What Our Father Hath Done for Us!

Isaiah 53:10 “Yet 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.”

It is beyond our greatest thought what our Father has done for us. It brings me back to Abraham and what God told him to do with his son, “And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.” Gen 22:2 What would go through any father’s mind if God were to tell them to take the very son that they loved so much and to sacrifice him on an altar. It reminds me of all those parents that must have watched helplessly as their children were martyred in the “dark ages”. No parent that loved their son or daughter would have any pleasure in watching their child given as a sacrifice. The tears and broken heart Abraham must have had as he began obeying God’s command. “And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together.” But just as “Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his son.” “the LORD called unto him out of heaven, God said to Abraham, “Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him” for as Abraham looked, “behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.” I could only imagine how blessed Abraham must have been feeling with God’s blessing. However, I could only imagine how blessed Abraham would have felt if God had allowed him to follow through with the sacrifice. It is a blessing to do anything that is pleasing to our Father.

As we turn our attention to Jesus, the very Son of God in the flesh. As we think of everything He suffered, the humility of the arrest, the horrible beating He took, and then the hours He spent on the cross in unimaginable pain. He had all the power; He could have come off the cross and destroyed those wanting Him dead. He could have called legions of angels, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?” Mat 26:53 But no, He could not, “But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?” Jesus was here to fulfill the Fathers will and His will was for Jesus to go through everything He did, even on the cross of death. Why did the Father feel so much pleasure, it was all because He loved us. Jesus was the only being in all the world and all of creation that could accomplish this great task, for there was no other. No “ram caught in a thicket by his horns” This Son’s sacrifice was to cleanse the sins of every redeemed soul that God was going to save. Therefore, the Father “shalt make his soul an offering for sin,” and rejoice in His death. Our Heavenly Father was not selfish, He was not greedy, He was not ashamed, He was pleased in every possible way. “Yet it pleased the LORD”. What an act of pure love our Selfless Father has done for sinners like us. As we look at the grace that God had for us in sending the only worthy Saviour as our Redeemer. Let us all rejoice today and everyday until we are with the Lord. We all have so much to be thankful for, because without God sacrificing His own dear Son, we would have all went to hell.     

What is good for a Christian?

Ecclesiastes 7:1 “A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth.”

When people look at life, they must look at who they are, for example if you are a lost soul then you look at earthly/worldly things or humanistic things. For a Believer in Jesus Christ, for a soul that has been redeemed by God’s grace through the blood of Christ, for a soul that now has a living spirit, our outlook on life should be completely different. For a believer, the things that are good for us are opposite to those that are lost. For example, look at what God says, “A good name better than precious ointment; the day of death better than the day of birth; the house of mourning is better than the house of feasting; sorrow is better than laughter, the rebuke of the wise better than the songs of fools; the end of a thing better than the beginning; the patient in spirit better than the proud in spirit.” If you do not understand God and what God says is good for us, then we will always look to our human side. For a believer in Jesus Christ to be happy and satisfied is to be faithful to/in God and to be walking in the Spirit of His word. There is nothing more satisfying to God than a faithful servant, Noah – obeyed God, built the Ark exactly as God commanded and because of this Noah had a good name. It was Able’s faith in God that gave him a better name than Cain his brother – “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain….” Again, Abel’s good name is what made him better than his brother. Then there is Enoch, God credited his faith and said, “for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.” Therefore, it was Enoch’s faithfulness to God that gave him his good name. And the examples continue, Abraham, Sara, Isaac, Jacob, and etc., etc., and etc. all who gained good names by trusting God and doing as God commanded. It matters not how great our name is with the world if it is not great with God. Now compare what God says about what is good for Christians, opposite to what the world says is better for us, or that we sometimes believe is better for us. “It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to go to the house of feasting” How is this possible, it is simple, because whatever God has given to you is better than anything else. It is all about how much we believe and trust God. God said, “Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.” Matthew 6:31- 32 The question is, do we believe this? The question is, do you really believe God and what He said? The ask yourself this question, do you really believe this, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” Rom 8:28 The question is, do you truly believe that everything that happens in your life is for your good? Our true faith in God is seen when God rest us, gives us trials, tribulations, or even persecution. It is easy to praise God when good things happen, but what about when bad things happen in your life? Either we trust God or not, either we lean on God or ourselves. Listen to God, is “Sorrow is better than laughter”, is it “better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools”, and do you believe “by the sadness of the countenance the heart is made better.” God said all of this is better, because it is what God promised would be better for us because He chose it for us. We do not know what God has sent to be in our life, but if God sent it, then He ordained it for our good. Is it better for a Christian to die than to live on this earth? Is it better to give than it is to receive, is it better to suffer for the Lord than to live happily in this world? God said it is, that all of this is better for you, if God gave it to you. The truth is we do not know what is good for us nor do we truly know what is good for us, but God does. If we truly trusted the Lord, we would be glad and thank Him for everything that happens no matter what it is, because God controls everything in our life. There are many reasons God brings things into a person’s life, some He brings to reproof or rebuke us, sometimes to teach us, maybe to draw us closer to Him or to trust Him more, but be certain, God brings it for our good.  

