:15-19); The seed of the woman who will crush the serpent’s head (Gen. 3:15)

See also Isa. 9:6; Mic. 5:2; Ps. 45:6-7

    II.        II. Earthly Life (Humiliation)

            He was manifested in the flesh … (I Tim. 3:16); But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman … (Gal. 4:4)

a.     Virgin Birth

Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son … (Isa. 7:14, Mt. 1:23); … for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit (Mt. 1:20); … the angel answered her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God (Lk 1:35)

b.    Humanity

Since … the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise partook of the same things (Heb. 2:14); And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us … (Jn. 1:14); … the man Christ Jesus (I Tim. 2:5)

                                                    i.    Suffering

Despised and rejected … a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief (Isa. 53:3); … He learned obedience through what He suffered (Heb. 5:8)

                                                  ii.    Temptation

… One who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin (Heb. 4:15)

c.     Holiness & Sinlessness

 We… have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. (Heb. 7:26)

                                                    i.    Innocence from Evil

… who knew no sin (II Cor. 5:21); He had done no violence … there was no deceit in His mouth (Isa. 53:9); … in Him there is no sin (I Jn. 3:5)

                                                  ii.    Practice of Good Works

… how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. (Acts 10:38)

                                                 iii.    Faith & Devotion to the Will of God

In the days of His flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His reverence. (Heb.5:7); … continued entrusting Himself to Him who judges justly (I Pet. 2:23)

d.    Sacrificial Death

He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Heb. 9:26); Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God (Eph. 5:2)

                                                    i.    Shedding of Blood

… the church of God, which He obtained with His own blood (Acts 20:28)

                                                  ii.    Bearing of Sin, Guilt & Wrath

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree (I Pet. 2:24); … the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isa.53:6)

                                                 iii.    Vicarious, Substitutionary Atonement Accomplished by His death

… who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness (Titus 2:14); It is finished (Jn. 19:30)

   III.        III. Ultimate Glorification (Exaltation)

Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name (Php. 2:9); … that in everything He might be preeminent (Col. 1:18)

a.     Resurrection from the Dead

God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it (Acts 2:24)

b.    Ascension into Heaven

He … was carried up into heaven (Lk. 24:51); … He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight (Acts 1:9)

c.     Enthronement at the Right Hand of the Father

We have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven (Heb. 8:1)

When Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God (Heb. 10:12)

d.    Intercession & Mediation for Believers

… He is the mediator of a new covenant (Heb. 9:15); … there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (I Tim. 2:5); He is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them (Heb. 7:25)

e.     Second Coming & Final Victory

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like His glorious body, by the power that enables Him even to subject all things to Himself.  (Php. 3:20-21)

Isaiah 53:5 - Wrath and Discipline

Editor's Note: With chagrin, I must remark that our slowly progressing study of Isaiah 53 might be the longest running series in blogging history. This particular post has been 15 months in the making! I hope it was worth the wait. The challenges contained in this verse led to the recent series of posts on the extent of the atonement, which had to be sorted through before this post could be finished. May you be blessed by the encouragements given through Isaiah in his astoundingly deep words about the work of Christ in our behalf.

But He was pierced through for our transgressions, 

He was crushed for our iniquities; 

The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, 

And by His scourging we are healed.

This verse is a response to the preceding phrase: "we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted" (Isaiah 53:4b). It answers the questions, "Why was He so afflicted, grieved and sorrowful?" and, "Why would God treat Him this way?" The reasons are clear: because we sinned, and in order to restore us.


Here Isaiah brings the substitutionary and representative aspects of Christ's work into focus. As substitute, Christ stands in the place of the condemned sinner and receives the full outpouring of God's wrath. Yet He stands also in the place of the redeemed sinner and represents that sinner in the corrective judgments that will bring full restoration. As the believer's substitute, Christ closes the door on wrath. As his representative, He opens the blessed way into God's discipline - the way of sonship.

