Ephesians 1:22 "And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church," Here, Christ is exalted as the Head over all things—not only as Creator, but as the One Who has accomplished redemption for the sinners the Father gave Him. He earned the righteousness God’s law required through His obedient life and sacrificial death. Having completed that work, God the Father raised Him from the grave, caused Him to ascend, and seated Him at His Right Hand in heavenly majesty. His work was finished, and He continues to reign over all things for the benefit of His church (Psalm 2:6; Ephesians 1:3-14) The word “to” in verse 22 speaks of purpose. Though all creation belongs to Him, Christ’s Headship is especially in view of the redeemed—the called-out ones whom God chose before the foundation of the world. Christ came to lay down His life for these elected sinners, and now, exalted, He governs all things for His glory and their Spiritual good. The church is not a place or a gathering; it is the sum of those whom Christ has redeemed, the body of which He is the Head (v. 23). The Greek word for “head” conveys authority, direction, and foundation. In Mark 12:10 , the rejected Stone becomes the Head of the corner, even the Chief Cornerstone (v.20) from which all angles and structure flow. In Mark 15:19, Christ suffers and is struck on the head, demonstrating man’s rejection of God’s purpose. Yet this could not thwart God’s purpose. John 19:30 shows Christ voluntarily laying down His life, bowing His Head in obedience to the Father’s command, " When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." Only through this submission could He ascend as Head over all. Christ’s Headship is universal—over creation, earthly rulers, and even the powers of darkness. Every river, storm, kingdom, and fallen angel is under His Authority (Colossians 1:16) . Yet His rule is especially for the church. Those for whom He paid the debt of sin are safe; nothing can harm or remove them from His care. “No weapon formed against thee [ any of His own ] shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:17). Even death itself is tributary to His purpose, delivering the redeemed to eternal glory. Christ’s relationship to His church is illustrated by the body. As in 1 Corinthians 12, the body has many members, each placed by God under the Headship of Christ. Diversity exists, yet unity is given under direction of and because of the Spirit of Christ. Each member is vital; no one is excluded or overlooked. Christ, the Head, nourishes, directs, and governs the body for its life and growth. This analogy extends into marriage, as Ephesians 5:22–23 shows, "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body." Just as the church is subject to Christ, wives are called to submit to their own husbands, and husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church. The order God has established reflects the Authority of Christ over His church, guiding and sustaining the body, ensuring its presentation to the Father as glorious, holy, and without blemish. As members of this body, our lives are lived in grateful submission to Christ, our Head. Though flesh is weak and the world opposes, we rejoice that all things are under Him. His Authority is absolute, and His purpose is sure. One day, gathered around our blessed Head in glory, the fullness of His Presence will be ours forever (Revelation 7:17). Until then, we trust in His completed work, His sovereign Headship, and His unfailing care for His people.

Isaiah 55:8-13 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name, for an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off." Here in Isaiah 55, we see our glorious LORD God set forth, the Great I AM, Jehovah God, Whose thoughts are not our thoughts and Whose ways are not our ways. God reveals Himself as the glorious LORD God, Redeemer, Justifier, Reconciler, and Savior of His elect. Even using these descriptives, it is not enough to describe God for Who He is. Men today trivialize their little g-o-d, but not ours. He reveals Himself in saying: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD” (v.8). This is God Himself speaking. He is infinitely above anything we could ever think in His Wisdom and in His Way. