Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. It is outside the scope
of natural man's understanding that love could compel another
to sacrifice his own self for those who despise him and naturally
hate everything about him. Paul said, for when we were yet
without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
For scarcely for a righteous man will one die. Yet peradventure
for a good man, some would even dare to die. But God commendeth
his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. There is no possible way that
such a thing makes any sense to the natural man. In fact,
it seems to violate his very sense of right and wrong, since
love is in his mind something that must be reciprocated in
order for him to demonstrate it. Yet the grand declaration
of the gospel sets forth as its very theme the just dying for
the unjust, the chief of sinners being loved by him who knew no
sin. He who is unworthy of the least
of the Lord's mercies being shown mercy by him who is worthy of
all praise. the one who hates sin and is
the very antithesis to death, bearing sin's curse and dying
for those who despised his holiness, and rushed headlong to embrace
the death and destruction which resulted from their willful disobedience
to his commands. Oh, who can grasp such a premise?
It is too high for mortals to comprehend, neither can the angels
understand the glory of it, since they have never experienced it
and have never sinned. How can it be that the darling
son of God should come under the very wrath of the one whom
he adored? Why would he who had no guile in his mouth be brought
to cry out, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Like Job's
friends of old who considered that Job justly suffered for
his own sin, the natural man has no comprehension of what
Christ has done. in willingly laying down himself
as an offering for sin and suffering pain in the room instead of those
who justly deserve to die. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows, yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten
of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The modern use of the word bruise
means to slightly wound without breaking the skin. But the word
bruise here in the scripture literally means to crush, destroy,
or break in pieces. The wounding of the Lord Jesus
Christ was no slight wound, nor any mere discomfort endured by
him, but was a complete destruction of his humanity under the awful
load of sin's curse. The natural man can see the physical
suffering of the Lord as he was bruised under the hand of his
father, but he cannot fathom the depth of the agony which
he bore when he tasted death. His bruising involved having
the sin of his people laid upon him. Though he was personally
untouched or untainted by any actual act of sin, yet he had
all of the filth and guilt of the sins of his elect laid upon
him. He who was of pure eyes than to even look upon sin bore
every jot and tittle of its curse in their behalf. No person who
has ever fallen into an open sewer has ever experienced even
a hint of the foul stench into which he willingly sunk in order
to be a substitute for those given to him from the foundation
of the world. The full load of this began to
be laid upon him in the garden, and its foulness was so great
that he was in agony in mind and soul and cried out for deliverance,
but there was to be none. He bore our curse and suffered
our punishment without quarter or relief of any kind. His bruising
involved the destruction of his body. Much has been written of
the agonizing death which was to be had in Roman crucifixion,
but I dare say that men cannot describe the awful pain of the
eternal Son of God as the very life's blood poured from his
body. He who formed man from the dust experienced the very
death intended for all transgressors. The psalmist of old described
his misery in Psalm 22. Not only was he tormented by
his creation, but he became acquainted with their grief and suffering
in his own body on the accursed tree. His bruising involved a
total separation between he and the Father. This was the most
awful suffering that he underwent. Nothing that a man can conceive
as horrific could be as terrible as being cast out from the presence
of God in judgment for sin. Great numbers of the wicked shall
indeed experience this fate, but they shall do so in just
recompense of their deeds. He was innocent of any transgression,
enjoying the fellowship and presence of his Father before the worlds
were created, and yet for our sake he was bruised. Who his
own self bear our sins in his own body on the tree, that we
being dead to sins should live unto righteousness. For a free
CD containing 15 of these radio broadcasts, Send an email to
forthepoor at windstream dot net.