HEALING STRIPESSpeaker: Dr. D.G.S. Dhinakaran Gist: My dearly beloved, that is exactly what we see in Isaiah chapter 53. The Almighty God allowed Himself to be crushed so that you and I can escape oppression in this world. Isaiah 53:5, "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed."
Besides having given my life into the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ to do His ministry, I also worked for a bank by profession. One thing used to worry me that is according to the Scripture as found in Matthew 7:28-29, "And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes." I also cried unto the Father saying, "Please grant me the same authority".
One day God graciously showed me a vision. In that vision, I saw a big book opened on a podium. I heard the voice of Jesus Christ telling me, "Son! Go and look at the book that is kept opened." That book was kept open in the most important part of the whole book. The Lord said, "As you assimilate the truths in that portion you will get authority in your preaching."
In the vision, being curious to know what book that was, I saw myself running towards that podium. Lo and behold it was the Holy Bible. It was kept open showing the 53rd chapter of the book of Isaiah. It is a marvellous revelation that prophet Isaiah had of what would happen one thousand years later. The Lord Almighty would come in the form of a man in the name of Jesus Christ.
The Bible says in Hebrews 2:14-15, "Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."
According to 1 Timothy 3:16, "And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up in glory" the Almighty God, the invisible God, the God of all gods, Lord of all lords and King of all kings Himself came in person in the form of a man just to personally go through the agony you and I go through in this world.
I always remember a marvellous story told by the great Christian Statesman Oswald Smith frequently in his preaching. There lived a good Russian king named Alexander. He had the habit of going in disguise at night unrecognized by others just to find out the exact situation in the city. One night he went to the army camp. The whole camp was very dark. According to his orders after a particular time, every candle should be put off. But from one candle emanated light. Being curious, he entered a particular tent and peeped in. He found a young soldier sitting on his desk. Even while writing something without his violation he had gone to sleep and had left the candle burning. The king slowly crept in and looked at the small chit, which the soldier had written. In that he had listed out all the debts he owed to different people. He had totaled the amount and it was a very huge sum. He wrote a question beside it as follows: "Who will pay this?" Being overwhelmed by sorrow and in low spirits he had gone to sleep. The king left his signature just below that young soldier's question and disappeared from there.
You can imagine what would have happened the next morning. When that fellow had got up he would have seen the chit with the signature of the great king Alexander. What a rapturous joy would have come into him. My dearly beloved, that is exactly what we see in Isaiah chapter 53. The Almighty God allowed Himself to be crushed so that you and I can escape oppression in this world.
Prayer
Loving Lord Jesus Christ,
I thank You because You have borne all my iniquities on the Cross of Calvary. I praise You because even today I am healed by Your stripes alone. Help me to always remember that You allowed Yourself to be crushed so that I can escape oppression in this world. Wipe away all my sorrows and make me glad.
All glory, honour and praises belong to You alone.
Amen |