“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His wounds we are healed. All like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth.” (Isaiah 53:3-7 ESV)
Who is this Old Testament passage talking about? It is Jesus. It was foreshadowing that day in the future when Christ would be crucified like a lamb to the slaughter. But He did not stay dead did He? Paul addresses this with the Corinthians.
“For I delivered to you as first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared also to me.” (I Corinthians 15:3-8 ESV)
And for those of us who put our trust in Him, we too can be resurrected when we die. We may bear the sin nature of Adam, but we are also made in the image of God. Paul goes on to explain.
“Thus it is written, ‘the first Adam became a living being; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. Then first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.” (I Corinthians 15:45-49 ESV)
To those who believe, this life is not the end. First comes the natural then the spiritual. We will be more ourselves than we ever have been when we are in Heaven.
“Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways! You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.” (Psalm 128:1-2 ESV)
Amen,
Kellie
Sixty-six books in a year 