August 18

The whole curse of sin met in Jesus, as all streams run to the ocean-- a collection of all the wages of sin and death merged in Him. "The chastisement of our peace was upon him;... and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:5-6). But take another step and consider God's unspeakable love for His beloved Son as He watched Him-- alone-- enter the stage of bloody tragedy. Be still here and know the painful price both God and His Son paid for you to be one with Him. I think you are at the highest stair God's Word can lead you to ascend into the meditation of His love.

Picture a father who has only one son-- and can have no more-- sending that child to prison and with his own lips sentencing him to death. And then, to guarantee the execution be completed with the most horrible torment possible, he watches his child's death with eyes brimming not with grief but with anger. If you study this parent's countenance you conclude that surely he hates his son or the sin he committed. This is what you see in the Father towards His Son, for it was God, more than men and devils, who caused Christ's death.

Jesus knew the warrant for His death was signed and sealed by His Father's hand, for He prayed, "O my Father, if this cup may not pass away from me, except I drink it, thy will be done" (Matthew 26:42). Yet the spirit of the Man of Sorrow rejoiced in obeying God and His blood was the only wine which made the Father's heart glad: "It pleased the Lord to bruise him" (Isaiah 53:10). When Christ suffered death on the cross, God was pleased-- not because He did not love His Son and not because He had disobeyed Him, for Jesus never once disappointed God. But God hated sin, and in His determination to exalt His mercy toward sinners, He satisfied His justice on His only Son.

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