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways and His thoughts than our thoughts (v.9). The distance is so great that unless He is pleased to condescend to come down to where we are and reveal Himself, we could never know Him. Men think that God is like they are. That is what an idol is, an image like unto your imagination, much like men themselves. But the God of Scripture is not like the imaginations of men. Isaiah had been prophesying judgment, captivity, and then foretold of a remnant that would be brought back from captivity because God had promised and God's Word cannot fail. He always accomplishes what He says He will do. History is HIS-story. He writes it as He wills. And particularly the Deliverance spoken of here has to do with how He is pleased to deliver and save sinners. Left to ourselves, our thoughts and our ways can in no way grasp with a natural mind how God can be God and not lower His standard to save sinners. Many think God can accept an imperfect offering or a supposed righteousness, yet all of our works are nothing but filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Many think God can pardon a sinner without His justice being fully honored. But what kind of Judge would He be? A god who could pardon without justice may one day condemn without reason. A god who could set aside his righteousness may one day set aside his mercy. A god who could deny his law may one day deny his gospel. A god who could change His character may go back on His promises. That is the little g-o-d that men have today, but not the God of Scripture. In verses 8 and 9 we see that His ways are past finding out by the most intelligent of mortal men and women. If we could know God by our thoughts, we would no longer be His creatures or He would no longer be God. God is not above in heaven thinking and planning as we do. His ways and His thoughts are infinite. That is why we need the Spirit to guide us when we read the Scriptures. Prayer does not change God; prayer aligns our will with God’s. "Thy will be done" is the Spirit’s work in us (Matthew 6: 9,10) . The heavens higher than the earth show us that the distance between His thoughts and ours is greater than billions of galaxies. That is why the majority of the world lives in idolatry. But God has not left His people to themselves. His ways are manifest in how He came to this earth in the Person of His Son. Seeing there was none righteous, He took it upon Himself to come in the flesh to earn and establish the Righteousness necessary for Him to be Just and to justify sinners (Isaiah 59:16). Heaven came down when the LORD Jesus Christ came to earth. Unless by His Spirit and His Grace we are brought to see the LORD Jesus Christ as all of God’s Glory, we remain in our thoughts and our ways. Verse 10 declares, “For as the rain cometh down, and the snow from heaven. ” Rain and water point to the LORD Jesus, the Water of Life. Snow represents Christ in His Purity and Whiteness. So shall His Word be. “It shall not return unto me void” (v.11). That Word is Christ, the Word made Flesh. His inspired Word, and His incarnate Word are all in Him. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1). When the Father sent the Son, He spoke what the Father gave Him to speak. So shall His  Word be — even Christ Himself, the eternal Logos (Word) sent forth by the Father. He came down from heaven to do the Father’s will, to accomplish the Work of Redemption entrusted to Him. He fulfilled all Righteousness, laid down His Life for the sheep, and rose again in triumph. Having ascended on high, He returned to the Father with the full harvest of those given to Him from eternity. Not one was lost, for the Word cannot fail. As surely as rain waters the earth, so Christ, the living Word, prospered in the purpose for which He was sent. This is how the distance was bridged. Psalm 8 asks, “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?” (Psalm 8:4). This Man is the God-Man, the LORD Jesus Christ, made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor. “All scripture is given by inspiration of God” (2 Timothy 3:16). It is His inspired Word declaring how God Himself has purposed to declare sinners righteous through the Work of the LORD Jesus Christ. When He cried, “It is finished” (John 19:30) , nothing remained but Righteousness and Justice to impute to all those sinners given to His Son. So shall His Word be. “For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with Peace” (v.12). This is our glorious LORD God, revealed in His thoughts, His ways, His Word, and His Son. This concludes the Gospel call with the sure fruit of Christ’s accomplished Redemption. All who are brought to Him by sovereign grace “shall go out with joy, and be led forth with Peace,” for Christ Himself is their Joy and their Peace. The curse is reversed: instead of the thorn comes the fir tree, and instead of the brier the myrtle tree — a picture of the New Covenant Work of Christ wrought for every redeemed soul. All is the LORD’s doing, the everlasting sign of His Covenant Mercy in Christ, which shall not be cut off.

