A New Day

By: Pastor Johnie Akers 

Isaiah 53:6, “And the Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” The story is told of tribes which used to roam throughout the northern parts of the Asian continent. One particular tribe had a leader who was known to be very powerful. He was physically very strong but also he was famous for his great wisdom. His word was absolute law in the tribe. A problem arose in the tribe in that someone was stealing things. He demanded that the stealing stop or punishment would be decreed. The stealing continued so he established a punishment of so many lashes with a whip. The stealing continued. The punishment increased and increased and increased until finally if the thief was caught there was no way they could live through the beating decreed. Finally, one day, the thief was apprehended. It turned out to be the mother of the great leader. She would certainly die under such a beating—but he had given his word. A date was set for the prescribed punishment to be administered and yet the tribe began to debate whether he would break his own law because of his great love for his mother? The day came: He ordered his mother to be brought forward. She was tied to the whipping pole and the whipmaster was called. The great leader demanded that the punishment begin. Before he gave the final command he stepped from his royal place, took off his garment, and stepped over to where his mother was. He extended himself across her to cover her back with his and then said, ‘Let the beating begin.’ He took on his back that which would have caused her death. The holy and just nature of God demands the penalty for sin to be death (Romans 6:23). But at the moment when justice demanded the penalty be exacted of each of us, at the cross, Jesus Christ extended Himself, covering us in love, and took upon Himself our punishment. Now the penalty for our sin has been borne by Him, and God has accepted His sacrifice as a substitution for us all. We are now free from sin and sin’s penalty to live as if we had never committed any offense, because of His finished work, with each new day.