All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray
“All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.” – Isaiah 53:6
In this one verse of just 28 words we are given the simple doctrine of the gospel which is the death of Christ on Calvary’s Cross to atone for the sin of fallen humanity.
Before I exegete this verse, I believe this gives me an opportunity to address a question that we receive from our viewers, and that question is, “Why are y’all so adamant in your preaching when it comes to the Message of the Cross, and why are y’all so strong against false doctrine in the church?” Those are fair questions deserving of an answer. Both questions are very easy to answer, so let’s do that now.
1. We believe that the soul of man is the single most important thing in the world. Jesus said in Matthew 16:26, “For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?” Of course the answer to that is there is no price that one can put on eternal salvation.
2. We believe the Bible is the infallible unchanging, unalterable Word of God. We believe that the Bible not only contains the Word of God, but it is the Word of God. Therefore the Bible, God’s Word, is to be the only criteria by which all men will be judged, therefore anything that is contrary to the Word of God is wrong and must be proclaimed as false, for the end result of following that which is false could well be loss of one’s soul.
3. We believe that the Message of the Cross is the consolidated plan of God given to us in the Word of God. We believe that the story of the Bible is the story of Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
Therefore, if we believe that the soul of man is all-important, if we believe that the Bible is the road map for life, and if we believe that the message of the Bible is “Jesus Christ and Him crucified,” which is right, then we must expose that which is contrary to the Bible.
If one wants to know what should be preached in our churches, no one should look no further than the book of Acts, which is the foundation on which the church is built. A true New Testament church should have the earmarks of the book of Acts. Those earmarks are “justification by faith” and not by works, the baptism with the Holy Spirit as a separate work of grace, distinct from salvation and subsequent to it, which is accompanied by the speaking with other tongues. Divine healing must be preached, sanctification by faith and not works must be preached, the rapture of the church and of the last days prophetic events should be preached and proclaimed with boldness and not timidity. That’s why we preach so strong on the Cross and against false doctrine.
Now let us look at Isaiah 53:6.
All We Like Sheep Have Gone Astray
As I stated earlier in this one verse of 28 words, we are given the simple doctrine of the gospel which is Christ and Him crucified and resurrected.
This phrase portrays all of humanity as being similar to sheep. Not to be offensive or rude to you the reader, the simple fact is sheep are dumb. They must have constant supervision from the shepherd, for without this constant supervision the sheep will go astray becoming hopefully lost.
This is a perfect picture of humanity. Man has left the path that the shepherd (Christ) has chosen, and because the sheep have left the correct path (the path of Christ) they become hopelessly lost, lost to such a degree that within his own means, it is impossible for him to find the right path; therefore Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory had to come from heaven down to this wilderness called earth, all for the purpose to seek and save lost humanity.
It is important to notice that the word all is used, which means that all of humanity is lost, born into original sin and born in total depravity, meaning man is not just slightly lost, but man is completely lost and doomed for destruction.
We Have Turned Every One To His Own Way
This phrase refers to the fact that collectively and individually, the whole world has sinned and come short of the glory of God. The great problem of the human race is “man’s way” versus “God’s way.” Man’s way always leads to eternal damnation and God’s way leads to eternal glorification.
And The Lord Has Laid On Him The Iniquity Of Us All
This phrase refers to the total price that Christ paid for our total salvation. Here once again we find in these words the simple doctrine of the gospel, the death of Christ. His purpose in coming to earth was to die on Calvary’s Cross in order to pay the price that man could not pay, which would secure man’s salvation, at least for those who will believe and by faith accept Christ and His atoning work.
Every single sin for all of humanity and for all time was laid upon Christ. He alone was the only sacrifice God could accept.
Every one of us should have hung on that Cross because we are all guilty, but instead of God laying the iniquity on the truly guilty which is all of humanity instead Jesus Christ took our place, He became our substitute, He became the sin offering, and took the punishment we deserved upon Himself.
Simple faith in what Christ did at Calvary brings forgiveness and pardon to any and all who will come and fall at the feet of the Cross, and there, and only there can you find forgiveness of sin and life eternal.
“All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.”
Praise the Lord, Christ paid the debt that I owed and could not pay, but by faith and grace I am no longer a sinner, a debtor, I am a new creation in Jesus Christ.
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