Arise for our help, and redeem us for Your mercies’ sake.—Psalm 44:26

How unmistakably plain were Isaiah’s prophecies of Christ’s sufferings and death! “Who hath believed our report?” the prophet inquires, “and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.

“Surely He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are healed.

“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare His generation? for He was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was He stricken” (Isaiah 53:1-8).

Even the manner of His death had been shadowed forth. As the brazen serpent had been uplifted in the wilderness, so was the coming Redeemer to be lifted up, “that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

“One shall say unto Him, What are these wounds in Thine hands? Then He shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of My friends” (Zechariah 13:6).

“He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He hath put Him to grief” (Isaiah 53:9, 10).

But He who was to suffer death at the hands of evil human beings was to rise again as a conqueror over sin and the grave.—The Acts of the Apostles, 225-227.

Further Reflection: Does my commitment to accept Christ’s sacrifice for me match His commitment to save me? In other words, am I as vested in my salvation as Christ is?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

“And He shall build the temple of the LORD.”—Zechariah 6:12

In the temple in heaven, the dwelling place of God, His throne is established in righteousness and judgment. In the most holy place is His law, the great rule of right by which all humanity are tested. The ark that enshrines the tables of the law is covered with the mercy seat, before which Christ pleads His blood in the sinner’s behalf. Thus is represented the union of justice and mercy in the plan of human redemption. This union infinite wisdom alone could devise and infinite power accomplish; it is a union that fills all heaven with wonder and adoration. The cherubim of the earthly sanctuary, looking reverently down upon the mercy seat, represent the interest with which the heavenly host contemplate the work of redemption. This is the mystery of mercy into which angels desire to look—that God can be just while He justifies the repenting sinner and renews His communion with the fallen race; that Christ could stoop to raise unnumbered multitudes from the abyss of ruin and clothe them with the spotless garments of His own righteousness to unite with angels who have never fallen and to dwell forever in the presence of God.

The work of Christ as humanity’s intercessor is presented in that beautiful prophecy of Zechariah concerning Him “whose name is the Branch.” Says the prophet: “He shall build the temple of the Lord; and He shall bear the glory, and shall sit and rule upon His [the Father’s] throne; and He shall be a priest upon His throne: and the counsel of peace shall be between Them both” (Zechariah 6:12, 13)….

By His sacrifice and mediation Christ is both the foundation and the builder of the church of God. The apostle Paul points to Him as “the chief Cornerstone; in whom all the building fitly framed together groweth into an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also,” he says, “are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit” (Ephesians 2:20-22).

“He shall bear the glory.” To Christ belongs the glory of redemption for the fallen race.—The Great Controversy, 415, 416.

Further Reflection: Jesus has created me to be a holy temple for His dwelling. Have I opened the door to let Him come in?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

“When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you shall surely die!’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.”—Ezekiel 33:8

Every indignity, reproach, and cruelty that Satan can instigate human hearts to devise, has been visited upon the followers of Jesus. And it will be fulfilled in a yet more marked manner; for the carnal mind is still at enmity with the law of God, and will not be subject to its commands. We have been highly favored in living under a government where we can worship God according to the dictates of our conscience. But human nature is no more in harmony with the principles of Christ today than it has been in ages past. The world is still in opposition to Jesus. The same hatred that prompted the cry, “Crucify Him, crucify Him,” still works in the children of disobedience. The same satanic spirit that in the Dark Ages consigned men and women to prison, to exile, and to the stake, that conceived the exquisite torture of the Inquisition, produced the massacre of St. Bartholomew, and kindled the fires of Smithfield, is still at work with malignant energy in unregenerate hearts.