Isaiah 26:15-21 "Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD, thou hast increased the nation: thou art glorified: thou hadst removed it far unto all the ends of the earth. LORD, in trouble have they visited thee, they poured out a prayer when thy chastening was upon them. Like as a woman with child, that draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs; so have we been in thy sight, O LORD. We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not wrought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the world fallen. Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead. Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast. For, behold, the Lord cometh out of his place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity: the earth also shall disclose her blood, and shall no more cover her slain." Isaiah 26 unfolds as a song of rejoicing that looks forward to a Great Deliverance worked by the LORD. It is a song born out of chastening, the kind of chastening that proves both the Love and the Sovereignty of God. Israel’s story unfolds beneath God's heavy hand of Divine correction — the ten tribes carried away by Assyria, Judah later taken by Babylon — yet none of it fell outside the LORD’s purpose. He was proving something greater: that His people, in themselves, were no better than the nations He used to judge them. The lesson remains — the heart of man is the same in every nation, and it is only Grace that makes the difference (Ephesians 2:4). In the midst of judgment, the prophet sees Mercy. “Thou hast increased the nation, O LORD… thou art glorified.” The LORD did not chasten to destroy, but to purify, to glorify Himself in Mercy. His dealings were not for Israel’s merit but for His Son’s sake. The favored nation was chosen out and preserved so that Christ might come through it. So every stroke of Divine correction upon His people was not in wrath but Love, not punishment for sin, for Christ bore that, but chastening by means of sin, that we might be turned again unto Him. “Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth” (Hebrews 12:6). The prophet likens their pain to that of a woman in travail. It is not meaningless agony, but suffering that brings forth life. The pain is real — no one enjoys it, and no child of God seeks it — yet it is purposeful. The woman’s cry is not the end but the means to Joy. “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning” (Psalm 30:5). Through the throes of chastening, the LORD draws His own nearer. Every idol stripped away, every comfort taken, until the heart cries, “ O Thou in whose presence my soul takes delight. ” When there is nothing left but Christ, the soul finds Him all-sufficient. The LORD’s chastening is a Mercy. To be left alone would be the greater terror. The absence of correction would mean the absence of sonship. Every chastening, painful though it is, bears the seal of Love. “Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). The Shepherd disciplines the sheep that wander, not in anger but in covenant affection. His aim is not destruction but restoration. The same Hand that smites is the Hand that binds the chastening wounds. The people of God in captivity learned to “pour out a prayer” (v.16) when His chastening was upon them. This statement speaks not of empty words, but of the offering of the heart — a pouring out as a drink offering upon the altar, flowing from the only acceptable Sacrifice, the blood of Christ. True prayer, wrought in affliction, is shaped by Christ crucified at the cross. It comes not from formality but from need — from a soul brought low, taught to seek the LORD in secret. “In their affliction they will seek me early” (Hosea 5:15). That is the blessed Purpose of Divine correction — to bring the heart back to the place of dependence, to renew the cry of Grace. The chastening of the LORD is both painful and needful. It is tailor-made for every one of His children. The LORD knows exactly how to deal with each soul to cause it to look to Christ. No book, no counsel, no human hand can remove what He has purposed. And yet, afterward, it yields “the peaceable fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11). Peace is not the absence of trial, but the Presence of Christ in the midst of it. “Thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us” (Isaiah 26:12). He ordains Peace through conflict, Righteousness through chastening, Rest through dependence upon His finished work. All enemies that rise against His people are already conquered. “They are dead, they shall not rise” (v.14). For when Christ died, He destroyed every enemy — sin, law, and Satan alike. “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us… nailing it to his cross… and having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly” (Colossians 2:14–15). The believer’s Security is found in that Victory. The law can no longer condemn; the accuser has no power to touch those hidden in Christ. Even when the LORD causes affliction through the hands of men, He uses them only as instruments to do His will, never to destroy His own. And when the discipline is finished, He calls His people to rest: “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chambers… hide thyself… until the indignation be overpast.” It is a call by Christ to retreat into Christ Himself — the Chamber of Mercy, the place of Safety purchased by His blood. The world may be under judgment, but those sheltered in Him have Peace. “Seeing then that we have a great high priest… Jesus the Son of God… let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14–16). Chastening drives the child of God into those chambers — away from self, into Christ. There the soul finds Defense, Comfort, and Quietness until the storm has passed. For the chastening of the LORD always ends in the same place — not despair, but Peace. The same Hand that wounds also heals His child. The same Love that corrects comforts. And in it all, the LORD glorifies Himself in His Son. Thus, Isaiah’s song becomes the believer’s song: rejoicing not in the absence of trial, but in the God Who turns chastening into grace, affliction into fellowship, and pain into peace. “Thy dead men shall live… together with my dead body shall they arise” (v.19). Every correction, every sorrow, every stroke leads to that Resurrection Life where Christ and His people shall stand together in Glory, and the chastening of the LORD shall be forever past.