How does the Lord stop people’s mouth?

Romans 3:19 “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”

God answers this question in the very next part of this verse, that “all the world may become guilty before God.” Our guilt is our depraved nature, and it stops us from every doing any good for God. Therefore, it must be concluded that every single human soul born, are born sinners, and totally depraved in their entire being. Paul wrote, “…but sin that dwelleth in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing…” Rom.7:17b – 18a. This means in a person’s lost state, there is nothing good in them to God. Once we learn this, then our mouths are stopped, and we learn that only in our Lord Jesus and through the grace of God anything is possible in godliness. The Apostle Paul admitted in speaking about his own Christian life that the grace of God was his only good. However, you may ask, “how does this stop our mouth,” once we see our true state before God, we realize how much we need His grace. It does not matter who you are (Jew or Gentile) we are all sinners; we are all totally depraved sinners. “What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;” Rom 3:9 God shuts-up those who think through their own pride that they are someone and that they can on our own accomplish certain things! God said, “that they are all (every soul ever born) under sin; that us under sins power.” Even the Apostle Paul admitted, “But by the grace of God I am what I am: and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.”1 Corinthians 15:10 Paul admitted, that in all he had accomplished in his Christian life, it was by God’s grace, then Paul put a explanation mark after it to make it loud and clear, even though I had worked so hard and accomplished much, “but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” This great Apostle could not take credit for one single thing he had accomplished, and neither could/can one single soul saved ever saved and accomplished anything for God, it was all through Jesus and by God’s grace. Our mouths are stopped, we have no pride in ourselves, there is no room for boasting. This is the very reason when Paul wrote Ephesians 2:9 he wrote, “Not of works, lest any man should boast.” It is because God shut our mouth in verse 8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” God has told us the Truth, the question is do we believe His Truth or do you like some people, simply ignore His Truth for Satan’s lie of works for salvation? Has God shut your mouth, or do you simply ignore God’s Truth and believe in yourself over the grace of God? These scriptures should stop anyone from boasting of their righteousness, and to stop people from making any excuse for themselves when God said they are “without excuse” Rom.1:20. God has made everything plain to see, that He created all things and that He saves the souls of the lost by grace and through Jesus Christ, it is so plain that when people disagree they are calling God a liar. “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. (11) And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. (12) He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” 1 John 5:10 – 12. A lost soul must believe God, humble themselves, and understand that salvation is a gift of God in which we cannot earn. God must stop our mouths and make us to understand that in this flesh “dwelleth no good thing…” no, not one. Every soul must believe God and reject Satan’s lie about salvation, and that we cannot be saved through ourselves but only by God’s gift of Grace and through Jesus Christ His Beloved Son. This is God’s record, “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” Match this with Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:” Because if your belief contradicts this, then you have called God a liar, you are lost, and you will go to hell when you die. “…the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.”