The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"Adorned"
Unlike Joseph, stripped of his "coat of many colors" by jealous brethren, the Lord Jesus Christ was stripped, as it were, of His sublime righteousness by His own Father (Genesis 37:23).
"He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (II Corinthians 5:21).
"He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (II Corinthians 5:21).
We often return to this theme and this passage in communicating God's Word because no truth more illustrates the extremity of sacrifice to which our Lord went in redeeming us from our sin. Indeed, no "little sins" exist because every act of unbelief and disobedience to God caused the abject horror of the Father smiting His beloved Son, "made to be sin" for our sakes. "We did esteem Him stricken, smitten of of God, and afflicted" (Isaiah 53:4). Indeed, it is one thing to consider wicked human hearts and hands delivering the Lord Jesus to the cross of Calvary. Another thing altogether accompanies the consideration of God the Father delivering His Son to a suffering for sin that led to His plaintive cry sounding and resounding through the ages…
"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matthew 27:46).
Scripture records no answer from Heaven. However, we do no injury to truth by pondering an answer that makes the matter personal. Why did the Father forsake His Son? For _____. Place your name there, as I place mine. "Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Yes, the Father and Holy Spirit abandoned the Son, made to be sin for you and me, so that we might become His eternal dwelling place. "I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee" (Hebrews 13:5). In such holy light, we do well to return often to the holy place where the Holy One purchased all the grace we will ever need, by a sacrifice far greater than we will ever know. As the hymnwriter beautifully and solemnly penned…
"But none of the ransomed ever knew how deep were the waters crossed, nor how dark was the night that the Lord passed through e're He found His sheep that was lost" ("The Ninety and Nine," Elizabeth Clephane).
"The wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). Yes it is. "The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:20). Of far greater significance was the Soul that died although it had never sinned. Yes, the Lord Jesus paid the wages of our natural occupation by His suffering at Calvary to make possible a "new creature" and a new calling of righteousness (II Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 4:1). We can never know the entirety of the sacrifice this involved. We must, however, know as much as God will allow. Thereby, a deep and abiding appreciation of love grows in our hearts, resulting in a devoted determination to walk as enrobed by the righteousness of Christ. Stripped from Him on the cross, that it might adorn us forever as a free gift of the most sublime grace imaginable, the robe of our Savior's righteousness adorns all who trust the One "made… to be sin for us, who knew no sin."
"It pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief: when Thou shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand."
(Isaiah 53:10)
Weekly Memory Verse
"Of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption."
(I Corinthians 1:30)
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shared with a dear friend yesterday that 99.99% of the Bible involves God's revelation and glorification of the Lord Jesus Christ. We exist to know Him, and to find in such holy light the reality, reason, and ramifications of our existence (John 17:3). The Holy Spirit who indwells us ever works to reveal and glorify the Lord Jesus (John 15:28; 16:14). However, I also mentioned to my friend that a .01% place exists for the believer's self-knowledge and awareness. To know God means we will know ourselves in the context of Christ, as it were. "Ye are in Christ Jesus… He that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit" (I Corinthians 1:30; 6:17). Of all that God sees of us, we can be sure this is first and this is primary. Indeed, how can it not be so when we consider…
"He hath made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him" (II Corinthians 5:21).
If God gave His Son to the cross to make possible and actual His giving of the Holy Spirit to our hearts, could it be that He sees us with any other essential focus? If He poured out His wrath on the Lord Jesus so that He might pour out the Spirit into our spirits, will He ever overlook this "hope of glory, which is Christ in you?" And if He left His beloved Lord Jesus to die alone in utter abandonment to make possible His presence within us, will He ever take leave of seeing us in terms less than "Ye are the temple of the living God?" (II Corinthians 6:16).
Find the most faithful believer on the planet in this moment, and you will find one viewed by God as united to the Spirit of His Son. Find the most failing believer on the planet in this moment, and you will find one viewed by God as united to the Spirit of His Son. Too much was sacrificed for the Divine gaze upon us to be other or less. Certainly, our faithful or failing response to Him matters much, and He works to enhance the former, and correct the latter. However, God's first gaze ever sees us in light of the cross, the empty tomb, and the Spirit of the crucified and risen Christ within us. We must see ourselves accordingly. "In Thy light shall we see light" (Psalm 36:9).
This is the .o1% - how we view ourselves - based on the 99.99% - how we view God. But how important it is. To share God's view of Christ in us and ourselves in Christ will go far in motivating and empowering a corresponding life of faith and faithfulness. Moreover, our Savior suffered agonized abandonment on the cross to bestow such grace upon and within us. We will never throughout eternity, or in this lifetime, live a moment apart from the Holy Spirit's abiding and empowering presence within us. Yes, God gave Himself to dwell within our hearts when we believed. He will not leave. This is how He views us. This is how we must view ourselves.
"I am with you always… I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."
(Matthew 28:20; Hebrews 13:5)
"Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord."
(Romans 6:11)
Weekly Memory Verse
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