Just for me

He did it for me.

Who hath believed our report?

And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?

2  For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant,

And as a root out of a dry ground:

He hath no form nor comeliness;

And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

3  He is despised and rejected of men;

A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief:

And †we hid as it were our faces from him;

He was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4  Surely he hath borne our griefs,

And carried our sorrows:

Yet we did esteem him stricken,

Smitten of God, and afflicted.

5  But he was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities:

The chastisement of our peace was upon him;

And with his stripes we are healed.

6  All we like sheep have gone astray;

We have turned every one to his own way;

And the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:1-6

What does the cross of Jesus mean? It's more than songs we sing, yeah Much more than that emblem on your chain But it means I'm free, yes from the chains of slavery And the blood that shed won't let my sins remain, oh my

Upon the cross my saviour died, the lamb was crucified Showed us love that this world had never known Oh what love, divine so divine, true a love you'll never find So that we might live, love came and died alone, Hallelujah

Well the cross will always represent the love God had for me When the Lord of glory, heaven sent gave all on calvary He did it just for me, just for me, Hallelujah Jesus came and did it just for me, help me sing

Well the cross will always represent the love God had for me When the Lord of glory, heaven sent gave all on calvary He did it just for me, for me, just for me Hallelujah, Jesus came and did it just for me Everybody sing

Just for me, just for me (oh yes) Jesus came and did it just for me (oh) Just for me, just for me Oh, Jesus came and did it just for me (Hallelujah)

When you think that Christ died just for you it should change the way you think. Isaiah spoke of Christ and his sacrifice some 700 years before Christ ultimate birth, life and death at Calvary. I believe that people don’t really appreciate what Christ did for them. As preachers we are to preach the cross but have we some how generalized it so much that the full appreciation cant be grasped.

Monday marked the 60 anniversary of the great march on Washington and the 60th anniversary of the I have a dream speech. It is said that at a certain point Mahalia Jackson said to Dr. King teall them about the Dream Dr. They said thats when Dr King pivoted his speech to the I have a Dream portion. This portion has been the most recited and remember of all his speeches. I would argue if you read some of his others you cna say he had a lot more to say than just a dream but its these words resonated when the listener.

I can preach about the cross but its the words of Isaiah that resonates in the dept of my soul.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: The chastisement of our peace was upon him; And with his stripes we are healed.

Just for Me!!!

Isaiah opens Chapter 53 with who shall believe our report? Which is translate who had believed what was heard from us?

This is a challenge today. Who will believe the preached word? Who will believe that Christ died just for you. Yes for you, me and all who believe. The challenge is getting people to believe.

John share these same words in John 12 when he said:

“Lord, who has believed what he heard from us,

and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”

John reminded us that many could not believe because as Isaiah had said earlier in chapter 6 of Isaiah:

39 Therefore they could not believe. For again Isaiah said,

40  “He has blinded their eyes

and hardened their heart,

lest they see with their eyes,

and understand with their heart, and turn,

and I would heal them.”

41 Isaiah said these things because he saw his glory and spoke of him. 42 Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; 43 for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God. (Jn 12:38–43).

Isn’t this just like the world today? They love the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.

Paul brought up the same scripture when he talk about preaching of the Gospel in Roman 10. 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

(Ro 10:16–17).

Last week I had the Deacons read John 13

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. (1 Pe 2:24–25).

A New Commandment

31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 31-35

Paul urges us to appreciate what Christ did by becoming righteous 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Co 5:20–21).

When he spoke to the Romans 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit (Ro 8:3–4).

Christ did what the law could not do 11 Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” 12 But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

(Ga 3:11–14).

This a story to be appreciated! Jesus

13–15  “Just watch my servant blossom!

Exalted, tall, head and shoulders above the crowd!

But he didn’t begin that way.

At first everyone was appalled.

He didn’t even look human—

a ruined face, disfigured past recognition.

Nations all over the world will be in awe, taken aback,

kings shocked into silence when they see him.

For what was unheard of they’ll see with their own eyes,

what was unthinkable they’ll have right before them.”

1  53 Who believes what we’ve heard and seen?

Who would have thought GOD’s saving power would look like this?

2–6  The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,

a scrubby plant in a parched field.

There was nothing attractive about him,

nothing to cause us to take a second look.

He was looked down on and passed over,

a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.

One look at him and people turned away.

We looked down on him, thought he was scum.

But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—

our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.

We thought he brought it on himself,

that God was punishing him for his own failures.

But it was our sins that did that to him,

that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!

He took the punishment, and that made us whole.

Through his bruises we get healed.

We’re all like sheep who’ve wandered off and gotten lost.

We’ve all done our own thing, gone our own way.

And GOD has piled all our sins, everything we’ve done wrong,

on him, on him.

7–9  He was beaten, he was tortured,

but he didn’t say a word.

Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered

and like a sheep being sheared,

he took it all in silence.

Peterson, E. H. (2005). The Message: the Bible in contemporary language (Is 52:13–53:7). Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress.