Reflecting on Truth #19
Q: Is there any way to escape punishment and be brought back into God’s favor?
A: Yes, to satisfy his justice, God himself, out of mere mercy, reconciles us to himself and delivers us from sin and from the punishment for sin, by a Redeemer.
Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. (Isaiah 53:10–11)
Why does this matter?
As we recall from last week’s catechism question and answer, a just judge will not, and cannot, allow the guilty to go unpunished. Some of us might be nodding our heads in agreement that those who have committed sin should be punished. However, sometimes we forget that all have sinned and all deserve the wrath of God that is due unto us.We do not deserve blessings from God, nor do we have the right to plead innocence. As such, is there any means of escape that is available to us in order to avoid the dreadful fate of falling into the hands of the living God?
The Scriptures provide us with hope! We can indeed be saved from the wrath of God…by God himself! The Christian evangelist Paul Washer is known to proclaim that “God saves us from himself, by himself, for himself.” How does he do so? Our Scripture text above teaches us that there is someone who will bear the iniquities of many, and that this “righteous one” will make many to be accounted righteous. This is no coincidence or random chance, but rather the text makes it clear that it was the will of the Lord to crush this righteous servant, for him to be an offering for guilt. Satisfaction must be made for sin so that God remains the just judge.This righteous one took upon himself the punishment for sin that should have been dispensed upon sinners. Instead, these sinners will be accounted as righteous because this servant bore their sins upon himself.
What does this mean for us?
As Christians, we know from the Word of God that this righteous servant is Jesus Christ, the Son of God. We are made aware of the stench of sin in our own lives, being reminded in Scripture that apart from Christ, we have no hope. We are saved by grace alone through faith alone, not as a result of our own works. We did nothing to merit our salvation, it is a gift of God.
This beautiful truth ought to produce in us abundant joy and thanksgiving in Christ! Remember who we used to be, how we used to live! Remember how we were living in darkness, doing what we believed to be right. Remember that we deserved the wrath of God for our rebellion against him. Remember how God drew us to himself, revealed himself to us, and gave us a heart of flesh in place of our heart of stone. He caused us to be born to a new life in Christ. Praise God that he has not left us to our despair, but raised us from death to life.
Therefore, we cannot boast of ourselves nor can we be prideful. When we know from whence we came, we recognize that we can only boast in Christ Jesus. We now rejoice in Christ for our salvation, that we are now reconciled to God through him. We can now approach the throne of grace with boldness because of what Christ has done for us. We can now live to please him, that our lives might be a pleasing offering to the Lord. The gospel is truly good news to sinners like us, for Christ bore our iniquities and has made us to be accounted as righteous before our God.
Praise God for his mercy and grace in our lives! We are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.