Isaiah 6:1-5 "In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts." Here, Isaiah, the LORD's prophet, is brought face to face with His majesty, holiness, and sovereignty. The earthly throne of Judah had been emptied by the sudden death of Uzziah, but the heavenly throne remained unmoved and forever occupied by the Eternal King. This vision is not merely historical; it is Christ Himself Whom Isaiah beheld, as John testifies, “These things said Esaias, when he saw his glory, and spake of him”   (John 12:41). Isaiah is laid low by this clear revelation of Christ in all His majesty as the Eternal God, before His appointed time to come to the earth to pay the sin debt of His people. So glorious is the LORD Jesus that the holy angels veil their faces before Him, declaring, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.”   In the light of such holiness, Isaiah is undone, confessing, “Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips.” This passage brings us to the heart of the Gospel: before the glory of Christ, every sinner is exposed, ruined, and silenced; but it is this same LORD, high and exalted, Who in sovereign mercy and grace reveals His cleansing work through the altar, pointing us to the finished work of Christ on Calvary's cross. Therefore, Isaiah’s vision is both a humbling revelation of the sinner's ruin in the fall of Adam, but also the gracious foreshadowing of redemption in Christ Jesus, the Last Adam, Who came and earned and established that Righteousness necessary for God to be just and justify those whom He ordained to salvation from before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:3-7) as the King of glory. Earthly leaders rise and fall, seasons of life change, and even what once seemed strong and secure collapses—there is one reality that never changes: Christ is on the throne. He is not merely a figurehead king, with a throne of pomp and circumstance and empty ceremony or fragile power. It is the Throne of the Eternal Son of God, ruling in holiness, majesty, and grace. To see Him as He truly is shatters the sinner's pride, humbles the heart, and yet also gives Hope, because this Holy King is also the Merciful Savior. The death of King Uzziah marked the end of an era for Israel. He was a capable and prosperous ruler under God's providential Hand, but his story ended in pride and judgment. He presumed to take upon himself what only the priests were consecrated to do, and God struck him with leprosy (2 Chronicles 26:16–21) . What a sobering picture: a man who began well, prospered greatly, and yet fell under the weight of his own pride. It is against that backdrop that Isaiah says, “I saw also the Lord.” When the earthly king fell, Isaiah saw the heavenly King—Christ Himself, high and exalted on His throne of glory. The glory that filled the temple was none other than the glory of Jesus Christ, the Eternal Son of God. The scene around the throne is awe-inspiring. There stand the seraphim, crying out, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory”  (Isaiah 6:3). God’s holiness is not merely one attribute among many—it is His glorious attribute from which all of His other attributes flow, like the hub of a wheel from which all the other attributes are aligned: His Grace, Mercy, Justice, and Wrath. He is holy in His love, holy in His justice, holy in His sovereignty, holy in all that He is. He is so Holy that even the sinless angels hide their faces before Him. Job 15:15 tells us : " Behold, he putteth no trust in his saints [holy angels] ; yea, the heavens are not clean in his sight" What happens when Isaiah sees this? He is not lifted in pride for having received this vision of Christ. Nor in response does He offer up any supposed "good works". No, he cries out, “Woe is me! for I am undone”  (Isaiah 6:5). This is always the result when God opens a sinner’s eyes to His glory. They are brought low, stripped of any pride, and all self-reliance crumbles. Like Paul, we will count all our works as loss and dung for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ (Philippians 3:8). This is the work of sovereign grace—God showing us Who He is, and in that Light, showing us who we are. But the vision does not end with despair. A seraph flies to Isaiah with a live coal from the altar and touches it to his lips, saying, “Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged”  (Isaiah 6:7). What mercy! What grace! The very holiness that should have condemned Isaiah now brings cleansing. That altar, with its burning sacrifice, points to the cross of Christ. It is there—at Calvary—that sin was purged, and every elect sinner justified before God (Hebrews 1:3). It is there that Christ, our Great High Priest, did not bring incense, nor the blood of animals, but His own blood. “Once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself”  (Hebrews 9:26). Only Christ can make unclean lips clean. Only Christ can remove the guilt that overwhelms us before a holy God. Notice that Isaiah did not purify himself. He didn’t reach for the coal. He didn’t cleanse his own lips, nor appropriate it to himself. God sent the coal. God declared him clean. Salvation is of the LORD, from beginning to end. As Paul reminds us, “It is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy”  (Romans 9:16). This is the Gospel: the King upon His throne is also the Lamb upon the altar. The One before Whom angels veil their faces is the same One Who humbled Himself to die for sinners elected by God and given to Him. The vision that undoes us is also the vision that delivers us from fear of condemnation, because Christ bore the wrath we deserved as His people and gave us His righteousness in return. What then do we do when we see Him? We bow. We confess. And we cling to Christ alone. Apart from Him, all our works are like King Uzziah’s incense—presumptuous, unclean, unacceptable. But in Him, we are accepted, forgiven, and clothed in a righteousness not our own but that which the Father imputed to our spiritual account upon completion of His work on the cross. Isaiah saw the LORD in majesty, and he saw himself undone. But then he saw redemption and reconciliation through the blood of the sacrifice. That is sovereign grace. That is the gospel of Christ. And that is our Hope today, tomorrow, and forever. “Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood… to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen”  (Revelation 1:5–6).

