May 2, 2019
Isaiah 53:4-6                  
Surely he took up our pain
    and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
    stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
    each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
    the iniquity of us all.
New International Version (NIV)
                You may remember a book that said, “I’m OK -- You’re OK”.  Such a live and let live approach to relationships certainly has its appeal.  The challenge with that paradigm is that it implies that our moral choices are really just a matter of personal preferences.  Or worse, that our feelings and actions are really not our choice.  We have to do what we do.  But it’s OK.

                Some years ago I saw a drawing of Jesus on the cross with two observers talking about his death.  One said to the other, “If I’m OK and you are OK then what is Jesus doing up there on the cross".  The prophet Isaiah looked into the future at a suffering servant who would vicariously pay the penalty for the sins of others.   This idea of substitutionary atonement has fallen out of favor in some theological circles.  But the scriptures are replete with this idea.

                The good news is we were worse off than we thought.  We need a Savior precisely because we are sinners.  The best news is we are more loved than we ever dreamed.  God meets us where we are but he does not leave us there saying, “sinners will be sinners”.  Instead, he paid the price for our sins so that we might die to sins and live for him in righteousness.  In the exchange, he takes our sin and we take his righteousness.  Paul wrote, “God made him who had no sin to become sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Cor. 5:21).  
Pray with me:    
Father, thank you for sending your only begotten Son to become sin for us so that in him we might become righteous.  Forgive us not on the basis of our attempts to do better but through the unmerited favor of Christ’s death for us.  Help us to always turn from sin to our crucified and risen Lord.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.         
This year our Every Day with Jesus readings will follow The Bible Project Read Scripture Plan.  Copies of this reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download 
the app at readscripture.org.  Read through the Bible with us in 2019!
Joyfully, 
Duane 
About Duane Archives
 Copyright 2019. All Rights Reserved.
Manage your preferences | Opt out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.
555 Tallowood Road
Houston, TX | 77024 US
This email was sent to .
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.
Subscribe to our email list.