Isaiah 53 - Penal Substitution

Isaiah 53:5-6

But He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being 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. 

Message: Penal Substitution

Time: Isaiah prophesied from 739-681 BC under the reign of 4 Judean kings -- Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, dying under the 5th king, Manasseh. Most likely he hailed from Jerusalem. He spoke of judgment - hoping God's chosen people would return to Him. 

What the Lord is Saying:

As I studied previously, Jesus as our Priest made it possible for human beings to approach God. Through His sacrifice on the cross Jesus covered our sin. Let's better understand the crucifixion. 

Jesus' death is described as the ransom or delivering man from the punishment for sin and to defeat Satan (our rulers/authorities). In penal substitution, the penalty is paid by a substitute. In our case, the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) as the act of sin results in death. This is described first in the garden (Genesis 2:16-17) -- The Lord God commanded the man, saying, “From any tree of the garden you may eat freely; but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die.” 

In Leviticus 4, God speaks to Moses outlining sin offerings to occur when a person sins in any of things that which the Lord has commanded not to be done. An animal (bull, goat, or lamb) will be slain in the presence of the priest with the hand on the animal, placing blood on the altar and pouring out the rest; all fat is removed and it is burned as a soothing aroma to the Lord and thus the priest makes atonement of the person and sins are forgiven. This depicts the transfer of sin and guilt from the sinner to the substitute. The sinner lives because the animal died in the sinner's place, bearing the punishment the sinner deserved. This was effective, but it was an act that must be repeated and did not represent true atonement, once and for all. Hebrews 10:4 says, "For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" and therefore they were shadows of the true atonement as is recorded in Isaiah 53, "by His scourging we are healed" as "the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him." 

This is the gospel. Jesus paid it all. All to him I owe. 

Promise: All people have guilt for their sin or transgression, though many suppress it, justify it, or compare themselves to others, but against the Law of God we are condemned. If you have trusted in Christ alone for salvation, He has paid for your sin and your guilt is no more. 

Prayer: Thank you God for providing us, right after sin was committed by Adam and Eve, that you would bring forth a substitute for my sin in order to bring me back into the book of Life. Lord, draw people to this truth all around me. Help me to voice this to those in need. 

Note: I follow the readings from the Tabletalk Magazine devotional, though I am a little behind and working through 2017 devotionals. 2017 is a study of key biblical doctrines celebrating the 500th year of the Reformation. The month of May is about solus Christus - Christ Alone; April was about salvation by grace alone; March about the sovereign providence of God; February was about the doctrine of revelation and the various aspects of the doctrine of Scripture that sola Scriptura seeks to preserve; January was about the doctrine of God.

- The Divine Nature of Christ, The Human Nature of Christ, Jesus the Last Adam, Jesus the True Israel, Jesus the Messiah, Obedience in Childhood, Obedience in Baptism, Obedience in Temptation, Obedience under the Law, Obedience in Suffering, Christ Our Prophet, Christ the Priest, Christ Our King, Penal Substitution