Jesus Paid It All

"But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.  We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and The LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all."  Isaiah 53:5-6 (NIV)

The Prophet Isaiah, wrote to the people of God, first, to warn them about their sinful behavior, and second to tell them about the coming Messiah, Jesus, The Christ.  Here Isaiah states that Jesus took upon Himself all of our iniquities, and by His physical injuries we were healed.  His punishment paid for our peace.

Jesus, who never sinned, paid the price for all of our sins. (Romans 6:23)  He was the sacrificial lamb who shed His blood for the remission of our sins. (Hebrews 9:22)  Jesus, The Son of God, endured the wrath of God, The Father, for our sins as our substitute. (John 1:29 & Revelation 14:10)  We have gone our own sinful way instead of following His way.  In fact, He is the way. (John 14:6)  Because He was hurt, we can be healed.  Because He was pierced, we can be protected.  Because He was crushed, we can be cured.  Because He was flogged, we can be forgiven.  Because He was punished, we can have peace.  Because He was wounded, we can be washed in His blood.  Because He took our sins, we can be saved.

Lord Have Mercy

"Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight ..." Psalms 51:1-4 (NIV)

David sinned, he knew that he had sinned, and he prayed for mercy and forgiveness. He wanted God to cleanse him and take away all of his sins (stated here and repeated in verse 7).

It has been said that David was "a man after God's own heart," not because he did not sin, but because his heart was in the right place. David prayed to God for forgiveness, mercy, and God's help after he sinned, and he did not continue to repeat the same sin over and over again. We need to sincerely pray like David did. We also need to ask God to help us, and to remove from us the desire for our sins, to create in us a clean heart and mind. We cannot become more Christ-like without God's help.

Blessed And Forgiven

"Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin The Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit." Psalms 32:1-2 (NIV)

King David knew that a man was blessed if God has forgiven him or his sins. He also knew that when God forgives a man of his sins, the sins that he has committed will never count against him.

Believers know that the Bible states that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9) Jesus died for our sins and it is by His blood that our sins are covered. When God looks at believers, He sees the blood of Jesus and not our sin sick souls. We are blessed because our sins are forgiven and not held against us thanks to Jesus, The Christ.

The Suffering Of Christ Predicted

"He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:3-5 (NIV)

More than 400 years beforehand, the prophet Isaiah predicted the rejection and suffering that Jesus Christ would endure during His earthly ministry. Isaiah stated that Jesus would be pierced and physically abused for our iniquities and transgressions, and that by His wounds we would be healed.

The physical suffering that Jesus would endure as payment for our sins so that we might be saved, was predicted by the prophet Isaiah and later verified by the apostles Matthew, Mark, and John, and by Luke, the physician and close companion of the apostle Paul. We ought to thank Jesus The Christ everyday for His role in our redemption and salvation.

Confess Sins Or Continue To Feel Guilty

"When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer. Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to The Lord' and You forgave the guilt of my sin." Psalms 32:3-5 (NIV)

David reports that when he sinned and did not confess it, he was miserable afterwards. Only after acknowledged his sin and confessed them to God was he able to feel better and be guilt free.

We all have sinned, and we will continue to sin as long as we continue this human existence. However, as believers we will not enjoy our sin as we used to before we were saved. We will feel bad and guilt ridden after we sin. Our sins will take a physical and emotional toll on us. We need to acknowledge our sins, confess them to God, and ask for His help so that we do not continue to commit the same sin over and over again. When we pray and confess our sins, we should be specific and name the sins that we are asking Him to forgive. Listing our sins may help us to realize just how much we need His help in order to be Christ-like. Let us not lose the joy of our salvation because we won't acknowledge and confess our sins. (Psalms 51:1-15)