Even if Monday did not work out so well for you, today is a new day! You do not have to experience the same defeat you did yesterday. Victory is yours in Christ Jesus! We often think of Easter as the time we celebrate new beginnings, but really Christmas is as much about a new start as anything else. When Jesus was born, it was in answer to God’s promises down through the centuries to make all things new.
Our passage today was written to a people who destroyed their lives through their rebellion against the Lord. By the time everything was said and done all that was left of Israel was a stump where a mighty tree once grew. The destruction caused by Israel’s sin left nothing but a stump but that is all the Lord needed to grow an eternal Kingdom. The unexpected nature of the Messiah is pointed at by Isaiah’s word picture here. No one expects much out the stump of a tree, yet that is exactly where God will grow His eternal Kingdom. He will grow this Kingdom through the Messiah who will seem as insignificant as a little shoot that pops up out of an old dead stump. Jesus is the shoot and the root of Jesse. He is both His source of life and savoir of His soul. Isaiah of course is speaking here of David’s father, Jesse. Jesus seems to reference this passage when, in Revelation 22:16, He says, “I am the root and the descendant of David.” He is the One who makes and remakes us into His image. Jesus is the One upon whom the Spirit of the Lord rests (Matthew 3:16). The Lord knows our hearts, not just what we want others to see, He judges with more than His eyes and His ears (Isaiah 11:3). We live in a world where appearances seem so important, but the new world that Jesus brings will judge rightly and fairly as Isaiah 11:4 promises. Think about the opening to the Sermon on Mount, (Matthew 5:3). It can be frustrating when others believe lies about us based on what they see and here, but our Savior will set the record straight. And on that day, when the Lord judges based on who we really are, we are all in trouble. Unless of course we have trusted on the Lord to forgive and save us. Isaiah 11:5 tells us that the Messiah will prepare for battle with a belt of righteousness and faithfulness. Later on, in Isaiah 59:17, this righteousness is also called His breastplate. Paul tells us over in Ephesians 6:14 to put on the belt of truth and breastplate of righteousness that the Lord Jesus has given us. When Jesus came, He paid for our sins and took our shame, in exchange for our sin and shame, He gave back to us faithfulness and righteousness to wear as spiritual armor, His personal armor! If you have put your faith in Him, He has taken away your guilt and made you spotless before Him. All God needed was an old stump to restore an entire nation that had rebelled against Him for centuries. If that is true of Israel, then how much more so is that true for you! Do not live in yesterday, it is a new day. Jesus wants to make you new, wear His righteousness today as a shield from all the accusations of Satan. Trust in His faithfulness today as you find yourself faithless. Do not continue on in your defeat, live in the victory the Lord has given to you.
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