16 He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him. 17 He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped himself in zeal as a cloak.
Isaiah 59:16-17
1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh.
Romans 9:1-3
God’s Passion to Save
In the beginning of Isaiah 59, Isaiah said our iniquities have made a separation between you and your God (Isaiah 59:2). The situation only got worse. When God saw that no one came to save, not even interceding for the sinners, He Himself came to save. Isaiah 59:16-17 described how He came to save.
- He put on righteousness as a breastplate, even though He came to save He could not save us using an unrighteous way.
- He put on a helmet of salvation because saving us is a very important thing in His mind, in fact he started thinking of saving us before we were created (He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you. 1 Peter 1:20).
- He put on garments of vengeance. Vengeance means judgement for sins. God came to save but He has to bear all the consequence of our sins.
- He wrapped Himself in zeal. He did not only came to save us, He came willingly and even eagerly. He knew the price He has to pay but He came without any hesitation nor reservation.
Passion
The word passion means a powerful or compelling emotion or feeling, it also means the suffering of Christ. The origin of the English word comes from the Latin word, passiō, which means suffering. So, the word passion begins its meaning as suffering but as time goes by people think that the reason why Christ suffered was because of a powerful or compelling emotion or feeling that He has towards us. That is how we use this word nowadays. True passion never stops a feeling or emotion, it evolves into action that is willing to pay even the ultimate price.
Our Passion to Save
Paul, who has been persecuted by the Jews, jailed, accused, and attempted to assassinate, but in his heart, he always loved his people. He preached the Gospel to them even though they rejected him and his message. He felt sad but this did not stop him, not even the ultimate price of cutting off from Christ. Dear, I hope today when you share your testimony and Gospel to others you also have the same attitude.
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