Isaiah 53:10 - But it was the Lord's good plan to crush Him and cause Him grief. Yet when His life is made an offering, He will have many descendants He will enjoy a long life, and the Lord's good plan will prosper in His hands.
Most of us are familiar with this section of Scripture. Written several centuries before Christ came, it tells us what He was going to go through on our behalf. How could this violent punishment and death possibly be part of God's good plan?!
When Jesus took our place in His death on the cross, a lot of good came because of it. He died so that we don't have to. All of our sins were put on Him, and He received our just punishment for them. But the best part of all, we have all been made children of God when we accept Him as our Savior and Redeemer. Now, I love my parents. My mom and dad are great people, and I love them to no end. There is nothing they could ever do that would make me want to disown them. But I'm a child of God now. I have been granted eternal life in Heaven with the King of Kings. Sounds pretty good to me...
Jeremiah tells us that God has great and mighty things for us (Jer. 33:3), and that His plan (good plan?) for us is to give us a future and a hope, and not calamity (Jer. 29:11). I'd say that eternal life in God's Heavenly Kingdom qualifies as great and mighty. I like that hopeful future of spending life eternal with Him, don't you? There is nothing any of us could ever do to repay the sacrifice that Jesus made for us on the cross. But we don't have to. Friends and loved ones do because they want to do, not because they have to. When it is done out of love, it is a free gift. God loved us that much that He willingly offered up His Son as a sacrifice for us (John 3:16). Okay, I can see the good plans that came out of Isaiah's words now...
Dear Father, thank You. Thank You for saving and redeeming me. I know I could never repay You for what You have done, but I know that because of Your love, I don't have to. Please use me in whatever way serves Your Kingdom best to reach those who have yet to be reached and share the message of the Good News (Great News!) of Your Son Jesus Christ. I pray anyone I speak to will welcome You into their hearts so that they can become one of His descendants, and be part of Your good plans as well. In Jesus' name, Amen!
God Bless!!!
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