The Suffering Servant

Isaiah 53:5-7

“5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed.

6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth,like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.”

God told Isaiah that the long yearned for, long awaited Messiah would be rejected and would suffer.  He would be led as a sheep to the slaughter but he would say nothing in his defense.

God told Isaiah that this was all part of his plan for the redemption of humankind.  He would lay all of humankind’s sins on Him,  so that His suffering would be for us all.

The Messiah did not come to this earth for fame, or to be crowned King and live in luxury in a palace.  He came to serve, to be rejected, to suffer, to die, and to rise again.

For us.   For our sins.

For our salvation.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Freedom

Isaiah 61:1-2

“1The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,because the Lord has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners,

2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn”

That Jewish people waited for the Messiah who would free them from the darkness.  For the captives in Babylon freedom meant a return to their homeland.   For God, freedom meant faith and a transformation of the heart, and the freedom from sin and death that that kind of  faith would give to the world.

The Jews did, eventually, return to Jerusalem, but they did not find spiritual freedom in that return.  Their faith was rooted in laws, regulations, and rules, not in the heart.

Christ came to redeem us, to change our hearts, to transform us…

to release us from the darkness.

“I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in the darkness.” John 12:46

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The New Covenant

Jeremiah 31:31-34

31 The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.”

Jeremiah prophesied that with the coming of Christ will come a new covenant.  The old covenant will no longer exist.  Unlike the old covenant which was written on stone, the new covenant will be written on the hearts of all who believe.  

And when they believe, all their sins will be forgiven.  God will dwell in them.

The lives of believers will be different than those who remain under the law.  Within the new covenant, believers live by faith. It is through this faith that we know Christ.  It is through this faith that we know God.  It is through this faith that we know God’s love, God’s mercy, and God’s forgiveness.

It is not the law that saves us.

It is our faith.

“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.” (Galatians 5:18)

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

A Light in the Darkness

Isaiah 9:2-6

“2 The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light;

those who lived in a land of deep darkness- on them light has shined.

3 You have multiplied the nation, you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you

 as with joy at the harvest, as people exult when dividing plunder. 4 For the yoke of their burden, and the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. 5 For all the boots of the tramping warriors and all the garments rolled in blood shall be burned as fuel for the fire. 6 For a child has been born for us, a son given to us, authority rests upon his shoulders; and he is named

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”

Isaiah’s prophecy of Christ is that of the light that shines and beckons all who live and walk in darkness to come to Him.  Christ will lift all burdens, all sins that have been oppressing His people. Christ will be born as a child, and this child will be God’s son and He will have God’s authority.

And He will be wonderful, mighty, and everlasting.  He will be the Prince of Peace.

Christ’s birth is a time of great joy and great hope.

The light shines in the darkness.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Born of a Woman

Isaiah 7:14 

“14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel.”

Immanuel means God with us. No one expected the messiah to be God incarnate, walking among them, talking to them, serving them, healing them.  

The Jewish authorities thought they had God all figured out.  They thought God existed in all the many rules and regulations they issued and enforced.  They thought God lived in their temple and no one had access except only the most high priest.

They thought only they knew God.

God was about to surprise them.  An unknown, lowly, young woman was going to have a child, a son, God’s son.  And His name would be Immanuel.

And God would dwell with them.  He would walk among them.

Just when we think we have God figured out…He surprises us.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

A Savior Born in Bethlehem

Micah 5:2-5

“2 But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah, who are one of the little clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me one who is to rule in Israel, whose origin is from of old, from ancient days. 3 Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth; then the rest of his kindred shall return to the people of Israel. 4 And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall live securely, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth; 5 and he shall be the one of peace.”

On November 22, 1963, I was ten years old and sitting in a fifth grade classroom when we heard the news over the intercom that President Kennedy had been shot.  Then moments later, the school Principal came to our classroom door and whispered into the ear of our teacher.  With tears in her eyes, our teacher told us that the President was dead.  

For several weeks it seemed that the whole world was dark.  We saw Lee Harvey Oswald killed before our very eyes on TV.  We saw the riderless horse with boots turned backward in the stirrups.  We saw the First Lady in black with her children.  We saw two year old John John saluting his father’s casket as it passed by.  We saw the lighting of the eternal flame on the President's grave.

And we wondered, where is God?  Where is our hope?

The Jews during the time of Micah wondered the same thing.  Everywhere they looked, evil seemed to prosper.  Where was God?  Where was their hope?

Through the prophet Micah, God gave the people hope.  A savior was to be born in Bethlehem and the people of Israel would be his flock, he would feed them God’s words, and he would be the one of peace.

In a dark world, Christ is our hope.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Spiritual Health

2 Corinthians 13:5

“5 Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test!”

In Paul’s visits and letters to the Corinthian church, Paul’s primary concern was for the spiritual health of the Christians in Corinth. If they were truly in the faith, then they would know that Jesus Christ lived inside them. The Holy Spirit would be at work within them, transforming them, giving them a thirst for righteousness, and they would be exhibiting the fruits of the Spirit. But if their lives showed no evidence of the Spirit’s activity, then Jesus Christ was not indwelling them. 

Paul asked the Corinthian Christians to examine themselves for the fruits of the spirit.  To ask themselves if they were living lives characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

This is something all Christians should do even today, each year; examine yourself by taking a deep inventory of your spiritual life; 

Start by reading the teachings of Jesus; 

ask yourself if you live a life that is a reflection of those teachings; 

do you live a life that is characterized by the fruits of the spirit; 

are you a reflection of God’s love on earth; 

are you the light that shines in the darkness for others?

Is Christ in you?

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)