The Plan

Well, it has been my privilege over the last several weeks to discuss some unusual Scriptures about the incarnation of Lord Jesus Christ. I first stated that we can't start with the baby in the manger and understand the Christmas story. You have to understand that the gift of the Lord Jesus is because of the grief in the heart of God. It's also connected to grief in the human heart.

God hears your cry, and God’s response is the sending of His Son. We also recall the announcement of the angels, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, with whom He is pleased.’ That was not just an announcement of a birth; it was a prediction of a death. Christ’s death was the only way peace could be experienced by us.

Now, this morning, I’d like to ask a question. If I were going to ask you to write down on a piece of paper the greatest things that bring you pleasure, what would you write?

I’m not looking for a spiritual response. Just be honest. What brings you pleasure? If you look back at the end of the day and say, ”Wow that was a great day!” Why would you say that? If you look back on the week and say, “That was a wonderful week,” why would you say that? What brings you pleasure?

I would like to confess to you this morning that all of the things that bring me pleasure are deeply spiritual, but I can't. For example, I love Christmas. I love Christmas for all kinds of reasons. I love Christmas movies and shows. I love Christmas cookies. Christmas cookies bring me pleasure in all shapes, flavors, and forms. I love a beautifully decorated Christmas tree and Christmas lights. I love the smells of Christmas food cooking. I love being together with family and friends. Those are things that bring me pleasure.

Here’s what we need to understand—that this incredible story that we have been talking about this Advent season, really is connected to pleasure in the heart of God. That ought to change the way you think about this story.

We’re going to look at one verse out of Isaiah 53. This is a complete summary on the suffering of the coming Messiah. It’s a verse that you could probably quickly skip through as you're taking in all of the amazing content of Isaiah 53.

In this verse, we see that There is no clearer demonstration of the love of God than the offering of His Son.

Let me read verse Isaiah 53.10: “But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief; If He would render Himself as a guilt offering, He will see His offspring, He will prolong His days, And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.”

Let’s look at just this first phrase: But the Lord was pleased To crush Him, putting Him to grief . . .

How could it be that God the Father would ever find pleasure in the crushing and the grief of His Son?

You find yourself looking at this passage and saying, “What could be so powerful, so motivating in the heart of God, that He would be willing, even find pleasure in subjecting His Son to this horrible thing. What could be in the heart of God that would allow Him to do that? And the answer is this: “Love—magnificent, faithful, joyous, redeeming love!”

How can we know that? Remember one of the first verses you learned; Or maybe you’ve seen it in the football stands by the endzone. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

God so loved the world; that He would be willing to do this unbelievable thing; give His Son. God looked at us—broken inside, now separated in relationship to Him, which is the one thing for which we were created. God was so full of love, so full of grace, so full of compassion, He did not want us to stay the way we were; that’s love!

And because of our sin nature, we were unable to help ourselves. We were unable to escape this dilemna that grips all of our hearts. God had to move on our behalf. God so loved the world, that He gave! Please understand that God doesn't really find pleasure in those particular moments of the suffering of His Son; He finds pleasure in what that suffering would produce.

What is the result? A story of amazing love; love we could never earn or deserve. A love that must be given by God as a gracious gift. God loved us so much, that He would be willing to subject His Son to unthinkable things. Why? Because that one death would give life to many; that’s the plan.

Why do I keep focusing on this? Maybe sometime next week or next month or sometime in the next year, you will, in some situation, some location, some relationship, be tempted to doubt the love of God.

Maybe it will be a moment of physical suffering, and you wonder why God has allowed this pain to be part of your life.

Maybe it will be in the midst of a very significant, relationship disappointment; somebody that you love has turned their back on you, and you wonder why God has brought this into your life.

Maybe it will be in a moment of financial difficulty, and you have sought to obey God; you’ve sought to be a good steward of the resources He’s given to you, but you've lost your job, and it doesn't make any sense.

Or maybe just look around at the world you live in. It looks like evil is winning, and you wonder, “Where is God? Where is his love?” This truth of God’s incredible love, becomes your answer. This is where we need to focus, because not only does the giving of Christ prove the greatness of God's love, but it proves that He will continue to love you.

Remember Paul’s words from Romans 8.31; “He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things?” God chose to offer His Son to cruel suffering and death.

Notice the two words that keep jumping out at us in Isaiah 53:10, “It pleased the Lord to crush Him, to bring Him to grief.” Crushing has to do with the physical suffering of Christ. Every moment of Christ’s life was physical suffering. He didn't just begin His suffering on the cross; His whole life was one of suffering. The manger began His suffering; He suffered every day as He subjected Himself to the harsh realities of life in a fallen world.

But there was emotional suffering as well. That's the grief word. He was despised and rejected, and that emotional suffering reached a high point on the cross when He cried out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”—in that terrible moment where the Father turns His back on His Son.

