Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the NET, netbible.org, all rights reserved)

Though the Lord desired to crush him and make him ill, once restitution is made, he will see descendants and enjoy long life, and the Lord’s purpose will be accomplished through him.
Isaiah 53:10 (emphasis added)

The Suffering Servant of the chapters of Isaiah leading up to this talk of how Messiah will bear our griefs. Our sufferings. Our sicknesses. Our diseases. Our sin. Our guilt. Our everything, really. All that keeps us bound. All that keeps us from relationship with the Father. All of it. The penalty for sin was death (Genesis 2:17; Romans 6:23). All the Father’s wrath toward sin was poured out on Messiah Jesus in order that the price of sin was paid. It was the just consequence of rebellion (Genesis 3) that the Father carried out on Messiah, His Son Jesus. He didn’t do it out of anger, but out of Joy for what would become of it – just like Jesus (Hebrews 12:2). But restitution still needed to be made.

Levitical Law shows us that lepers had to bring a restitution offering once they were cleansed of their disease. “The priest must then perform the sin offering and make atonement for the one being cleansed from his impurity. After that he[ is to slaughter the burnt offering, and the priest is to offer the burnt offering and the grain offering on the altar. So the priest is to make atonement for him and he will be clean” (Leviticus 14:19-20). Jesus was the suffering servant, and He suffered for us. His wounds, bruises, and stripes were taken for us. He smashed the evil altars set up when we sinned. He broke the curse of the Law so that the Law no longer carried a curse for us. He did it all. And when He was done, He declared it. “When he had received the sour wine, Jesus said, “It is completed!” Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30).

What was finished? Not everything He came to do – not yet. What was finished was our cleansing. After a leper was cleansed of disease, he had to be ceremonially cleansed. Otherwise he couldn’t interact with the tabernacle or later the Temple. Jesus held this principle up. “While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came to him who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he bowed down with his face to the ground and begged him, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.” So he stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I am willing. Be clean!” And immediately the leprosy left him. Then he ordered the man to tell no one, but commanded him, “Go and show yourself to a priest, and bring the offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded, as a testimony to them” (Luke 5:12-14). He did the same thing in Luke 17:11-19 with a group of lepers. Jesus understood the principle of the restitution offering as well as the process of being cleansed from disease.

When Jesus suffered the ordeal of the crucifixion, He cleansed us. Spiritually, physically, and mentally. It was over. Done. Taken care of. Matthew 8:16-17 shows us that. So does 1 Peter 2:24. So does Isaiah 53. It is extremely clear that EVERYTHING under the umbrella of the word ‘salvation’ (soteria) was included in what Jesus accomplished. And it WAS accomplished by Jesus’ own actions. Once it was FINISHED, He had to perform or give the restitution sacrifice. That meant the offering had to die. If Jesus didn’t die, we would be saved in every sense of the word, but still be ceremonially unclean before the Throne. It would be half the job, not victory. We’d be better off than if we weren’t saved, but we’d still be outside of fellowship. Jesus didn’t give up. He didn’t come down from the cross. He went ALL the way and made sure that restitution was given.

The promise of Yahweh was that if we sinned we would DIE, die (Genesis 2:17). Not just die. Total death. Spiritual death was instantaneous. Physical death followed. Jesus redeemed us from physical and mental death through His suffering. Jesus paid that price for sin. But restitution needed to be made as well. Total package. Restitution is recompense (paying the price) and it is also restoring something to a rightful owner. By dying, Jesus was our restitution sacrifice. We were spiritually restored to fellowship with the Father. That’s how we can enjoy all that the Father wanted for us. Through the suffering and restitution of Jesus. In HIM, we became His seed. Connected to Him. It was through His death, after accomplishing our complete cleansing, that we are able to be in Jesus and partakers of eternal LIFE (instead of the eternal death we were bound to by birthright). We can live in Him. Jesus was the seed of Abraham and we are the seed of Jesus and so we – Jew and Gentile – are heirs to the promise (Galatians 3:29) and we have the right to be children of Him (John 1:12-13).

The purpose of Jesus going through that was so that we could go to the Father. “Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help” (Hebrews 4:16). This is the end result of His love for us. “For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world should be saved through him. The one who believes in him is not condemned. The one who does not believe has been condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God” (John 3:16-18). This is how we know that healing is for today. Jesus COULD NOT have been the restitution sacrifice UNTIL we were cleansed. Once you’re cleansed, you’re CLEANSED. He did it once for all of us. He did it once for all time. And He poured out His blood on the Mercy Seat so that for always it can be shown: we are soterio (deliverance, preservation, safety, salvation; that which concludes to the souls safety as the present possession of believers; saved from the penalty, power, presence and pleasure of sin; the benefits and blessings of our restitution to the Father NOW as well as future salvation where the fullness of what we walk in now will be realised in Heaven).

Healing is for always. Jesus proved it by going the rest of the way. By becoming our proof of restitution. By becoming our Way to the Throne. By becoming the fullness of the Blessing and the embodiment of Authority. Jesus did all of that so that we could be WHOLE, HEALTHY, SAVED, and HIS. “Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making his plea through us. We plead with you on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God!” God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:20-21). Don’t let anyone steal from you the RIGHTS Jesus suffered for. Don’t let anyone deny you your right to be restored to the Father. Jesus did it ALL so we could live in His love. Fully. Abundantly. And completely FREE from ALL KINDS of sickness and disease – mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical. It was dealt with a LONG time ago. It was finished. We are RESTORED.

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Isaiah 50:4

“The Sovereign Lord has given me the capacity to be his spokesman, so that I know how to help the weary. He wakes me up every morning; he makes me alert so I can listen attentively as disciples do.” Messiah would be a learned counsel for the weary. He would know what it was to suffer. He would know what it was to work hard. He would know exhaustion. He would understand and empathise and provide true rest. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29). Jesus gave Himself completely to us. He walked to exhaustion (John 4:6). Jesus worked until He fell deeply asleep (Matthew 8:23-27). Jesus knows what it is like. And in Him, we have rest. We have peace. We don’t have to continue in our weariness. We can be rested in FULL in HIM. Jesus IS Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

Yeshua is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Matthew 16:16b