Isaiah 53:5 " But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed." Unconverted minds often struggle to understand how a sinner can be declared righteous through the righteousness of another. Many, blinded by unbelief, object to the truth that the perfect obedience and sacrificial death of the LORD Jesus—imputed to sinners chosen by God the Father—is their entire justification before Him. As Scripture says, “Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh” (1 Timothy 3:16).  This is a profound mystery that human reasoning cannot fully grasp—but it is not beyond the understanding of those whom the Spirit of God teaches. When the Spirit opens the eyes of a sinner for whom Christ has paid the penalty of sin, they bow in humble awe and joy, just as the hymn writer expressed:  “As at the cross I humbly bow,  And gaze upon Thy thorn-crowned brow,  And view the precious bleeding form  By cruel nails so bruised and torn,  Knowing Thy suffering was for me.”  Sin is a terrible and deadly curse. Unless it is cleansed, the only outcome is eternal condemnation. The healing can only come through the full payment for sin and its complete pardon by God Himself. This is the heart of the Gospel message. The healing must be thorough, and it is accomplished only through the suffering and death of the LORD Jesus Christ.  When the eyes of those for whom Christ has paid the debt of sin are opened to see what He endured for their complete justification, they are made to feel the weight of their sin, mourn over their guilt, and yet rejoice in the One who took their place. Through Him, they stand redeemed, justified, sanctified, and glorified.  The LORD reveals to sinners—spiritually sick and depraved—that the only remedy for their condition is His sacrifice. He makes it clear to His elect that their sin is beyond any remedy they could produce through their efforts. Only through the obedience of the LORD Jesus unto death can their sins be fully and eternally put away (Philippians 2:8). He assumed their human nature—yet without sin—and bore their guilt by imputation. All the sins of His chosen ones were laid upon Him. In His death, He fully satisfied the curse of the law, becoming the curse in their place. He was treated as a criminal—not for any sin of His own, but for the sins of His people. As their Substitute, He was wounded, bruised, and put to death by the hand of divine justice.   There is no salvation apart from Christ and His suffering. Therefore, we do not look to anything or anyone else, but only to His stripes—His fatal wounds. It is through Him alone that we are saved. The heart of the Gospel is the suffering and substitutionary death of the LORD Jesus Christ for His people. The words, "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed,"   are not mere poetry—they are the sovereign declaration of God's redeeming love, accomplished through the suffering and death of His beloved Son. For those given faith to see it, this truth silences every boast, humbles every proud heart, and brings rest to the weary soul. Christ alone bore the full weight of our sin, and by His finished work, we are fully justified, eternally saved, and perfectly reconciled to God.