First he endures wrath so that we can escape from it, then He experiences divine discipline so we can embrace it. There is the wrath which we deserve but haven't yet received, and then there is the discipline we need but can't receive without first being accepted as sons. Christ suffers the one substitutionally so that we can't suffer it, and the other representatively so that we may join Him in it. 

The Substitutionary Suffering of Christ

The verse divides neatly into two halves, indicating substitutionary atonement first, and then representative suffering. As our substitute, Christ suffered in our stead - so that the sting of sin and death is now removed. Thus, as believers, we can never experience what He experienced there. We could have, and should have, but by God's grace we never will. This is the message of the first half of the verse:

But He was pierced through for our transgressions, 

He was crushed for our iniquities; 

Pierced Through - Heb. HHALAL, חָלַל = to wound (fatally), bore through, pierce, bore. The word can also have the meaning: to profane, defile, pollute, desecrate

In the literal sense, Christ was "pierced" 5 times; in each hand, in each foot, and then in His side. In the figurative sense, God allowed him to be defiled by our sin. Sin defiles the soul, piercing and killing it.


Crushed - Heb. DAKA, דָּכָא = to crush, be crushed, be contrite, be broken

Though our Lord experienced the most intense physical pain, He was not crushed physically. In fact, He was preserved from the breaking of bones (Exodus 12:46; Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:20). He was spiritually broken, crushed and made contrite by the bearing of our sins. The weight and pressure of them was hideously oppressive to His soul.

Here He is treated as an enemy, and not as a son. "Piercing" and "crushing" describe the furious destruction that would be meted out upon one's adversary. One pierces and crushes his foe, not his child. Thus, Christ represented the enemies of God and experienced the kind of destruction they are due: the terror of having to bear their own iniquity and its destructive results.

The Representative Suffering of Christ

As our representative - our brother - Christ suffered with us. In the first half of the verse, he accomplished what was needed to justify us. But in the second half he brings about our much needed sanctification. In this sense He not only suffers for us, but also with us, and in order that we may suffer with Him. He thus provides the ground by which we can be accepted, not merely as sinners justified through a gifted righteousness, but also as sons sanctified through experiential identification with THE SON. This is the message of the second half of the verse:

The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, 

And by His scourging we are healed.

Chastening - Heb. MUSAR מוּסָר = discipline, chastening, correction. "Essentially, it is a bond, a checking, restraint, i.e., correction which results in education." (Zodhiates)

Well-being - Heb. SHALOM שָׁלוֹם = completeness, soundness, welfare, peace. ". . . Shalom is a harmonious state of soul and mind, both externally and internally. . . . Though shalom can mean the absence of strife, it usually is much more. It expresses completeness, harmony, and fulfillment." (Zodhiates)

Scourging - Heb. HHABURAH חַבּוּרָה = bruise, stripe, wound, blow

Proverbs 20:30 Blows that wound cleanse away evil; strokes make clean the innermost parts.


Healed - Heb. RAPHA רָפָא = to heal, make healthful

In the second half of the verse, He suffers the corrective discipline which would be administered to a beloved but disobedient son. "Chastening" and "scourging" describe the discipline a Father administers to his erring child. Christ was standing in our place, no longer as rebellious sinners deserving wrath, but as justified sons needing the Father's discipline. He suffers this discipline not so that we can avoid it, but so that we can enter into it with Him.

In the first part of the verse, He suffered for the sin of the whole world. In the second, He suffered for the benefit of those who are redeemed and brought to sonship through His suffering. As He suffered the fullness of divine wrath for the sin of the world, so He suffered the fullness of divine discipline for the sins of the believer.

Thus we find God, in the process of making atonement, already responding to the anticipated effects of the atonement.

We now share in Christ's sufferings. We take up our crosses and follow Him. Christian suffering and sanctification in the New Testament are framed as a participation in the sufferings of Christ, and a sharing in the cross.

Matthew 16:24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me."
Luke 9:23 And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me."
Luke 14:27 "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
I Peter 2:24 and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed.
I Peter 4:1-2 Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
Romans 6:10-11 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Colossians 1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions.

