Brown's Daily Word 4/1/15

Praise the Lord for this Holy Week we get to celebrate one more time. Praise the Lord for this first day of April. Spring is finally coming around. It is slowly getting warmer. We can see the signs of Spring all around us. The trees are getting ready to burst with spring foliage, and the spring flowers are beginning to pop up from the ground. The bees are out and about, visiting the flowers with sweet melodies. Fat robins are out looking for worms. We praise the Lord that day now light lasts beyond 8:00 PM. We are excited for sweet Spring and best all we are excited about the Resurrection of Jesus our Lord. We will gather for our Wednesday fellowship and study at 6 PM, followed by choir practice at 7:30 PM. We will be looking at the servants songs that are recorded in Isaiah 52 and 53. It is recorded that the servant would be exalted in spite of His suffering (Isaiah 52:13-15). It is also recorded that the servant will be exalted because of his suffering. Using military terminology, Isaiah says that Jesus will divide the spoils of victory. Like a soldier returning triumphant from the field of battle, Christ receives the highest glory. Thomas Kelly pictures it this way: "The head that once was crowned with thorns Is crowned with glory now; A royal diadem adorns The mighty Victor’s brow." Jesus won the victory precisely because he was obedient to the Father’s will and offered himself on the cross. Isaiah says it four different ways: 1. “He poured out his life unto death.” 2. “He was numbered with the transgressors.” 3. “He bore the sin of many.” 4. “He made intercession for the transgressors.” Isaiah says that Jesus will divide the spoil. He means that since Jesus is the Captain of our Salvation, he will divide the spoils of victory with all those who follow him. Jesus is the captain of our salvation. I love the story story of David and Goliath. David won the battle, but the Israelites shared the spoils of victory. It’s the same with Jesus and us. When he wins, we win. That doesn’t mean we deserve it. We don’t. When he was numbered with the transgressors, he was numbered with us. When he bore the sin of many, he was bearing our sin. When he was appointed a grave with the wicked, he was buried in our grave. That’s what makes all this so amazing. Christ the Victor has willingly shared his victory with us. Here is the ultimate good news for those who believe in Jesus. He has returned victorious from the ultimate contest. The devil could not stop him, The cross could not defeat him, The grave could not hold him. Jesus is the Undefeated Champion! Having subdued all his enemies, Jesus marches in triumph, the Undefeated Sovereign and the Ultimate Victor. No one can stand against him. He has attained the highest place in the universe by virtue of his suffering. He came to the highest place by taking the lowest position. Isaiah said in his own way what Paul would write to the Philippians over 700 years later. Christ became “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8). It is only in light of that truth, because of that truth, and as a result of that truth, that God has highly exalted his Son to the very highest point in the universe so that one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father (see Philippians 2:9-11). First he suffered. Then he is exalted. He will one day return to the world that rejected Him. He will one day reign on the earth where He was crucified. In 1851 a clergyman named Matthew Bridges wrote a few verses that later became the much-loved hymn Crown Him With Many Crowns. The hymn surveys the life, death, and resurrection of the Lord. The last verse, which looks to the future when Christ will reign over all the earth, sums up the triumphant final stanza of Isaiah 53. Crown Him the Lord of years, the Potentate of time, Creator of the rolling spheres, ineffably sublime. All hail, Redeemer, hail! For Thou has died for me; Thy praise and glory shall not fail throughout eternity. What a Christ! What a salvation! Glory to his name forever! In Christ, Brown. https://youtu.be/3kPkjghup8E