But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.

    Isaiah 53:5-6

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 

  John 3:16-18

Sin and death doesn’t have to be the final answer or the final outcome of your life. The Old and the New Testament directs us to the cross where we find everything necessary for our salvation, our redemption, and our restoration. Yes, even in the Old Testament, we see Christ! Some 700 years before the birth of Jesus, we see the foreshadowing, the prophecy of Christ and what He would accomplish for the sake of mankind. In Isaiah 53 we read, “But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed.” This is worth breaking into smaller portions in order to get the full impact of just what’s being spoken. 

Jesus, Pieced For Our Transgressions

All four of these descriptions bring to light that Jesus was punished for what we, as mankind, had done. The gospel is unique in that you will not find any other religious message that doesn’t suggest, in some way, that you and I must behave a certain way or act in a particular manner in order to earn our way to acceptance with God. The truth is, nothing that we do will ever make us right with God. That is why this prophecy of Christ, in Isaiah, is so important. He (Jesus) was pierced…there’s the punishment. And why was He pierced? For our transgressions…there’s the revealing of the guilty party (mankind). Jesus was pierced for our transgressions. This is gospel!

Jesus, Crushed For Our Iniquities

He (Jesus) was crushed…there’s the punishment again. And why was He crushed? For our iniquities…there’s the reason for His suffering, our iniquities. The gospel is substitutionary in nature. Jesus punished for the sins of mankind and our receiving a pardon that we simply do not deserve…this is the gospel!

Jesus, Chastened For Our Well-Being

Jesus chastened. And why was He chastened? For your well-being and mine. When we go to the New Testament to see the message of the gospel, we see that “God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world” rather God sent Jesus “that the world might be saved through Him” (John 3:17). This is consistent with Isaiah, explaining that Jesus would be chastened and the purpose of that chastening would be “for our well-being.” This is the gospel!

Jesus, Scourged For Our Healing

Do you see it? Jesus, scourged so that you and I can be healed. We are all in need of healing. This is the ultimate healing that comes from surrendering our lives to Jesus Christ and is with us throughout our lives, even into eternity. This is why we read in John 3, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). This is the gospel!

“Pierced” and “crushed” for our sins and iniquities…”chastened” and “scourged” for our well-being and healing. This is how much God truly loves us. But this salvation must be received and that is done at the point of conversion when we surrender our lives to Christ. 

What It Means To Believe!

The Amplified Bible (AMP) is a tremendous resource assisting us in understanding the meaning of the original language used in the Bible. And when it comes to understanding what it truly means to “believe,” we need look no further. Consider the following: 

He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

          John 3:18

This verse demonstrates that, in the eyes of God, there are only two groups of people, those who believe and those who do not. This word “believe” is important because it doesn’t just mean that someone believes in the existence of God (even the devil believes that.) If we look at the Amplified Bible, we find out that “believing” means three things: (1) a personal trust in Jesus, (2) a confident surrender of our lives to Jesus, and (3) a firm reliance on Jesus for everything. This is what it truly means to “believe” and it brings about, in our lives, a complete spiritual transformation. 

Notice that John 3:18 gives us three important points involving the issue of salvation. First, those who have been “born again” (John 3:3) are no longer condemned or judged by God. Secondly, those who do not believe “have been judged already.” These are people who remain in spiritual darkness, spiritually dead, and void of the Holy Spirit. But thirdly, we are told why these people are not saved and remain separated from God. The reason is not that they are worse sinners than others. No, the reason is because they “have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Two distinct groups of people, those who are saved, heaven bound, spiritually alive, and full of the Holy Spirit and those who are not. And the explanation for the reason why these “unbelievers” are lost is that they have yet to receive the gospel by faith. That’s it. Failing to receive this good news of salvation in Jesus is condemnation. Why? Remember Isaiah, because Jesus was pierced and crushed for our sins and iniquities. The only rescuing from the “wages of sin” is by surrendering our lives to Christ. Jesus was chastened and scourged for our well-being and healing. The only solution to our spiritual problem lies within the Person of Jesus Christ and His obedience on the cross. 

The Gospel

All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.

      Isaiah 53:6

“All of us like sheep have gone astray.” There is no one who escapes this truth. We have “all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). This isn’t a situation in which we are to compare our lives to others. That’s simply the flawed being compared to the flawed. Everyone has rebelled against God. That’s why it’s necessary for all of us to be redeemed in Christ. 

“Each of us has turned to his own way.” One of the most common symptoms of human depravity is the insistence that life be lived on our terms instead of God’s. “Turning to our own way” means just that. When we base our lives on something other than Christ and the truth of God’s Word, we make this mistake. If we don’t know who God is then we are left to make up a god of our own design that caters to our every whim. But this will not satisfy and certainly doesn’t lead us to an abundant life or eternal salvation. But the gospel says that spiritual death and missing our purpose doesn’t have to be the final word or the final outcome of our lives. Although we have all sinned, rebelled, and gone our own way, “the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him (Jesus).” Pierced and crushed for our sin, our iniquity, our wrongdoing. Chastened and scourged for our well-being, our healing, our salvation. Why not surrender your life to Christ today and find our what it means to live in the Light of the gospel!

But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Titus 3:4-7