What happened at Calvary? Did the Lord Jesus Christ redeem us from all iniquity; or did he merely make us redeemable? Did he actually put away our sins; or did he merely make it possible for our sins to be put away? Did the Lamb of God reconcile us to God; or did he merely make us reconcilable? Did he justify his people; or did he simply make it possible for them to be justified? Did he effectually secure the salvation of those for whom he died; or did he only make salvation a possibility for them? Did the incarnate Son of God actually make atonement for sin by the shedding of his blood; or did he just make a stab at it?
Hear the Word of God as it was spoken by the mouth of his prophet Isaiah. Here is a true, divinely inspired description of the sin-atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ and its results.
Isaiah 53:10-12 "Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. (11) He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. (12) Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
Did you catch that phrase, "He shall be satisfied"? How I love this word of promise! Let me state it as emphatically as I possibly can. "He," the Son of God, our glorious Substitute, our great Sin Offering, our divine Savior, the one who died in our place at Calvary, "shall," without a doubt, without the possibility of hindrance, most assuredly, "be satisfied," fully, completely, eternally satisfied!
Proposition: Isaiah 53:10-12 is an inspired declaration of complete, effectual redemption accomplished by Jehovah's Righteous Servant, our Substitute and Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.
I preach an undefeated and undefeatable Savior! It is written, "He shall not fail!" The Son of God can never be frustrated in his purpose, defeated in his design, or hindered in his work. Christ was not conquered at Calvary. He conquered! He did not die as the helpless victim of circumstances. He died as the Lord of all things, the one who rules all circumstances. And he will not be defeated in the end. Oh, no! "He shall see of the travail of his soul and shall be satisfied!" The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never be discovered a miscarriage. The Lion of the tribe of Judah must prevail. Our text is a proclamation of The Infallible Efficacy Of Christ's Atonement. Our subject tonight is EFFECTUAL ATONEMENT. I want to show you from the Word of God the glorious, absolute, saving efficacy of Christ's atonement.
The subject matter before us is a matter of utmost concern. The one thing that characterizes every messenger of Satan is a denial of the efficacy of Christ's atonement. The one point of doctrine upon which all false prophets are agreed is this - They all deny that every soul for whom Christ died shall be saved. They may give lip service to Bible doctrine and Bible terms; but they deny the very foundation of the gospel - Substitution. The modern day prophets of Baal preach a redemption that redeems no one, an atonement that atones for nothing, and a salvation that saves no one. They preach possibility redemption, possibility atonement, possibility grace, and possibility salvation.
Today we are told that the sacrificial blood of the Lord Jesus Christ does not, in itself, secure the salvation of anyone, but that it only makes salvation possible for everyone. We are told that the blood of Christ becomes effectually operative by man's faith, by man deciding to believe on Jesus, by the act of man's great free will. Nonsense! Such doctrine is utter heresy! That is not the teaching of this Book!
I want you to hold your Bibles open on your laps at Isaiah 53:10-12. We are going to look at these three verses of Scripture line by line. I want you to see clearly that this passage of Holy Scripture, in harmony with the entire Volume of Inspiration, talks not about a frustrated Christ, but a satisfied Christ. Christ is not our helper. He is our Savior! He is not an accomplice in salvation, but the Accomplisher of salvation!
I. "Yet, it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief."Our Savior died by the hand of God, according to the will of God, for the glory of God. Though our Lord Jesus Christ "knew no sin," the Lord God was pleased to bruise him in the place of sinners for sin. We recognize that our Redeemer was crucified by the hands of wicked men; but he was delivered to their hands by the will of God (Acts 2:23); and those wicked men did nothing but that which God himself had purposed and "determined before to be done" (Acts 4:27-28). The death of Christ was no accident, or after thought! The death of Christ was in the mind and heart of God from everlasting (Rev. 13:8). The eye of faith looks beyond the malice of the Jews, the weakness of Pilate, and the Roman cross, and traces the death of Christ back to its original source, to the heart of God himself.
