Fri.’s Devo - Jesus’ Sacrifice for Us

Read: Isaiah 51:1-53:12; Ephesians 5:1-33; Psalm 69:19-36; Proverbs 24:7 God tells Israel to remember Abraham was just a man when he called him. God blessed him to become a great nation. He is our natural ancestor. God will do it again. He will take the nation of Israel in her devastation and ruin and make a great nation of her. The earth may wear out but God’s salvation and righteousness will never end. *** God’s people will return to their rightful inheritance. We do not need to be afraid or intimidated by those who insult us and our God. The creator of all is our God and Father. *** Israel had seen desolation, destruction, famine and war and now was the time to celebrate. Now was the time to remove the chains of slavery from their necks. The prophets see the Lord returning to Jerusalem to redeem and comfort his people. *** Isaiah saw a perfect picture of Jesus who came as a baby to bring salvation to the world. He came and was despised and rejected by the very men he came to save. He knew sorrow and grief and rejection. Yet, he carried all our sorrows and weaknesses to the cross and was pierced for our rebellion and sin. He was beaten so we could be whole; whipped so we could be healed. He did this willingly for us. He, who knew no sin became our sin so we might be saved. This was God’s plan. Because Jesus obeyed, he was given many descendants and the reward of a victorious soldier. *** Ephesians tells us that since Jesus did all this for us on the cross, we should live a life of love for one anther. We should not have any sexual impurity in our lives or greed. Instead, we should be thankful and live in the light of God’s righteousness. We are to expose the evil and darkness when we let our light shine. *** Instead of looking to the things the world looks to, we are to be filled with the Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, making music to the Lord. We are to submit to one another out of reverence to Christ. Our marriages should reflect the order of God: God - husband - wife. We all represent submission and love for one another. We submit to God above all and he is the one who loves us the most. In the same way we should not be afraid to submit to our husbands because they love us back just like God does. As the wife we represent the Bride of Christ. As the husband, they represent God. We are all honored by God. We should all honor each other. *** Lord, may we grasp the magnitude of the cross. May we be grateful for our role in your Kingdom. May we be the light of the world because of Christ in us.