He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And BY HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED! Isaiah 53:5
మన అతిక్రమ క్రియలను బట్టి అతడు గాయపరచబడెను.మన దోషములను బట్టినలుగగొట్టబడెను.మన సమాదానర్ధమైన శిక్ష అతని మీద పడెను.అతడు పొందిన దెబ్బలచేత మనకు స్వస్థత కలుగుచున్నది.
యెషయా 53:5
Are you a serious Christian Joshua?asked Anil. He was running a label called Emma's dresses from USA, & I was the chief designer based in India. When he asked me this question we were travelling in his car trying to source out some fabrics in Abids. I said "I didn't get it". He said "I mean are you a regular church goer or something?" I said "yes". He said "I don't understand this. The physical manifestation of His love or divinity, on the cross, looks absolutely meaningless." similarly, my friend chakri, one night, after a long discussion about my faith, stretching his hands mockingly, said" He died like this" . I did not wanted to offend my friend by arguing. & I did not know how to show him what I'm seeing on the cross. I kept thinking.
In my childhood I used to think, my dad (who used to work as an agricultural officer in tribal areas ) owns all the trees in the forest. where ever we used to travel in his Jeep, I would ask him. "dad, we own all these trees. don't we? "& just to make me happy, he would say "yes, son." That's what I thought of my dad. BIG, TALL dad who can beat up anybody& who owns all the trees in the forest. But as I grew up I've realized being dad is more than beating up people or owning all the trees in the forest. it's about the love he showed towards me& the way he inspired me to live life with values. Similarly, most of us have these fancies about God. That he should be BIG, STRONG, TALL, somebody who can beat up anybody black & blue. Like a Telugu film hero. I'm not surprised. Even I would want my hero to flex his muscle, kill the villain(evil), save the heroin & run around the trees with her singing songs & romancing. I remember my favourite film in my adolescence, "Gulabi". The story goes something like this. Hero's best friend kidnaps the heroin & sells her to a brothel house. & the villain, after torturing her in various ways to make her surrender, fails. but realises that selling her off to a Dubai sheik would give him more profit. So he makes her say "kubool hai" at gun point & reaches the airport to send her off to Dubai where the hero finds him. & the story ends with hero thrashing the villain & saving the heroin. I got so involved in the story, I was shouting "kill him! kill him!!" with in myself. That's how we want our heroes. Look at just any film poster on those hoardings. Hero is somebody with vengeance in His eyes& a weapon in his hand or somebody who can romance with two or three heroins simultaneously. No wonder we imagine our gods to be bigger than our film heroes. More weapons! more bloodshed!! more women!!!
Thats exactly why, Jesus, hanging on the cross helplessly(?) is a big disappointment to my friend chakri & to many of us. He was beaten, mocked, spat on, stripped, whipped & nailed to the cross along with theives. There's nothing heroic about it. Not just for some of us, but also for His own people, Jews, Jesus is not a hero! forget about being the God. The Bible records what Jews thought of Jesus on the cross.
And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, ........... If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.
Jesus said nothing. He was quite. why?
He was the same one who did so many miracles in front of their eyes.This is what He testified about Himself when the disciples of John asked Him."are You the one ? He said...
"Go tell John that The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.
But this time Jesus the miracle worker, the Messiah, chose to be humbled. chose to be meek (not weak). chose to be whipped. chose to die on the cross helplessly. why? Had he showed one more miracle by coming down from the cross & crushed His enemies under His feet & thrown them in everlasting fire, His image would've been something different . Immediately everybody would've accepted Him as God. No more some of us would look at Him as a weakling. He would've been a hero. Big Big idols of his would've been established in every village in this country. Jesus ...would've been a super hero!
But once again, He chooses not to fit into our Imagination of a hero, of God. Why? coz He's way too BIG to fit into your fanciful imaginations. HE'S GOD. your maker. He made you. You don't make Him. No wonder He disappoints you by not meeting your "expectations". No wonder He's way beyond your/ my understanding about god. HE'S GOD. He's not here to entertain you by dancing around the trees with women or to thrill you by doing some action. HE'S GOD. HE ALONE IS GOD.
“ For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
“ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8,9
But really, if He IS God, why did He allow Himself to die like that ?
coz, other than being the GOD, beginning(Alpha) & the end(omega) of this creation, He also is your maker. Your Father. He created you in His own image(Genesis 1:26). He created you to fellowship with you. But by disobeying Him in the Garden of Eden, we lost our inheritance& invited curse came on our lives. Curse of death. The sinning nature took control of us. The Bible says ..
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
We all may look perfect from outside. we try real hard to keep ourselves away from sin. We clean ourselves in the holiest of the rivers & try to discipline our bodies by fasting, by sleeping on the floor without any blanket in the cold winter nights, We climb holy hills bare feet. But we fail to win our bodies. We fail to control our heart from thinking evil & filthy things. God created us in His likeness. But our faces resemble beasts & wild animals if only they can reflect our thoughts. We fell. We lost our inheritance. We succumbed to the temptation.
