(tm) Christ was not treated justly
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His life was taken from Him. Christ was deprived of the material blessings that were His right as a righteous son of Abraham. It appeared that He would have no descendants. But who could possibly measure the amount of fruit that has come to mankind as the result of the willingness of Christ to be thus deprived? Who could count the number of His "descendants"?
Philippians 3:10 speaks of our being brought into the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ and of being conformed to His death. If we suffer with Christ through the depths of the consecration into which God leads us, spiritual life will be brought to other people.
Of course, we never suffer to pay for the sins of others. The full payment was made by Christ. Rather, our suffering is the sowing of ourselves to death in God. Then, when the Spirit of God raises us from death, the power that raises us flows out toward other people and the result is eternal life in them.
The sufferings of Christ into which we are brought are described in the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah. Again, let us state we do not atone for the sins of others as did the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet we are invited to suffer in God so the fruit and strength that flow from our ministry will be Divine and not merely human. Also, we are filling up that which remains of the suffering of Christ.
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. (Isaiah 53:3)
Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church: (Colossians 1:24)
The same type of rejection happened to Joseph, to Job, to Jeremiah, although not as severely as in the case of Christ. If we decide to take up our cross and follow Christ we may be despised and rejected and experience sorrow and lack of esteem. And this from people whom we are attempting to serve!
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. (Isaiah 53:7)
We may be required to suffer the envy of others, oppression, affliction, and yet be directed of the Lord to offer no complaint nor attempt to justify our position. It is not easy to travel the road of consecration with Christ, but it is the only route to the Presence and power of the Father.
God Almighty will accept only the life that He brings forth in us—life that flows from the crucifying of our flesh and self-will. We are to not open our mouth but allow God Himself to vindicate our behavior.
And 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. (Isaiah 53:9)
Christ set aside His own life to the point of death. In this manner He overcame all the power of the enemy. It is difficult to imagine what Jesus must have felt when He heard Pilate in one breath declare Him to be perfectly innocent and in the next breath sentence Him to death as a criminal. The injustice of it!
Pilate knew well that only the envy of the leaders of Israel had brought Jesus of Nazareth to trial. If we follow the Master we must be prepared to suffer this type of perversity and unfair treatment.
In the eleventh and twelfth verses (following) we behold the fruit that resulted from the willingness of Christ to follow the Father through the death and resurrection of consecration. We see the strength and dominion that have resulted from his obedience to death.
He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:11,12)
Christ will witness the fruit of the travail of His soul. Much fruit has been brought forth already throughout the two-thousand-year period since His crucifixion. So great will be the increase of the fruit of Christ in the days to come that the earth will be filled with the Life and Image of Christ.
Every saved person on the earth will reveal something of the fruit of the travail of the soul of Christ, when He endured the dark hour of Gethsemane.
We too will witness the fruit of the travail of our souls. Although our portion is on a smaller scale than that of Christ, yet the principle remains the same. One day the Apostle Paul will be able to view the results of his faithfulness to death. We believe Paul will be satisfied when he is made aware of the incomprehensible extent of the effect of his Epistles on the history and civilization of the world.
We also, if we are called of God to endure severe pruning of our personalities and accomplishments, will experience a corresponding abundance of fruit. The other products of our consecration to death and resurrection in Christ will be a position of responsibility in the Kingdom, greatly increased strength, and opportunities for service.
Because Christ was willing to pour out his soul to death He will receive the spoil due a conqueror. Strength to rule is the direct result of obedience to God. The only Christians who will attain the highest levels of rulership in Christ will be those of whom God requires the deepest depths of sufferings in Christ.
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