Isaiah 62:2 "And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name."   This prophetic word finds its fulfillment in the finished redemptive work of Christ, Who has brought in everlasting righteousness for His people—both Jew and Gentile. No longer identified by national or ceremonial distinctions, God’s elect are now called by a new name —Christians—those who are in Christ, justified by His blood, and made glorious by His obedience. This verse celebrates the gospel age ushered in by the cross, where the Righteousness of Christ is revealed and made known to the nations, not as an offer, but as an accomplished reality for all whom the Father gave the Son. Here, the Spirit of the LORD directs Isaiah to prophecy of the church of the LORD Jesus Christ, which was to be called by a new name.    Who are her members?   Gentiles: Nations (Jew and Gentile)- sinners whom the LORD has redeemed to God out of every tribe, nation, and tongue- Revelation 5:9, 10.   By what name is she called? Just as in a traditional wedding, the bride takes the name of the husband, so here, prophetically, it is declared that the church, as the bride of Christ, would be given a new name (i.e. her married name, as in Christ’s church, or the church of the Redeemed ones).  She is here spoken of in the singular ‘Thou’ although she is made up of many members that the Father chose, and Christ redeemed, and the Spirit has called and is yet calling out. In Revelation 21:9 she is called Christ’s body, and the bride, the Lamb’s wife.  These have been loved from eternity and for eternity, and are built on a covenant that can never be broken by the LORD Himself- John 17:23, 24.   What love!  What unconditional love! I John 4:10 . Christ, her living Head, most certainly and definitively purchased her, in a way of strict justice, with His most precious blood.  Although having been born with the maiden name of sinner, she is now called by a new name… ’RIGHTEOUS,’ v. 2 (Him Who is thy Righteousness).  The effect of the LORD Jesus’ death is that the church is called Holy, Redeemed and Not Forsaken, Isaiah 62:12 .  Regardless of the earthly denomination, the one common denominator that every one of the LORD’S redeemed ones share is that HE sought them in the lost ruins of sin and the fall, perhaps in religion. Although HE found them in a most miserable and damnable condition, YET, He calls them by ‘a new name’ and their sins and iniquities neither He nor His Father can/shall ever remember any more - “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more”, Hebrews 8:12.   Who is her Founder and Maker? ‘Which the mouth of the LORD shall name’ Whosever's name the bride bears speaks to the glory of the One who has taken her to Himself. While many women today are keeping their maiden names, so as not to have to change back when the marriage goes awry, and the spouse has not been what he pretended…'to have and to hold so long as we both shall live,’ such is not the case with the LORD Jesus. He has been faithful unto death, and He ever lives now to intercede on behalf of His own, Hebrews 7:25. Here is how we see the glorious fulfillment of God’s redemptive purpose in Christ, Who has called His elect out of every nation and named them with a new name—His own. This was not a promise left suspended in time, but a prophecy fulfilled in the finished work of the cross and the establishment of the true Zion, the Church, composed of believing Jews and Gentiles made one in Christ. The “new name” speaks of the new identity and righteousness given by grace, not earned by law, but bestowed through the merit of Christ alone. No longer forsaken, no longer hidden, the people of God shine forth with the righteousness of Christ imputed to them, declared openly before all nations. In Him, the prophecy is not merely hope for a distant future—it is the realized glory of God’s covenant fulfilled. Let every believer rest in the assurance that we are known, named, and kept by the LORD our Righteousness, Who has made us His own. There is no name so sweet and precious than the Name of the LORD Jesus, and no privilege so great as to be called by that Name.  The wedding is celebrated with the new wine of Gospel peace and love that is put into new bottles, not the old. There is a new song being sung as well, that is ‘Salvation to the Lamb that was slain,’ Revelation 5:9. ‘If any man so be in Christ, he is a new creature; old things are passed away, behold all things are become new,’ (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Isaiah 45:24 "Surely, shall one say, in the Lord have I righteousness and strength: even to him shall men come; and all that are incensed against him shall be ashamed." Many endeavor to work out a righteousness of their own that they believe is well-pleasing to God, all the while claiming that salvation is by grace alone. As the apostle writes, "For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God" (Romans 10:2–3). They rationalize this foolish thinking by asserting that the death of Christ dealt with past sins, but that, with the Spirit’s help, they must deal with their present and future sins themselves, attempting to overcome them through what they call "means of grace." The depraved reasoning of the heart is that, through personal efforts at obedience—assisted by God, they can somehow gain victory over the sinful flesh and gradually sin less and less.     All such foolish reasoning stops, however, when it pleases God to begin His work of grace in the elect sinner's heart, by His Holy Spirit. Then that sinner will be persuaded that there is NOTHING in the sinner that can be counted for righteousness, for even as the apostle Paul declared “...in me, (that is in my flesh), dwelleth no good thing.” (Romans 7:18) Having been redeemed and justified by Christ’s precious blood, those taught by the Spirit of Christ will say with the apostle Paul, “For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no   confidence  in the   flesh ”   (Philippians 3:3).     