We are required to be Christ-like toward those who are our enemies; but we must not, in order to have peace, cover up the faults of those we see in error. The world’s Redeemer never purchased peace by covering iniquity, or by anything like compromise. Though His heart was constantly overflowing with love for the human race, He was never indulgent to their sins. He was the friend of sinners, and He would not remain silent while they were pursuing a course that would ruin their souls—the souls that He had purchased with His own blood. He was a stern reprover of all vice. He labored that men and women should be true to themselves in being all that God would have them, and true to their higher and eternal interest. Living in a world marred and seared with the curse brought upon it by disobedience, He could not be at peace with it if He left it unwarned, uninstructed, unrebuked. This would be to purchase peace at the neglect of duty. His peace was the consciousness of having done the will of His Father, rather than a condition of things that existed as the result of not having done His duty.—The Review and Herald, January 16, 1900.

Further Reflection: How do I relate to people who are engaged in open sin?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!—Romans 11:33

Victory will come to all who are loyal, steadfast in their allegiance to the cause of truth. “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love Him” (James 1:12). Let all inquire, Are we individually faithful stewards in trust of the last message of mercy to be given to the world, the message that decided their eternal destiny? Are we faithful to closely examine self, to see what manner of spirit we are of? Are we constantly aiming to represent the truth as it is in Jesus, or is it molded by the peculiarities of the human worker? Will the fires of the last conflagration consume our work?

Fidelity, thorough wholeness to God, is essential for every worker now if we would receive from Christ the benediction, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23). The exhortation to Timothy from his father in the gospel was, “Take heed unto thyself and unto the doctrine” (1 Timothy 4:16). The great question is: How shall we meet the future? Our only safety is in doing our work for each day as it comes, working, watching, waiting, every moment relying on the strength of Him who was dead and who is alive again, who lives forevermore. Every step must be guarded; as we advance, our tread may be firm, and then we may move solidly onward and upward.

But many are Laodiceans, living in a spiritual self-deception. They clothe themselves in the garments of their own righteousness, imagining themselves to be rich and increased with goods and in the need of nothing, when they need daily to learn of Jesus His meekness and lowliness, else they find themselves bankrupt, their whole life being a lie. Shall not we who bear the last message of mercy to a guilty world represent Jesus in purity in self-denial, that the word may be sounded from human lips inspired by the Holy Spirit of God, “Open the door of your heart, and let Jesus in”? The great Vendor of spiritual riches is inviting your recognition. He says, “I counsel thee to buy of Me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear: and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see” (Revelation 3:18).—Letter 66, 1894.

Further Reflection: What spiritual riches has Jesus bestowed on me?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names

The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.—Psalm 118:22

To those who believe, Christ is the sure foundation. These are they who fall upon the Rock and are broken. Submission to Christ and faith in Him are here represented. To fall upon the Rock and be broken is to give up our self-righteousness and to go to Christ with the humility of a child, repenting of our transgressions, and believing in His forgiving love. And so also it is by faith and obedience that we build on Christ as our foundation.

Upon this living stone, Jews and Gentiles alike may build. This is the only foundation upon which we may securely build. It is broad enough for all, and strong enough to sustain the weight and burden of the whole world. And by connection with Christ, the living stone, all who build upon this foundation become living stones. Many persons are by their own endeavors hewn, polished, and beautified; but they cannot become “living stones,” because they are not connected with Christ. Without this connection, no person can be saved. Without the life of Christ in us, we cannot withstand the storms of temptation. Our eternal safety depends upon our building upon the sure foundation. Multitudes are today building upon foundations that have not been tested. When the rain falls, and the tempest rages, and the floods come, their house will fall, because it is not founded upon the eternal Rock, the chief cornerstone Christ Jesus.

“To them which stumble at the word, being disobedient,” Christ is a rock of offense. But “the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner.” Like the rejected stone, Christ in His earthly mission had borne neglect and abuse. He was “despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief…. He was despised, and we esteemed Him not” (Isaiah 53:3). But the time was near when He would be glorified. By the resurrection from the dead He would be declared “the Son of God with power” (Romans 1:4). At His second coming He would be revealed as Lord of heaven and earth. Those who were now about to crucify Him would recognize His greatness. Before the universe the rejected stone would become the head of the corner.—The Desire of Ages, 599, 600.

Further Reflection: Can I point to a time in my life when Jesus proved to be my Eternal Rock, a sure foundation in a time of storm?

From Jesus, Name Above All Names