Subject Forty-six

THE SAVIOR PREPARED BY GOD

Scripture: Isa. 53

1. God prepared a Savior for man
   1. Man did not seek God’s salvation; it was God who came to save man.
   2. When God wanted to save man, He had to prepare a Savior for him.
   3. The reason God had to prepare a Savior for man is that God is righteous. His love caused Him to come to save man. His righteousness required that He prepare a Savior for him.
2. The person of the Savior
   1. The Savior is the arm of God. The arm refers to power and strength. Therefore, the arm of the Lord is the power of God. The power of God is just God Himself. God, when manifesting Himself to be our saving power, is our Savior.
   2. The Savior is God revealed to be our saving power; yet He came as a poor man. Therefore Isaiah 53:2 says, “He grew up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground.” This refers to the fact that the Lord was brought up in a poor family. He is the Almighty God, but He became a poor man. Because He was poor and like a root out of dry ground, He had no form nor comeliness. There is no beauty that we should desire Him. Chapter 52 of this book tells us that His appearance was so marred, more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men. Today all the so-called pictures of Jesus are unscriptural. They all portray Him as One who is so desirable. But the Jesus of that time had no beauty that men should desire Him.
3. The Savior’s sufferings
   1. He was a man of sorrows. We should quote all the verses in Isaiah 53. A very special term is used in Isaiah 53:3, “a man of sorrows.”
   2. His whole life, from the manger to the cross, was full of sorrows. He was born in sorrow and suffered continually until He was finally laid to rest in the tomb. This is to speak of His sufferings from the manger to the cross.
      Hymn #628 can be used as a reference.
   3. The sufferings during His lifetime came from three directions: from man, from God, and from Satan. What came from man was the suffering of persecutions. What came from Satan was the suffering of attacks. What came from God was the suffering of punishment.
4. The Savior’s bearing of sins
   1. The righteousness of God requires that God judge man’s sins.
   2. God put all the sins of mankind upon the Savior. Quote verse 6: “The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.”
   3. Because God laid all the iniquities of mankind on the Savior, the judgments of God toward men were also inflicted upon the Savior’s body.
   4. Because God judged this Savior who bore our sins, He was bruised.
   5. There is the evidence of bearing sin: “He was numbered with the transgressors.” This shows us that God looked at Him at that time as He would look at a sinner, because He was bearing our sins.
5. The Savior’s accomplishment
   The Savior has fully accomplished His saving work and has become a perfect Savior.
   1. The Savior has borne our sins to satisfy the righteous requirement of God. Therefore, the situation at the time of His burial was different from the situation at the time of His death. While He was dying, He was numbered with the transgressors; but when He was buried, He was put into a rich man’s tomb, because he had satisfied the righteous requirement of God.
   2. God raised Him from the dead. This resurrection is what is spoken of in Isaiah 53:10, “He shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.” Because He has resurrected from the dead, He can be the Savior in resurrection, and He can accomplish that which is pleasing to God. Therefore it is also said in verse 11, “He shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.”
   3. In His resurrection He has gained, together with God, all the people which should be saved. Verse 12 says, “Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong.” The Great is God; the Strong is also God. He resurrected from the dead and enjoys the result of salvation with God. This result is to recapture people from the hand of Satan.
   4. Because of His resurrection and ascension, He causes so many people to obtain His salvation, and to be justified because of Him.
6. How to accept the Savior
   1. The way to accept is to believe. In the very beginning of this chapter it says, “Who hath believed our message?”
   2. To believe is to receive with your heart and your spirit. Not only acknowledge Him as your Savior, but also open your heart to receive Him as your Savior.
   3. According to Romans 10:13, the believers must call, and calling includes the confessing of sins: “Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”