The Glorious, Joyful Truth in which we as the LORD’s people delight, when taught by the Spirit of God, is that although poor, destitute and having no righteousness of our own, we find Righteousness and Strength in Him and His finished work already accomplished for us at the cross. What we are as sinners by nature and practice, our LORD took on Himself and by imputation, the debt and guilt of our sin was completely put away. Simultaneously, His righteous obedience was imputed to our spiritual account upon completion of His work at Calvary, " For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" ( 2 Corinthians 5:21) . Taught by the Holy Spirit, we continue to confess that we have NO ability, NO strength and NO righteousness in ourselves but in the LORD Jesus, we have a sure, immutable Righteousness, answerable to God’s justice and holiness in every way.       Our assurance against every accusation of the enemy is:   "In the LORD Jesus have I righteousness and strength."  He conquered sin, Satan, the flesh, the world, and death so that we may boldly say: " In the LORD Jesus I have strength."  There is everything in this flesh to condemn us. Yet, Glorious Truth! There is everything in the LORD Jesus and His finished work that has justified us fully, freely, and forever, as God's elected sinners. We are therefore accepted in the Beloved, " To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved" (Ephesians 1:6).  and complete in Him, "" And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power:" (Colossians 2:10). This is no mere aspiration—it is the blessed reality accomplished through the finished work of Jesus Christ. In Him, the elect of God find not only the righteousness imputed by grace, but also the strength to stand justified before the throne of judgment. This prophetic declaration, fulfilled in the redemptive work of Christ at His first coming, silences every boast of the flesh and exalts the LORD alone as the Source of Salvation. Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth (Romans 10:4), and in Him alone we rest. To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

Isaiah 53:11 "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities." There is not a more glorious declaration of God's sovereign purpose in the justification of sinners through the finished work of His Son, than declared here in God's Word. Isaiah 53:11 reveals the heart of the Gospel—justification is not based on the will or works of man, but upon the travail and satisfaction of Christ alone. The “righteous servant” is none other than the Lord Jesus Christ, Who, by bearing the full weight of the iniquities of those the Father chose and purposed that He should save by accomplishing perfect Righteousness for them. "Through His knowledge" —that is, His knowledge of the justice and holiness of the Father, and knowledge of the sin of each one He came to save—He justified many , not all, but a specific, chosen multitude. This is sovereign grace: that God would justify sinners not by their merit, but by the merit of Christ alone, Who died in their place and satisfied God the Father's justice fully on their behalf. The justification of sinners (God declaring them righteous) was entirely accomplished by the LORD Jesus as God’s Servant for the salvation of His people. Note the three parts of Christ’s work that He accomplished to the satisfaction of God the Father:      Satisfaction through His Suffering:   He shall see the travail of His soul and be satisfied . This refers to God the Father finding satisfaction in the effect of Christ's suffering. The satisfaction for those given to Him by the Father was fully achieved in the righteousness earned and established by the LORD Jesus for His people.      Justification through His Knowledge : By His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many. Christ justifies many , the elect. While many claim their knowledge of Christ as their justification before God, here, the justification is attributed to Christ knowing them and revealing Himself in them—those for whom He sacrificed Himself. Knowing Christ is the evidence of eternal life procured and revealed by Christ Himself, " And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent" ( John 17:3).  His knowledge of the Father is the reason He came to save and justify those given to Him by the Father, " O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me" (John 17:25) . Through His understanding of God’s law and justice, He satisfied the Father on behalf of those for whom He paid the debt, and now reveals in them His justifying grace by His Spirit.      Bearing Their Iniquities:   For He shall bear their iniquities. For God the Father to justify those given to His Son to represent, Christ had to bear away their sins. Once He paid for the sins of the elect through His shed blood unto death, only righteousness remained to be imputed to their account. The removal of sin and the subsequent justification of His people were simultaneous, " For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).       The rejection of how the Scriptures reveal God’s justifying work by Christ stems only from the sinful, blind pride of the heart. Pride dictates, “I must fulfill certain conditions to obtain it.”  Unbelief opposes and refuses to acknowledge without conditions what Christ has achieved. All the evil inherent in the fallen, depraved nature opposes the free and complete justification by God’s grace in the death of Christ alone. But praise God! He does not leave in rebellion and unbelief those He has already justified. Instead, He turns their hearts from seeking deliverance through their works or presumed faith to rest in Christ and His finished work alone, " " All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out" (John 6:37).