The first half of Isaiah 53:5 showed us our culpability as sinners under God's wrath. The second half speaks of our well being as God's redeemed children. Contained in every line, and forming the link between these two concepts, is the suffering of Christ in behalf of sinners. His suffering accomplishes our justification and empowers our sanctification.

Isaiah 53:3 - The Discounted Savior

Editor's Note: For awhile now, I've been far too busy arguing (here and on other blogs) for inerrancy, six day creation, divine sovereignty, complementarian gender roles, and other Biblical doctrines that I consider basic and obvious. Meanwhile, the series on Isaiah 53 has been idle for too long. Where does the time go? I have learned at least three things through all of the debating and discussing. First, the deception and theological confusion in mainstream American Evangelical Christianity is so widespread that unbelief has become an accepted, unrestrained epidemic. It is the norm. Bible believers are pejoratively labeled "fundamentalists" and systematically marginalized in some circles. Second, it is God alone who can change the mind and heart of a person bent on disbelieving Scripture (myself included). Third, the Word of God itself holds the greatest potential to benefit sinners (myself included), in whatever state of belief or unbelief they find themselves. With that, I repentantly and deliberately move away from debating with other Christians, and take up the plain study of God's Word once again. I stand by my convictions as articulated, and I won't hesitate to proclaim the truth (and I may continue to selectively engage in some doctrinal discussions), but it's time for a change of focus. I pray that you, dear reader, will be blessed and encouraged by what is written here, and not turned aside to the quagmire of religious controversy that is perpetually fueled by doubt.

He was despised and forsaken of men,

A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; 
And like one from whom men hide their face

He was despised,

And we did not esteem Him.

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Humanity's rejection of Christ is on full display here. The Jewish leaders in Jesus' day did not accept Him. The Roman authorities passed a death sentence against Him. The people did not rise up to defend Him, but instead shouted, "Crucify!" Even the more stalwart disciples ran away and hid themselves. A tiny group of women, a condemned criminal and a surprised centurion were His sole supporters during His suffering on the cross (perhaps even they hid their faces in horror at the sight of His torment). He died alone, and He entered the grave without any companions.

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Isaiah's words also remind us of His rejection in our day, by unbelievers and by professed believers who are not really believers. By brazen hypocrites who use Christian religion as a means of personal gain. And by sincere and growing Christians who fail to honor Him in many ways as we battle with idols of the heart, pride, selfishness and misdirected worship. We, too, are rejectors of Christ in some measure, and we need the continuous cleansing of the Gospel.

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In these words His humanity is emphasized. He is distinctively a man of sorrows. In the incarnation, God presented Himself not as infinite God, but as finite man. His true deity was hidden behind, under, and within His real humanity. In Christ's ministry we see a compassionate gentleness that didn't blast sinful humanity with a divine "shock and awe," and presented truth with the padding of parables. The raw power of His Deity was presented selectively and with great purpose, and primarily to those who believed. Revelation dropped as gentle rain upon the weary, and only rarely did it thunder down over the heads of the stubborn. Jesus had not come to deal out wrath, but to absorb it.

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His humility is presented. He is a man of SORROWS, SICKNESS, SADNESS, SOLITUDE, and SCORN.

He was despised, and counted as worthless. It is stated twice in this one verse. Perhaps it is repeated so we can first see the whole world's rejection of Him, and not fail to recognize our own personal rejection of Him as well. The subject of the verse moves from "men" in general to "we" in particular.

He was diseased. He Carried our spiritual sickness in His own body. He felt the weakness of our humanity.

He was depressed. The sad realities of our sin affected Him deeply and personally. Though He had joy in the Father's continuous embrace, He simultaneously apprehended the severity of the Father's displeasure against the sin He would bear in our behalf. The eternal embrace would be temporarily broken at the cross, where fierce wrath fell over Him. Not only men, but God also hid His face.

