Crisis ConvertedSample

Theme: Vindication

Crisis Converted Then:

God vindicates his Servant. He will see the light of life even after being crushed by suffering. His life will be a guilt offering and a surrogate for Israel’s sins. Yet even after his death, there is a posthumous restoration of his reputation and an acceptance of his message. Perhaps this points to a rewarded afterlife as well. In any case, the prophet’s activity on behalf of God’s people is not forgotten in his death. It is rewarded and vindicated.  

Crisis Converted Now:

What must have been head-scratching for Isaiah’s contemporaries becomes more clarified for Jesus’ contemporaries. A servant of God who died for peoples' sins and yet who received acclaim after death? A servant who suffered and bore the sin of many and yet who sees the light of life and satisfaction? How can a dead servant live? How can the cursed be exonerated? 

In Jesus, the answer is clear - resurrection. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us. And yet, this cursed one hung from a tree, returned to life, and lives forevermore. God showed his Son to be righteous and his acclaim spreads through all of creation. Christ is Lord of all. Have you put your faith in him and his humble, shame-filled work?