HOW DO YOU SEE YOUR SALVATION?

(A series in the book of Isaiah: Chapter 11)

Reading the great content of the Isaiah chapter 11, I remembered my experience while I was in a class and the teacher told us about a story of the Israelites in Numbers 21:8, “8 The Lord said to Moses,“ Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” It is in this very time when God illustrated salvation by just a look at the serpent on the pole. Then our teacher added that by just our look at the Savior we will also be saved. Upon hearing this, I was feeling like, is this really for real? How can this be? Nothing to do or perform but just to look at the Savior of the world. I was a bit confused.

Then as my understanding grew in matters of understanding my salvation, I would like to reecho the thoughts of my teacher, that indeed, by just a look at the Saviour all will grow strangely dim and our Salvation is secured in the process. Why? Let us look at this content from Isaiah chapter 11:1-5,

1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse,

And a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,

The spirit of wisdom and understanding,

The spirit of counsel and strength,

The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

3 And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,

And He will not judge by what His eyes see,

Nor make a decision by what His ears hear;

4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor,

And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth;

And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,

And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.

5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins,

And faithfulness the belt about His waist.

These verses are a promise to the people of God that surely their Messiah will come. Not bearing the wisdom of the world but the wisdom of God. Not the works of men but the righteousness of God. Everything will be in the hand of the redeemer of Israel--their Immanuel. He has all the wisdom and understanding. The qualities expressed in here are just a simple foretaste of who really the Immanuel will be. And by these qualities we are asked to focus upon. We are asked not to work for these qualities, but first and foremost only to look at HIM and His wonderful works.

What saves us is not the literal looking of course but what really happens is that as we focus on the perfection of Jesus, as we focus on the perfection of His character, as we put our attention to the greatest sacrifice at the cross, as we focus on the price of your redemption, then our understanding deepens, our minds opened, and our hearts impacted by the loveliness of His character, and most importantly we will be touched by the UNCONDITIONAL love of God through Christ for all the human beings.

As we discover and as we see this amazing grace, love, and pity, we understand that it is not for those who think they are good enough. The love of God only takes effect to hearts who are falling and struggling. The love of God will only be understood by the heart that understands the severity of sin and filth inside him or her. I have thought for a long time that this love is only for the righteous, the perfect, and the "okay" people of God. When I finally understood that it is also for a struggling sinner like me, this truth has set my heart free. The truth of God’s love created a power inside me that made me yearn for more of Him and more of understanding His love for me and everybody else in this earth.

As I look at the perfection of God’s love in Christ, as I look at the limitless scope of Christ’s grace and forgiveness, as I look at the immeasurable mercy, as I look at the indescribable pity towards a struggling sinner. I could not help but bow down at the feet of the ONE whose love is so strong yet so tender. I could not help but believe and hope that I as sinner as I would also have the taste and the experience of the transforming power of His love.

“2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him,

The spirit of wisdom and understanding,

The spirit of counsel and strength,

The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins,

And faithfulness the belt about His waist.”

He is beyond description, He is even beyond all perfections, yet HE LOVE YOU AND ME.

By just a simple look at Christ’s love for you will surely assure you of His transforming love—a change heart! He makes us fit heaven, it will never be our work. It will all be by His works, grace, mercy, and love that we are saved. And all we needed to do is indeed look at His perfection. God promised through Isaiah the coming of this perfect Redeemer of Israel, and right before our eyes we see all its fulfillment recorded in the story of His life--the Bible. We see for countless times how is this promise fulfilled in the many lives of men who chose to look at the Saviour. We are a witness and our choices will impact how will we live the offer of salvation by just a look at the Saviour of the world.