Now, Paul is showing us, if God would willingly give Christ in that way to us, will He not also give us everything else we need? It would make no sense for God to do this incredible thing, then turn His back on you in your moment of need. And so, Paul argues that you are guaranteed that God will be faithful to you. He will be with you and in you and for you, plus meet all of your needs as you walk through this life toward eternity. Your guarantee is the cross of Jesus Christ.

If God did this for you, He will also meet all of your needs. Let me take a moment, to talk about this word for a moment. You and I have a terrible problem with the word ‘need.’ We include all kinds of things on our needs list that are not truly needs. Paul is not suggesting in Romans 8 that God is going to sign your wish list. But your Creator knows what you need, and He is totally committed to meet all of those needs.

You do not have to be afraid; you do not have to waste time with all the ‘what ifs.’ You do not have to figure out the sovereignty of God. There are moments in life when God will confuse you. You see those moments written about in the Psalms; Psalm 13 says, “How long, O Lord, will you forget me, forever?” Sometimes it's confusing, the things that God has brought into your life. Please know that you will never find rest, calm, and peace and security of heart by trying to understand, because there are things that God will do in your life that you will not understand.

One pastor states that the importance of believing in the sovereignty of God is not that the doctrine will cause life to make sense to you. The importance of believing in the sovereignty of God is precisely because life won’t make sense to you.

And so, I have a place to run; I have an argument to give in those moments when it doesn't seem like God is hearing, when He seems distant, when I’m confused about what He's allowed or brought into my life, when I'm looking at the life of someone else and that life seems easier, when an enemy is whispering in my ear, “Where is your God now?” I have a response to give. I open my Bible to Isaiah 53:10 and Romans 8:31, and I say, “If God would do this for me, will He not meet all of my needs?”

Now, I want to ask you some very personal questions this morning. Do you have peace in your heart? Do you live with peace, even in moments when you're not in peaceful circumstances? Do you have a stability and a security that's not connected with what is currently happening? Do you torment yourself with an endless list of questions that you are not able to answer? Do you wish that you had more control than you'll ever have?

Hopefully, you can understand better this season we’re now celebrating. It is the ultimate demonstration of faithful love. And if God would give His Son in this way, will He not also provide everything you and I need?

That's the plan. The plan was that a second Adam had to come; the first Adam failed the test, and a second Adam had to come. Jesus was that second Adam, and He had to be willing to live in the middle of the harsh realities and the temptations of life in a fallen world.

But He had to be willing to be obedient in every way, in every thought, in every desire, in every word, and every action. He had to be obedient, so as He goes to the cross, He is the perfect Lamb of God who can now carry our sins, satisfy the anger of God so that we would receive forgiveness and acceptance into the family of God; righteousness given to us through Christ, and eternal life. That's the plan.

We had a problem that we could not solve. It's called sin. You can't escape it on your own. We needed to be rescued. That's why the promise of a Savior is so precious. And so, from day one, that little baby was born to die; actually, before time began.

The cross isn't a moment of defeat; the cross is not an interruption; the cross of Jesus Christ was the plan. He came to be the Lamb; He came to be the offering that would completely satisfy God’s anger. In that one cruel death, life would be given to many, who would accept that precious gift of salvation and would be given new life through the death of His Son.

What a plan! One death! Innumerable lives being given! “And He will prolong His days,”——to a Hebrew person, long life was a sure sign of blessing. And this little phrase, “He will prolong His days,” is a hint that the death of Jesus wasn't the end of the story. The promise is that He would live eternally.

This was obviously a prediction of His resurrection, plus a prediction of another thing; that Jesus would live on in the hearts of many. We see that when Paul writes, “It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.”

And then, Isaiah 59.10 finally says, “The good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand.” Jesus would be absolutely faithful. He would do everything that the Father asked Him to do, and in so doing, would provide for us not only eternal life, but eternal hope. He was completely willing; never for even a brief moment was His heart fickle; never for a brief moment did He reconsider. He accepted this brutal assignment with joy.

Friends, I don't know all the things that you brought into the room this morning. I don't know the hardships that you're facing. I don't know the grief that is in your heart. I don't know the temptations that you struggle with, but I do know that you will be tempted at various times to wonder where God is and what He's doing.

I also know that there's an enemy who would whisper in your ear, “Where is your God now? You've obeyed, for this? This is it? Where is that thing called grace? Where is His power?” Isaiah 53:10 can hold you up in those moments. “It pleased the Lord to crush Him, to bring Him to grief.” God's love is amazing and faithful; so powerful, so willing, that He would be pleased to give His Son over to cruel suffering and death, so that we would experience true life. And if He would do such a thing, how could it be a possibility that He would abandon you in your moment of need? I can assure you; He will not!

Rest won’t be found in our trying to understand. Rest is found in the pleasure of the Father and in the willingness of His Son, the Lord Jesus. There is no clearer demonstration of the love of God than the offering of His Son. There is no greater gift than the gift of His Son.

I would plead with you in your moments of doubt or fear or hurt or discouragement, don't run from this One. Run to Him, run towards that Love. That is God’s plan—that people would repent of their sin and run to Jesus for forgiveness and salvation.