So.... what's the punishment?
the Bible says
"The wages of sin is death.Romans 6:23
all have sinned & the result of sin is death. Which means hell. Any religion would tell you this. If God is only a judge, He would definitely enjoy punishing us for our sins. Throw you/me in a pot of hot, boiling oil or something like that. But fortunately(for us) in this case, God is not just a judge. He is also your father. A loving father who can not see you die. The Bible says. God so loved the world.....John 3:16. God, the father loves us. He's longing for us. But our sins separate us from His love. God, the righteous Judge needs to punish us for our unholiness for He can not bear sin. But His fatherhood is stopping Him from punishing us. so what's the way?
JESUS IS THE WAY.
not one way. but two way.
through Jesus, God the Father paid a ransom for our sins & redeemed us from the wages of sin, which is death.
By punishing Jesus on behalf of us, God the righteous judge nailed the sin & made us sin free.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Romans 3: 16
He died . so that you & I can live. He became a curse, to redeem us from the curse. He paid a price & bought us with His very blood. So that you & I can have this freedom. Freedom from guilt. Freedom from the yoke of sin. Freedom from death. Now, nobody can point finger at you. Not even your conscience. your sins are washed & You've passed from death to everlasting life.
“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord.
“Though your sins are red like blood, I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. Isaiah 1:18
He's offering you the greatest ever exchange. He's ready to take your place & become a curse. Are you ready to believe in His blood & be the son of the living God?
Does it look too simple? Unbelievable? But things need not be complicated to be profound. To be true. Salvation is simple if you have the right picture of Jesus on the cross.
friend...
what are you seeing on that cross?
A naked man hanging helplessly?
or the lamb of God slain as a sacrifice for your sins?
What are you seeing on the cross?
Make sure you see something today.& Make sure you see the right thing. For too long you've been trying to avoid looking at the cross. Or for too long you are trying to see what YOU wanted to see on the cross & getting disappointed when you don't see it.
Many have missed it.
&
Many have misunderstood it.
But some have found it. & their lives got transformed for ever .
Make sure your eye doesn't deceive you today.
Make sure you see the right thing.
& remember...
" WHAT YOU SEE, IS WHAT YOU GET!"
Amen!
He was bruised for our iniquities;
The chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
And BY HIS STRIPES WE ARE HEALED! Isaiah 53:5
మన అతిక్రమ క్రియలను బట్టి అతడు గాయపరచబడెను.మన దోషములను బట్టినలుగగొట్టబడెను.మన సమాదానర్ధమైన శిక్ష అతని మీద పడెను.అతడు పొందిన దెబ్బలచేత మనకు స్వస్థత కలుగుచున్నది.
యెషయా 53:5
Are you a serious Christian Joshua?asked Anil. He was running a label called Emma's dresses from USA, & I was the chief designer based in India. When he asked me this question we were travelling in his car trying to source out some fabrics in Abids. I said "I didn't get it". He said "I mean are you a regular church goer or something?" I said "yes". He said "I don't understand this. The physical manifestation of His love or divinity, on the cross, looks absolutely meaningless." similarly, my friend chakri, one night, after a long discussion about my faith, stretching his hands mockingly, said" He died like this" . I did not wanted to offend my friend by arguing. & I did not know how to show him what I'm seeing on the cross. I kept thinking.
In my childhood I used to think, my dad (who used to work as an agricultural officer in tribal areas ) owns all the trees in the forest. where ever we used to travel in his Jeep, I would ask him. "dad, we own all these trees. don't we? "& just to make me happy, he would say "yes, son." That's what I thought of my dad. BIG, TALL dad who can beat up anybody& who owns all the trees in the forest. But as I grew up I've realized being dad is more than beating up people or owning all the trees in the forest. it's about the love he showed towards me& the way he inspired me to live life with values. Similarly, most of us have these fancies about God. That he should be BIG, STRONG, TALL, somebody who can beat up anybody black & blue. Like a Telugu film hero. I'm not surprised. Even I would want my hero to flex his muscle, kill the villain(evil), save the heroin & run around the trees with her singing songs & romancing. I remember my favourite film in my adolescence, "Gulabi". The story goes something like this. Hero's best friend kidnaps the heroin & sells her to a brothel house. & the villain, after torturing her in various ways to make her surrender, fails. but realises that selling her off to a Dubai sheik would give him more profit. So he makes her say "kubool hai" at gun point & reaches the airport to send her off to Dubai where the hero finds him. & the story ends with hero thrashing the villain & saving the heroin. I got so involved in the story, I was shouting "kill him! kill him!!" with in myself. That's how we want our heroes. Look at just any film poster on those hoardings. Hero is somebody with vengeance in His eyes& a weapon in his hand or somebody who can romance with two or three heroins simultaneously. No wonder we imagine our gods to be bigger than our film heroes. More weapons! more bloodshed!! more women!!!
