This pic is from our final night in Cabo last week.

Paid In Full 

Isaiah 53, post 9 

I ended last time with the following statement,  

Why? Why all the suffering? Why all the pain; physically, emotionally and spiritually, leading up to His last breath? 

You may think that I only ask questions that I have a good answer for. That’s not always true. This is one of those cases. I’m hoping to gain some clarity as I study, reflect and write this morning.

My first thought is Jesus is our substitute for the wrath that we deserve as sinful beings. Clearly from reading our passage, His substitution required more than just a physical death. A quick physical death would not satisfy our Holy and Righteous God. The phrases in Isaiah 53 that indicate our redemption was secured through not only His actual death, but the other aspects of suffering as well. 

Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried, v 4 

Now, we all have griefs and sorrows in this life to a certain extent. But the sorrow and griefs of eternal hell are a whole other level. The Bible speaks of the torment of hell, but we as Christians don’t speak about it much. It’s just not a popular topic. I don’t like to talk at all about eternal damnation myself. But in this case, I think it’s important for us to acknowledge it fully because it sheds light on the depth of sorrow that our Savior bore upon Himself so that we don’t have to.

It’s more than a substitutionary ‘death’ that Jesus took on as our Savior. He took on the eternal sorrow and suffering that we deserve as well. Some other key phrases that clearly indicate the full scope of His suffering to satisfy God’s wrath include: 

• Being pierced through, v 5 
• Being crushed, v 5 
• He was chastened by God. Completely alone and rejected by the Father, v 5 
• He was scourged, v5 
• Oppression and judgement, v 7 
• He was crushed and put to grief, v 10 
• He experienced hellish anguish of the soul, v 11 
• He poured out Himself to the point of death, v12 

The full scope of pain, anguish, beatings, suffering and ultimately, death was required to be our substitute. Why, because we deserved it all. Our sin consequences require more than just a physical death and then it’s all over. It deserves, in God’s perfect holiness, eternal pain, anguish and suffering. Everything we deserve, He took on. And He took it on willingly as the perfect servant of God to fulfill all the requirements of being our Savior. Amazing grace!

When we receive by faith the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus, the timeless benefit of Jesus’ death AND sufferings are transferred to our account. We receive a “paid in full” designation for the penalty due us. More than ever, we should now appreciate Romans 8:1ff: 

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did; sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 

Father, it is good for us to consider the full scope of Jesus’ suffering. It’s not a pleasant topic but it drives home the reality of ALL Jesus did for us as a perfect and full sacrifice. He bore all that we deserve and now, there is NO condemnation ever directed at us. Yes, we deal with the consequences of bad decisions here on earth, but that is all temporary. Jesus has endured our deserved eternal consequences and now we have the fullness of heaven to look forward to. No grief, no suffering, no tears, no condemnation. Only the joys of eternal heaven await us. All because of Jesus! Amen!