Brown's Daily Word 3-6-13

Yesterday afternoon turned out to be brilliant, balmy, and beautiful. I walked on the banks of the charming Chenango River for over four miles. It was invigorating and thrilling. I saw the countless geese and ducks, including mallards, taking an unhurried plunge and a swim on the river. The waters looked crystal clear and clean, exposing the smooth stones of all sizes and colors on the surface. The trees by the bank of the river standing steadfast and triumphant, having come out of another winter. Joyful squirrels were frolicking. Birds, the harbingers of spring were making a melodious sonnet. As I walked with a joyful heart and jubilant feet I paused and pondered on the extravagant grace of our Lord and on His magnificent beauty that He displays in every season. I was blessed in contemplating a how all beautiful creatures of our Lord "join with all nature in manifold witness, to His great and matchless faithfulness, mercy, and love."

We will gather for our midweek Fellowship, Bible study, prayer, and choir practice starting at 6 PM. We will be looking at the Suffering servant passages recorded in Isaiah 52 and 53.

This Suffering Servant is a man of contrasts. There is the contrast between the Servant’s exaltation and accomplishment and His suffering and humiliation. There is also the contrast between what people though about the Servant and what was actually the case. Though man would cast Him down and humiliate Him, God would lift Him up and glorify Him. This servant, Jesus Christ, would be "marred beyond human likeness", but through His suffering He would cleanse the nations (Hebrews 10:14; 1 Peter 1:2). Before Him every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that He alone is Lord.

Many years ago on the south coast of China, high on a hill overlooking harbor of Macao, Portugese settlers built an enormous CATHEDRAL. They believed it would weather time, and they marked their achievement with a massive bronze cross as the centerpiece of its front wall. Not too many years later, a typhoon came, and the edifice was destroyed, leaving only a portion of the front wall and the cross. Centuries later a shipwreck stranded hundreds of men not far out in the same harbor. Some died; some lived. One man hanging onto wreckage from the ship was disoriented and frightened, having lost sight of land in the storm. Yet, each time the ocean swells lifted him out of the waves, he spotted the cross, which eventually guided him to safety.

To countless millions, that is what the cross means. It is a glowing symbol of rescue, leading stranded souls shipwrecked on sin’s jagged reefs from the shadow of death’s darkness to the new dawn shining out of new life.
It is also a place of hope to countless Christians who come back to the cross, bringing the scattered debris of their lives. There, because of the violent suffering of Christ, amazing grace is offered. The suffering Christ experienced for us was beyond comprehension, but He experienced it for our redemption and our restoration. By His stripes we are healed. Therefore, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2 ).

In Christ,

Brown.

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