Hello, my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
Have you ever seen an avalanche? It’s one of the most frightening of all natural phenomena. Snow cascading down a mountain sometimes at speeds up to 100 mph! The power of an avalanche can uproot trees like little weeds or rip boulders off the sides of mountains. It can tumble mountain side cabins or even ski lodges like tinker toys. And when finally, it settles, there’s usually a deep fresh blanket of snow, sometimes 10 or 20 feet deep, covering everything with pure white. I’ve only seen it as recorded by video tape, but it sure seems like a frightening transformation of the landscape.
I’ve chosen that avalanche image to begin our time together today because we’re continuing our look at one of the most powerful verses in the entire Bible written by Isaiah the prophet about 2700 years ago: “He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him and by His wounds we are healed.” (Is. 53:5) We’ve looked at the graphic, horrific crucifixion of Jesus Christ as the outpouring of God’s Justice wrath on the sins of humanity, in which Jesus was immersed by God as He hung on the cross as our atoning sacrifice. We’ve looked at the reality that perfect, holy Jesus paid the full sin debt death price for all humanity.
Those truths are the power of the first 1/2 of that great verse, Isaiah 53:5. Now today let’s wrestle with HOW the second phrase in that verse can become reality for you and me 2000 years after Jesus died: “the punishment that brought us peace was on Him and by His wounds we are healed.” This is PEACE with God and HEALING from the damage done by our sin to our lives and our relationship with God.
Yesterday I showed you that the first step in this ‘avalanche like’ transformation is our acknowledgment of our sin and our willingness to be held responsible for our sin! God’s word for that is CONFESS. It’s an essential first step. There is no forgiveness without acknowledgment of sin and a willingness to be held accountable for our sin. John wrote it this way: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8,9) There it is, step one in experiencing God’s forgiveness and cleansing to purity.
The second step is acknowledging the truth, value and power of what Jesus accomplished for us in His atonement crucifixion death and His resurrection from the dead. The crucifixion only has sin forgiving power if in fact Jesus who was crucified is God the Son, sinless incarnate. These past two days we’ve discussed the important truth that sinless Jesus, God the Son, paid our full sin debt price by taking upon Himself the sinfulness of humanity and then experiencing God’s justice wrath poured out upon Him for all humanity.
As a result, with the payment made, but Jesus having committed no sin, God has full sin payment ready to be applied to sin committed by anyone, in any generation, anywhere in the world. Because God is timeless, the payment made 2000 years ago remains as valid today as it was then! Each and every day, through all time, God stands ready to apply that unique Jesus payment, made in His crucifixion atonement, to any repentant person through all time. Do you understand that my friends?
Because Jesus is sinless God, His full sin death payment is applicable to not just one person or 100 people or even 1 million people, but rather to an infinite number of sins and an infinite number of sinful people! That’s why this statement in Hebrews 7:25 is so very powerful: “Because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. Therefore, He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.” The resurrection of Jesus from His crucifixion death; the ascension of Jesus back to heaven; and the restoration of Jesus to His sovereign, supremacy; positions Jesus now as unlimited Savior and King over all! (Phil. 2:9-11)
Therefore, God stands ready to apply the full sin payment of Jesus to any person who is ready to fully trust God to do that transformational work in their lives, in response to their confession of sin and repentance from sin! Repentance, as we know means turning away from sin, rejecting sin and turning TO Jesus Christ, trusting fully in Him to completely save from the stronghold of sin and the condemnation of sin. That’s why Paul wrote: “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved! (Romans 10:9,10)
So, let’s be clear. Our role as humans in the avalanche of our salvation is: confessing our sin; repenting of our sin; acknowledging Jesus Christ is God; and trusting God’s truth that the timeless, unlimited, justice payment of Jesus in His crucifixion can be applied by God, down through time, to any repentant sinner! It is then a great, miraculous transaction takes place as declared in 2 Corinthians 5:21. The sin of a repentant sinner is declared by God to have been among the sin placed on Jesus at the cross, and the holiness, righteousness of Jesus, God the Son, is then applied to the life of that repentant sinner!
I call it the ‘great exchange’! It is then the spiritual avalanche takes place as the Holy Spirit of God fully, completely, entirely cleanses the repentant sinner from all residue, guilt and shame of their sin! The Holy Spirit then takes up residence INSIDE that repentant sinner as he or she is adopted by God the Father into God’s family! (Rom. 8:14-17) And the Holy Spirit births a new, holy, spiritual nature in that person. Jesus called it being ‘born again’. Theologians call it ‘regeneration’. It’s what Jesus and Nicodemus the Pharisee discussed as John recorded in John 3:3-7.
And the spiritual avalanche continues because now with the sin wall broken down and the repentant sinner cleansed by the Holy Spirit, Jesus is able to reconcile this rebellious but repentant sinner to Holy God into the relationship God had designed this person for from the time they were in their mother’s womb! (Colossians 1:21,22) And may I mention just one more thing accomplished by God in this spiritual avalanche of salvation? This forgiven, cleansed, reconciled, adopted, regenerated sinner is now given eternal life and assurance that whenever and wherever they finally breathe their last breath on earth, their soul and spirit will be instantly transported to be with God for all eternity future! (John 5:24)
Now all of that is wrapped up in this most famous of all statements made by Jesus. As we say it, listen very closely to each word, for they are each descriptive of an important part of this spiritual avalanche called salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in HIM shall not perish but shall have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
Now those words mean so much more when linked with these words of Isaiah: “He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him and by His wounds we are healed.” (Is. 53:5) Oh my, I think it’s time we worship. . .
Today’s Scriptures: Is. 53:5 & Romans 10:9,10.
Choose below to read or listen.
Is. 53:5
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Romans 10:9, 10
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
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Pastor Doug Anderson
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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