Looking

Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.  — Isaiah 45:22

This old, simple text from Isaiah says, “Look unto me.”  The New Testament says, “believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.” (Acts 16:31)  Romans 10:9 reads;  “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” There are a couple of problems I see with the New Testament verses.  Not that the verses are bad in and of themselves, but in the fact that modern American “Christianity” has significantly devalued their meaning. 

First of all, we have taken the word “believe” and made it mean a simple “acknowledgement of the fact.”  It no longer means to “lean upon” or “place your complete trust in,” but just a simple “make sure you think Jesus actually existed.”   

Second, many churches have made “confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus” a one shot deal.  As long as you say “the sinner’s prayer” your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life.  We don’t look at His name as the Name above all Names that will continuously be called upon until we draw our last breath. 

Now, Isaiah doesn’t write the word “believe,” or even “confess,” he writes the word “look.”  I like this word.  Why?  Well, looking isn’t hard at all.  Plus, a person knows exactly what he or she has been looking at all day long.  Have you looked to Jesus today?

If you don’t know what to look for, let the Bible be your guide.

And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. – Luke 22:44. 

Look at Him prepare to take your sin.

From noon until three in the afternoon darkness came over all the land.  About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” (Which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”) – Matthew 27:46-47. 

Look at your sin being transferred to the Lord.  Look at how it separates Him from His Father for the first and only time in eternity. 

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. – Matthew 27:50. 

Look at Him die for your sin.

He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. – Matthew 28:6. 

Look at Him rise from the dead.  Is there anyone even close to our Lord Jesus Christ?  He gave His life so that all who look to Him could spend eternity with Him forever and ever.  Death must now give way to victory and has no sting for anyone who looks to Him.

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23. 

Look unto Him today, and be saved.

Later

Adam