He was deserted. He was alone in His redeeming work. The Only Man, the One Mediator, the Sole Savior, our Great High Priest who went by Himself into the Tabernacle to make atonement for our sins.

He was disposable. He was considered by most to be little more than an interesting public figure, one of many who would come and go. Like all other men, He would die.

Think of the accusations made against Him by the religious elite, the spiritual leaders and the respected intellectuals of the day. They said He was demon possessed, insane, an alcoholic, not a true Jew, a law-breaker, a troublemaker, and a liar. He was despised.

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He felt the pain of the sick, the disenfranchisement of the marginalized, the uncertainty of the poor, and the shame of the outcasts. He grieved over the dullness and doubting of the disciples. He agonized over the world's unbelief. He was crushed by the destructiveness of human sin. He was shattered by the Father's condemnation. Devastated by divine decree, and hated by humanity.

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We are among the condemners. We have stood in the crowd shouting "Crucify!" We have not esteemed Him. We have worshiped Him falsely. All of our remaining sin is a result of not sufficiently valuing Him. All of our hypocrisy is a result of rejecting Him in some compartment of our lives. All of our sanctification struggles boil down to a view of Christ that is too low. We simply don't trust Him enough, don't love Him enough, and don't think highly enough of Him. He, for His part, still calls out, "Father, forgive them." He always makes intercession. He invites us to swim out to Him, through the sea of our failures, beyond the foaming waves of doubt, and draws us with the undertow of grace. Our hearts can be purified and are being purified.

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We must renew our affection for Christ, revive our trust in Him, repent and return to our First Love. The remedy is to change our values so that nothing is above Him and He is valued above everything else. We must expand the practical boundaries of His Lordship and exaltation. All of life is worship, and the need of every fallen creature is to be restored to the true worship.

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When we enter our heavenly rest, our present faith and struggle will culminate in an exclusive, uncompromising and eternal devotion to Him - never contradicted by disobedience, idolatry, or doubt - as we shout "Soli Deo Gloria" forever without ceasing.

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In the meantime, we practice.

Hallelujah Revisited

If you appreciate heartfelt music, you will probably like this video. We'll call it a "blog response" to this post from Barry Wallace (warning: if you listen to these songs back to back, have a box of tissues handy). Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" has needed better words for a long time, and now thanks to one of our Roman Catholic friends we have a "Gospel-centered" version! How's that for irony?

HT: Tony Hayling

How Deep the Father's Love For Us

While I'm recovering from my recent moving adventure (see below), you may receive edification from this beautiful song and video about the cross. This is one of the many songs inspired by the words of Isaiah 53.

Isaiah 52:14 - The Astonishing Sacrifice

"Just as many were astonished at you, My people, so His appearance was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men. "

There are some intense thoughts here for the interested reader. Please consider these points as seeds for deeper meditation on the cross of Christ. God's Word REVEALS God's character - and His work on the cross reveals mysterious wonders that are satisfying food for our hungry, sin-sick souls. This is where we find the greatest encouragements, and the deepest change. We begin with an examination of the Hebrew word for "astonished." I pray that you and I and all mankind will fall down in utter awe before the Beautiful One Who died for lost, disgusting sinners like us. (Had I said "wretched," you wouldn't have tripped over that sentence. But the two words are synonymous - do you believe it? Until we believe it, won't be astonished by the cross.)

Astonished = Heb. SHAMEM, שמם - "To be desolate, be appalled, stun, stupefy ... to be desolated, be deflowered, be deserted ... be awestruck." (Brown-Driver-Briggs). "Basic to the root is the desolation caused by some great disaster, usually as a result of divine judgment.... the sense of 'horror' and 'shock' brought about by the vision of desolation. It is the inner response to the outward scene." (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament), "Awestruck or astonished." (Bible Knowledge Commentary).