We do not, we dare not impute to God the sin and guilt of the crime. Wicked men did exactly what they wanted to do. God did not force them to act as they did. But he did absolutely govern and control their actions and used them to accomplish his own purpose of grace toward his elect. Not a single action, circumstance, or pain involved in the Savior's death came to pass except by the decree of God.
Acts 13:28-29 "And though they found no cause of death in him, yet desired they Pilate that he should be slain. (29) And when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree, and laid him in a sepulchre."
1 Peter 1:18-21 "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; (19) But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot: (20) Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you, (21) Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God."
This is a foundation truth of Holy Scripture. See that you hold it firmly. - God Almighty has written a book of sovereign and absolute predestination.
Revelation 5:1 "And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals."
Nothing escapes the will, purpose, decree, and power. of God. Everything that comes to pass in time was ordained by God in eternity. You may be sure that God Almighty, who feeds the sparrows, clothes the lilies, and numbers the hairs of our heads, left nothing to chance or circumstance regarding the life and death of his dear Son.
The death of Christ is the very core of predestination. It is the center and mainspring upon which God fashioned all his other purposes. It is the foundation upon which the structure of God's decrees was built. Jesus Christ is "the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world" because "it pleased the LORD to bruise him."
In the fullness of time God the Father took his dear Son from his bosom and freely delivered him up for us all. "Herein is love!" The offended Judge took his own holy Son, whom he dearly loved, and gave him up to suffer the pains of hell to accomplish the redemption of our souls, in order to save traitors and rebels who would never love him in return, except he create love in us!
Understand this too - Our Lord Jesus Christ voluntarily laid down his life for us as our Substitute.
When our text says, "It pleased the LORD to bruise him," we must not forget that he is the Lord God who did the bruising as well as the one bruised. Christ was not a forced Surety but a willing one, a willing Servant, a willing Savior, a willing Substitute, and a willing Sacrifice.
Psalms 40:5-7 "Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered. (6) Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required. (7) Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,"
Proverbs 8:23-31 "I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. (24) When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. (25) Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: (26) While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. (27) When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: (28) When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: (29) When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: (30) Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; (31) Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men."
Isaiah 50:5-7 "The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back. (6) I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting. (7) For the Lord GOD will help me; therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be ashamed."
John 10:17 "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again."Hebrews 12:2 "Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."
Yet the unutterable agony of Christ's death upon the cross was inflicted upon him by his Father's own hand.We read of the terrible agonies he endured in Psalm 22 as he hung upon the cross, suffering the wrath of God. Those woes were aggravated by the fact that it was the Father's hand that was turned upon his dear Son in wrath, and that at the very height of his obedience! "It pleased the LORD to bruise him." Oh, how he bruised him!
Christ died a very violent death. His death could not be by natural causes. Christ was a penal Substitute. He had to die as a slain victim, as a sacrifice.
He died a terribly painful death, tormented in body and in soul.The Son of God died a specifically cursed death. It is written, "Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree."
Our great Savior died a slow, lingering death.Why did the Lord of glory endure such a death as this? The Lord God bruised his Son and put him to grief upon the cursed tree because he made "his soul an offering for sin." Christ died as he did, he had to die as he did, so that he might be a suitable Substitute and Sin Offering to God for his people. Here are four reasons for the crucifixion, four reasons why the Lord Jesus Christ died the painful, shameful, ignominious death of the cross.
Christ died the death of the cross because he must bear the curse of the law in his death if he would save us.Those sacrifices were always lifted up upon an altar before God. The brazen serpent was lifted up on a pole. Even so, God's great sin offering, the true sin offering had to be lifted up.
The Lord Jesus endured the death of the cross for us, as our Substitute, that God might be both just and the Justifier of all who trust him.
Psalms 85:10-11 "Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. (11) Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven."
Proverbs 16:7 "When a man's ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him."
Isaiah 45:20 "Assemble yourselves and come; draw near together, ye that are escaped of the nations: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven image, and pray unto a god that cannot save."