Thats exactly why, Jesus, hanging on the cross helplessly(?) is a big disappointment to my friend chakri & to many of us. He was beaten, mocked, spat on, stripped, whipped & nailed to the cross along with theives. There's nothing heroic about it. Not just for some of us, but also for His own people, Jews, Jesus is not a hero! forget about being the God. The Bible records what Jews thought of Jesus on the cross.
And those who passed by blasphemed Him, wagging their heads and saying, ........... If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.” Likewise the chief priests also, mocking with the scribes and elders, said, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save. If He is the King of Israel, let Him now come down from the cross, and we will believe Him. He trusted in God; let Him deliver Him now if He will have Him; for He said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” Even the robbers who were crucified with Him reviled Him with the same thing.
Jesus said nothing. He was quite. why?
He was the same one who did so many miracles in front of their eyes.This is what He testified about Himself when the disciples of John asked Him."are You the one ? He said...
"Go tell John that The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them. And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me.
But this time Jesus the miracle worker, the Messiah, chose to be humbled. chose to be meek (not weak). chose to be whipped. chose to die on the cross helplessly. why? Had he showed one more miracle by coming down from the cross & crushed His enemies under His feet & thrown them in everlasting fire, His image would've been something different . Immediately everybody would've accepted Him as God. No more some of us would look at Him as a weakling. He would've been a hero. Big Big idols of his would've been established in every village in this country. Jesus ...would've been a super hero!
But once again, He chooses not to fit into our Imagination of a hero, of God. Why? coz He's way too BIG to fit into your fanciful imaginations. HE'S GOD. your maker. He made you. You don't make Him. No wonder He disappoints you by not meeting your "expectations". No wonder He's way beyond your/ my understanding about god. HE'S GOD. He's not here to entertain you by dancing around the trees with women or to thrill you by doing some action. HE'S GOD. HE ALONE IS GOD.
“ For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.
“ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8,9
But really, if He IS God, why did He allow Himself to die like that ?
coz, other than being the GOD, beginning(Alpha) & the end(omega) of this creation, He also is your maker. Your Father. He created you in His own image(Genesis 1:26). He created you to fellowship with you. But by disobeying Him in the Garden of Eden, we lost our inheritance& invited curse came on our lives. Curse of death. The sinning nature took control of us. The Bible says ..
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23
We all may look perfect from outside. we try real hard to keep ourselves away from sin. We clean ourselves in the holiest of the rivers & try to discipline our bodies by fasting, by sleeping on the floor without any blanket in the cold winter nights, We climb holy hills bare feet. But we fail to win our bodies. We fail to control our heart from thinking evil & filthy things. God created us in His likeness. But our faces resemble beasts & wild animals if only they can reflect our thoughts. We fell. We lost our inheritance. We succumbed to the temptation.
So.... what's the punishment?
the Bible says
"The wages of sin is death.Romans 6:23
all have sinned & the result of sin is death. Which means hell. Any religion would tell you this. If God is only a judge, He would definitely enjoy punishing us for our sins. Throw you/me in a pot of hot, boiling oil or something like that. But fortunately(for us) in this case, God is not just a judge. He is also your father. A loving father who can not see you die. The Bible says. God so loved the world.....John 3:16. God, the father loves us. He's longing for us. But our sins separate us from His love. God, the righteous Judge needs to punish us for our unholiness for He can not bear sin. But His fatherhood is stopping Him from punishing us. so what's the way?
JESUS IS THE WAY.
not one way. but two way.
through Jesus, God the Father paid a ransom for our sins & redeemed us from the wages of sin, which is death.
By punishing Jesus on behalf of us, God the righteous judge nailed the sin & made us sin free.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Romans 3: 16
He died . so that you & I can live. He became a curse, to redeem us from the curse. He paid a price & bought us with His very blood. So that you & I can have this freedom. Freedom from guilt. Freedom from the yoke of sin. Freedom from death. Now, nobody can point finger at you. Not even your conscience. your sins are washed & You've passed from death to everlasting life.
“Come now, let’s settle this,” says the Lord.
“Though your sins are red like blood, I will make them as white as snow.
Though they are red like crimson, I will make them as white as wool. Isaiah 1:18
He's offering you the greatest ever exchange. He's ready to take your place & become a curse. Are you ready to believe in His blood & be the son of the living God?
Does it look too simple? Unbelievable? But things need not be complicated to be profound. To be true. Salvation is simple if you have the right picture of Jesus on the cross.
friend...
what are you seeing on that cross?
A naked man hanging helplessly?
or the lamb of God slain as a sacrifice for your sins?
What are you seeing on the cross?
Make sure you see something today.& Make sure you see the right thing. For too long you've been trying to avoid looking at the cross. Or for too long you are trying to see what YOU wanted to see on the cross & getting disappointed when you don't see it.
Many have missed it.
&
Many have misunderstood it.
But some have found it. & their lives got transformed for ever .
Make sure your eye doesn't deceive you today.
Make sure you see the right thing.
& remember...
" WHAT YOU SEE, IS WHAT YOU GET!"
Amen!
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