The Cross is an Astonishing Thing
Gazing upon the cross of Christ will leave us blessedly desolate, as we are finally freed from ourselves, and liberated from the destructiveness of sin, and rightly made nothing in our own eyes. The cross properly deflowers us from the self-wrought veneer of our own glory. As worms looking up to the cross, we see what we are in what He became for us. As puffed up, self-inflatable gods looking down upon the cross, we see the means by which we may be made worms again. God knows we need to be astonished by some things. We need to be shaken out of the stupor of sin.

The Astonishment of the Cross Comes from the Marring of Christ's Appearance and Form.
Marred = Heb. MISHCHATH, משחת - "disfigurement (of face), corruption" (Brown-Driver-Briggs). Note that this is not an adjective, but an adjectival noun - representing disfigurement as personified and epitomized. The word is only used twice in the Old Testament. The other occurrence is in Leviticus 22:25, where it refers to an animal that has been bruised, crushed, torn, or cut, and is therefore unacceptable as a sacrifice. These terms fit well as a description of crucifixion, and the unacceptability of the animal may relate to Christ's work as the sin-bearing sacrifice, the One who became sin for us, and also became a curse for us. He bore our marred image, and shared with us in the destructive effects of sin - but for Him it was taken even further, so that He was marred by sin to a greater extent than we were.

This marring of the Son of God is designed to astonish us on many fronts . . .

The Cross Gives an Astonishing Revelation of the Depth of Man's Sin

On the surface of it, in the garden of Eden a piece of fruit was eaten. Today, fruit is eaten innocently on a regular basis. So what's the difference? In short, the difference is a matter of will. Adam and Eve ate the fruit contrary to God's command. In that act, for the first time, human beings defied the divine authority. We chose a course of action that was opposed to the revealed will of God. Our choice in the garden demonstrated extreme distrust for God, accusing Truth Personified of being a liar.

We dared to base the destiny of our race on the notion that Goodness Himself is somehow less than good. Our actions declared that God, Who IS LOVE, is unloving. We concluded that God was unreliable, imperfect, and unloving, and opted to build our future on the shaky sands of self-reliance, pride, and human wisdom. And by the way, we can still sin by eating fruit - if we don't eat it in faith, and to the glory of God.

Our choice in Adam opened the door to all sorts of calamity. It forfeited a perfect world for an existence fraught with tragedy. It separated us from God, ostensibly for eternity and without hope of repair or remedy. Adam had no hint that God would later move heaven and earth to undo the damage caused by humanity's rebellion.

The Cross is an Astonishing Revelation of God's Righteous Hatred for Sin, and His Just Judgment Against Sin

God's hatred for sin is not a mere preference. It is a deadly serious abhorrence of that which deserves to be abhorred. If Christ's experience on the cross shows us God's attitude toward sin, then in God's eyes there can be nothing more heinous than sin. Sinners who are not redeemed are ultimately abandoned by God. Bearing our sin, Jesus cried out, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" The final result of sin is complete separation from God. He will have nothing to do with sin, for it is utterly and eternally odious to Him.

To further discern the awfulness of God's judgment against sin, consider that Christ's wounds were not merely physical. He appears even in heaven as "a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain." God's judgment against sin, meted out vicariously against His Own beloved Son, was much deeper than bodily death. What Christ suffered in His body was an illustration of His greater afflictions.

Just look at some of the internal aspects of Christ's sufferings:

Isaiah 53:6 ... the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.

Isaiah 53:10 But the LORD was pleased to crush Him, putting Him to grief.

Isaiah 53:11 As a result of the anguish of His soul ...

Isaiah 53:11 ... He will bear their iniquities.

Psalm 22:14 I am poured out like water, And all my bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it is melted within me.

Even in Gethsemane, our Lord spoke these words:

Matthew 26:38 "My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death ..."

