One of the most important prophecies Isaiah gave was that the Christ Child would deliver us from sin. This daily devotional looks at that prophecy and how Jesus fulfilled it by keeping salvation the priority of His ministry.
Nuggets
- Sin does feel like the yoke that joined oxen together.
- The ugliness of sin makes it burdensome.
- Deliverance from sin will ultimately result in a battle – where Jesus will be victorious.
- Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, the penalty for sin was paid.
Devotions in the Prophecy of the Christ Child series
The main focus of Jesus’ mission was to pay the penalty for our sins. In that way, He could redeem us, and we could be offered salvation.
Isaiah gave this prophecy years before the birth of the Christ Child took place. Let’s take a look.
Let's Put It into Context
The Holman Bible Dictionary defines prophecy as “reception and declaration of a word from the Lord through a direct prompting of the Holy Spirit and the human instrument thereof.”
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Prophecy is a divine revelation to mankind through the Holy Spirit of a future event. This was God telling us that we would be delivered.
Deliverance from the Yoke of Sin
“For you have shattered their oppressive yoke and the rod on their shoulders, the staff of their oppressor, just as you did on the day of Midian” (Isa. 9: 4 CSB)
All those years ago, Isaiah told us the Messiah was going to come to break the chains of sin. Sins are actions by humans that disobey God and break one of His reasonable, holy, and righteous laws and commandments, goes against a purpose He has for us, or follows Satan’s promptings. Sin had entered the world when Adam and Eve disobeyed God.
Glossary
Isaiah called it a yoke. Sin does feel like that device that joined oxen together. The oxen didn’t have any choice in the matter as to whether they were going to be drafted into service. Once they were in, they couldn’t get themselves out.
That really adds meaning to this verse. “My transgressions have been formed into a yoke, fastened together by his hand; they have been placed on my neck, and the Lord has broken my strength. He has handed me over to those I cannot withstand” (Lam. 1: 14 CSB).
Ooo, baby. I like Holman Bible Dictionary’s definition of transgression. It is an “image of sin as overstepping the limits of God’s law.”
Resource
The image that popped into my head was one of a kid pushing the boundaries, seeing what can be gotten away with. Our human nature wants to keep challenging God.
We keep telling ourselves we want the best — the best time, the best possessions, the best relationships. The problem is that our best is different than God’s best.
We keep pushing until God has to reign us back. God is only going to let us go so far in our sin before He lowers the boom.
Look what it says. Transgressions form the yoke. Sin makes us slaves.
At first, we see only the lure of sin. It looks bright and shiny — until we are hooked and can’t go anywhere else. When Satan firmly has us in His grasp, we see the true consequences of sin.
Eventually, we will see sin for what it really is. We will see it’s ugliness, and we will see how it separates us from God.
Deliverance from the Burden of Sin
“I am drowning in the flood of my sins; they are a burden too heavy to bear” (Ps. 38: 4 GNT)
The ugliness of sin makes it burdensome. The Homilist described it as “a crushing sense of guilt.” Oh, yeah. Sin can generate a lot of guilt.
Resource
The memory of sin can be burdensome. Yes, God wants us to remember, but He doesn’t want us to get overwhelmed by those memories. He wants us to remember His deliverance.
Glossary
Satan likes to mire us in the memories of our sin. That way, we feel unworthy and unforgivable. If we don’t think God will forgive us, we don’t ask — a win for Satan.
Macculloch reminded us that only God can relieve these burdens. He wrote, “A proper sense of its powerful influence, its polluting nature and dreadful guilt, like a crushing weight, depresses the spirit, becomes irksome and grievous, and if not happily removed, will prove the means of irremediable ruin.”
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I think it is very fitting that the Psalmist uses the image of deepening waters. That picture is clearer when we look at the King James Version. “For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me” (Ps. 38: 4 KJV).
True, it depends on the body of water we are swimming in, but — unless we dive in — we tend to get in at the shallow end. As we wade/swim out, the water comes up until we are no longer touching bottom. If we would be, our heads are under water.
This gradual immersion explains how Satan works many times. He slides us into sin so that we don’t even know that is the path we are traversing.
Deliverance from War
“For every trampling boot of battle and the bloodied garments of war will be burned as fuel for the fire” (Isa. 9: 5 CSB)
Chambers wrote that, if we look at this verse as kindling for the fire, “the verse admirably concludes the picture of prosperity given in the previous context by declaring that even the implements of warfare and the blood-stained clothing they cause shall be utterly consumed.”
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Hmmm. That is still kind of murky. Let’s try this.
Jesus came to deliver us from sin. That will ultimately result in a battle. He will be victorious.
In the end, Satan will be thrown into a lake of fire (Rev. 20: 14). If we look at the boots and the garments as the sins committed, that is what put residents there and keeps them there. We could say that sins are fuel for the fire.
Stanley took it another way. He considered this as burning the implements of war. Since Jesus is the Prince of Peace, those implements are no longer needed.
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Deliverance of Sin Prophecy Fulfilled
“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5: 1 ESV)
Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, the penalty for sin was paid. “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Rom. 5: 19 ESV). He delivered us from sin.
- We are no longer separated from God after we ABCD.
- We will live with Him for eternity.
- We will not be punished for our sins.
Jesus alone brings salvation to the world. Salvation is deliverance from evil and the consequences of sins to replace them with good and eternal life.
- “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Ac. 4: 12 ESV).
- “Jesus told him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me’” (Jn. 14: 6 NLT).
Jesus alone is our Savior.
Jesus addressed the yoke part. “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Mt. 11: 28-30 ESV).
Some see making a profession of faith as just becoming slaves to a different master. They might get that from Romans 6: 22. “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life” (Rom. 6: 22 ESV).
No, we don’t start living the life of Riley. God doesn’t promise us a carefree existence when we submit to Him.
It is lighter because we are going what is right. The guilt has been removed.
Making the Connections
Unfortunately, some will never see the Christ Child as the the One Who breaks the hook of sin. They don’t come to Him, asking for salvation.
They will forever pay the price for their sins.
What haven’t we seen in this discussion? We haven’t seen where Jesus came down to be a social Savior. He didn’t come to do away with sin, illness, and death.
Jesus came to do away with spiritual death. Our spiritual condition will always be His priority.
How Do We Apply This?
“Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved” (Ps. 55: 22 ESV)
We need to cast the burden of our sins onto the Christ Child Who went to the cross to die for us. We do this by admitting our sins, believing on Jesus as Redeemer, confessing God as Sovereign Lord, and demonstrating that submission by following our job description.
The ABCDs of Salvation
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the
Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
A – admit our sins
B – believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C – confess God as Sovereign Lord
D – demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to
live the way in which God has called us
The Disciple’s Job Description
The #1 priority for Jesus and God is delivering us from sin. That is the sole reason the Christ Child came. Everything else He did and said was to facilitate and support that.
Father God. We know that the Christ Child grew to be the Savior of the world. He fulfilled You Plan of Salvation, so that we no need to be separated from You. Thank You, Lord, for His sacrifices. Amen.
What do you think?
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