God was not caught by surprise

Isaiah 53:10 says, “Yet it was the will of the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief; when He makes Himself an offering for sin, He shall see His offspring, He shall prolong His days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in His hand;”

It was no accident. God was not caught by surprise when His servant was crushed and put to grief. It was God’s eternal plan for the redemption of Israel. There was no hostile intent, only a righteous God, dealing with the transgressions of His people. The emphasis Isaiah makes is, God did it. God is the author, God is in control. Not the Roman soldiers or the Jewish religious leaders. They could accomplish their evil deed only as a sovereign God allowed them. The only adequate answer to the question of why God did it is found in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

God reached out to us from the beginning. He has always come to us. In the Garden of Eden He came down to walk with Adam and Eve and to teach them. In Exodus He was there in the form of a fire and a cloud leading and guiding the Israelites. Later He dwelled in their most holy of Holies. Much later He came to earth as Jesus. He became one of us and lived on earth. Now, He is inside every believer in the form of the Holy Spirit, where He’s promised to stay until the end of time.

God loves us! He wants to BE with us, have a relationship with us now and for eternity. His plan is that, as many people as can, will be saved. It is totally up to us, whether we are or not.