Romans 3:24-26 "Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: (25) Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; (26) To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus."
Illustration: The two Goats on the Day of AtonementNow, beginning with this next sentence and going through the rest of the chapter, Isaiah shows us what the certain, just, and inevitable results of Christ's death must be. Do not ever think that the results of our Lord's death are uncertain. The Arminian, the freewiller must say, "There are no sure and certain results of Christ's death. Everything is left to chance. Everything depends upon what man will do. Everything is determined by man's will." Blasphemy! In these next lines God the Holy Spirit tells us exactly what the results of Christ's death shall be. It is written, "He shall not fail!" Our Lord's death was not a gamble, a crap-shoot. He effectually accomplished all that he came here to do. Here we see the infallible efficacy of Christ's atonement.
We do not have to guess who his seed are. His seed is the generation (Ps. 22:30) that shall serve him, the whole body of God's elect. He shall see them, everyone of them...
John 12:24 "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."
John 12:32 "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." IV. "He shall prolong his days."That simply means that, once he has by his death fully satisfied the justice of God and put away the sins of his people, he will be raised from the dead to declare in the most public, undeniable manner possible that all for whom he died are forever justified.
Again, notice that word shall. Everything that God wants done shall be done by the risen, exalted, glorified Christ. All the pleasure of God's eternal purpose is being and shall fully be accomplished by King Jesus!
Revelation 10:1 "And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:"
Romans 8:28-31 "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. (29) For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (30) Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified. (31) What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?"
Move on now to verse 11. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied."There is that word shall again. Twice it is given in this sentence. The Holy Spirit intends for us to understand that there is absolutely no uncertainty about what the consequences of Christ's atonement are. As I said before, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never be discovered a miscarriage! This text is talking about a satisfied Savior, not a frustrated assistant! When the Word of God talks about the satisfaction of Christ, it is talking about two things: Christ making satisfaction and Christ being satisfied.
By his one offering for sin, our Redeemer has completely satisfied the law and justice of God.By his sin-atoning death, as our Substitute, our Savior satisfied all types, shadows, and prophecies of the Old Testament Scriptures.
The crucified Christ presented to sinners in the gospel satisfies all the demands of a guilty conscience, all the needs of a convicted sinner, and all the desires of a renewed heart.
Hebrews 9:12-14 "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. (13) For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: (14) How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
Psalms 73:25-26 "Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. (26) My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."
And the Son of God shall be satisfied with his ransomed people. I take that to mean that our Redeemer shall be satisfied with the results of his sin-atoning work as our Substitute.Ephesians 5:25-27 "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; (26) That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, (27) That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."
Isaiah 62:5 "For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee."
He was satisfied with his work when it was done.Nothing will satisfy Christ short of the complete salvation of his people (Matt. 1:21). Nothing will satisfy the believer's heart short of perfect, complete conformity to Christ (Phil. 3:10). And both Christ and his saints shall be satisfied.
I am certain that this is the meaning of the phrase "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied" because that is what the next phrase declares.
"By his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities."All the many whose iniquities Christ bore on the tree shall be (There's that word again - shall.) justified, and they shall be justified by his knowledge. Perhaps that means by the knowledge of him; but I prefer to stick with our translation. Christ shall justify his elect according to his knowledge of those for whom he died.
Now look at verse 12. Here the prophet summarizes all that he has said concerning the glorious, infallible efficacy of Christ's redeeming work as our Substitute.
"Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
Here is a declaration of Christ exaltation and glory. - "Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong."
Here are the reasons for his exaltation and glory. The Lord Jesus Christ is seated at the right hand of the majesty on high because his work is finished and his work was and is a complete success!
This he did "not merely in a petionary way, but by presenting himself, his blood, righteousness, and sacrifice, pleading the merits of these and calling for, in a way of justice and legal demand, all the blessings which were stipulated in the everlasting covenant, between him and the Father, to be given to his people in consequence of his sufferings and death." John Gill
Amen!
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