The Cross is an Astonishing Revelation of Christ's Willingness to Suffer

Our Lord's suffering was greater than any other man's suffering ever was. At particular times, each of us has carried the objective and subjective guilt of his own sins. To an enlightened conscience, the weight of this is unbearable. Yet our knowledge of personal guilt is spread out across a lifetime, and we often succeed in distracting ourselves from it. When we believe the Gospel, we find a salve which brings comfort to our bedraggled hearts and cleanses our consciences continually. But Christ carried the sins of the many, all at one time, and without benefit of distraction or comfort. He suffered the fully concentrated blast of sin's horrendous condemnation, and the unbridled wrath of the Father. It would take an eternity in hell to justly execute God's wrath against our sin upon us. Christ received that eternity's worth of wrath, multiplied by millions or more, all in the space of a few hours at most. It's no wonder there was darkness, and there were earthquakes. In light of this, it's remarkable that the earth itself did not burst into shards of cosmic debris, and that the sun did not implode at the sight of God enduring the agony of man's sin.

When Adam's fallen sons receive the wrath of God in any measure, they can at least realize that they are receiving exactly what they deserve, and what their deeds have warranted. But Christ's suffering was magnified by His divinity and sinlessness. He never deserved an ounce of divine wrath, but He received all the infinite fury of it.

"Because Christ was infinite in dignity, glory, and power, he had to descend an infinite distance to save us." (William P. Farley, Outrageous Mercy, p. 93)

Christ's sufferings were unimaginably heavy, yet He did not suffer under compulsion. He gave Himself willingly and without a trace of malice. Typically, when we human beings suffer even slightly, we rise up with cursings of hellish anger and hatred. But the Man Christ Jesus, suffering fathomless horrors, offered forgiveness to His murderers.

The Cross is an Astonishing Revelation of God's Humble Omnipotence

There are wonders here! Absolute wonders!

Implicit in the Gospel is Christ's amazing ability to become something MORE (or at least "other") without losing (or changing) what He essentially IS in His perfect divinity. He existed eternally as God, but became a man. He lived sinlessly on earth, but became sin for us on the cross. He is forever blessed, yet He "became a curse for us." (Galatians 3:13). He was, and is, and always will be divinely perfect - yet He "took the form of a bondservant" (Philippians 2:7) "became obedient" (Phillippians 2:8), "learned obedience" (Hebrews 5:8) and "was made perfect" (Hebrews 5:9). Nevertheless, He is "the SAME yesterday, and today, and forever." All of this is consistent with His astounding humility and grace, not to mention His abundantly and overwhelmingly great and indescribably magnificent LOVE. God can do things that we can't even begin to imagine, because He is moved by "the great love with which He loved us." (Eph. 2:4).

Note: This is not an acquiescence to the heresy known as "process theology." Process theology teaches that some aspects of God are changeable by nature. Contrary to this, Scripture teaches that Christ took on human characteristics in time, without any change in His eternal deity. There is mystery here, to be sure, but the mystery should never lead us to a denial of God's sovereignty and immutability, for those are Biblical facts which must never be denied. Link: http://www.theopedia.com/Process_theology

The Cross is an astonishing Revelation of God's Infinite Love for Human Beings

Why did God the Father send His Son? Why did God the Son consent to suffer death in our place? Why did God the Holy Spirit actively participate in this divine conspiracy which involved the crushing and alienation of one member of the Holy Trinity? Surely the collective heart of the entire Godhead was broken in Christ's passion! And we ask again, WHY?

The New Testament offers up a disarmingly simple answer to this complicated question:

Titus 3:4-5 But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy ...

Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved) ...

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

John 15:13 "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends."

At the cross, inexorable justice meets fathomless love. And there is sufficient sacrifice here to save a world that has abandoned it's Creator.

The person who looks upon the cross with faith sees this: his own sins have caused the suffering, shed the blood, and taken the life of the Perfect Man who is the Son of God. By this fact we are ever crushed. But God has used the cross to wipe out the debt of our sins and bring us back into fellowship with Himself. By this fact we are ever renewed and made joyous again.

So, first we are astonished at our wretchedness. But as we continue to consider the cross, we become even more amazed at God's stupefying grace.

Dear friend, are you astonished yet? If not (or if not enough), keep setting your gaze upon the cross. There you will find that God gives you everything you need, and all that He requires.