Isaiah 50:8 "He is near that justifieth me who will contend with me? Let us stand together: who is mine adversary? Let him come near to me." This verse, spoken prophetically by the Servant of the LORD, finds its ultimate fulfillment in the LORDJesus Christ. It reveals the unshakable confidence of Christ in His Father who justified Him—not by pardoning sin in Him, for He knew no sin, but by declaring His perfect righteousness as the Representative of His people. As the spotless Surety, Christ stood in the place of sinners, and having fulfilled all righteousness, He was vindicated by God in His resurrection. No adversary could lay a charge against Him; therefore, none can lay a charge against those He redeemed. His triumph is the triumph of sovereign grace, for in Him God's elect are justified with the same certainty. When wicked and evil men condemned Christ to die, no one stood with Him. Even His disciples were scattered from Him. Yet with confidence He could say, “He is near that justifieth me.” The word " justifieth"  here is not used in the common Scriptural sense of a sinner being justified before God, but in the proper judicial sense—that He would be declared righteous, He who knew no sin, though tempted in all things. “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). The Father would vindicate His character and show Him to be perfect before His law and justice. All the testimonies of God the Father were in His favor: by the voice which spoke from Heaven at His baptism; by the miracles which He performed, showing that He was commissioned and approved by God; by the fact that even Pilate was constrained to declare Him innocent; and by the wonders that attended His crucifixion, demonstrating that He was the righteous Man—even in the view of the Roman centurion, who "glorified God, saying, Certainly this was a righteous man" (Luke 23:47). Ultimately, He was raised from the dead, taken up into Heaven, and placed at the right hand of the Father—thus showing that His whole work was approved by God the Father and furnishing the most ample vindication of His character from all the accusations of His foes. In all His suffering as the Substitute for His people, the LORD Jesus did not open His mouth to defend Himself; rather, He willingly and patiently submitted Himself to God the Father, Who would justify Him through His sacrificial death for His own: “Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously”   (1 Peter 2:23) . Peter declared that although they had taken Him and crucified Him with wicked hands, it was all according to the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God: “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain”  (Acts 2:23). Therefore, even as the LORD Jesus suffered and cried, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” His confidence remained: “He is near that justifieth me!”   It is the Father Who sent Him into the world. It was the Father Who purposed to save a great number of sinners by a just payment for their sins. It was the Father Who raised Christ from the dead, having done all  that was required for Him to be just and to justify — "To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus"  (Romans 3:26). By His death, the Son satisfied every just demand of the Father. He laid down His life willingly and sacrificially in the place of those sinners the Father gave Him to save. He came in the flesh as God’s Substitute, to completely satisfy HIS law and justice on their behalf. There is no other way that God has ever granted pardon to sinners and declared them righteous except through the death and imputed righteousness of the Lord Jesus at the cross. God must grant us repentance from thinking it can be in any other way. If Christ was justified as the Effectual Substitute—having finished the work and being raised from the dead—then it must be that His people were justified in Him at the same time, and therefore can, by the Spirit of God, say: “He is near that justifieth me” (Isaiah 50:8).

Isaiah 66:10-12 "Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all ye that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for her: that ye may suck, and be satisfied with the breasts of her consolations; that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the abundance of her glory. For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream: then shall ye suck, ye shall be borne upon her sides, and be dandled upon her knees." These verses speak of God's abundant grace and mercy toward a chosen people, portraying Jerusalem, a type of Christ's church (Galatians 4:26), as a mother providing comfort and nourishment to her children. This passage is a beautiful picture of sovereign grace, showing how God Himself brings joy, peace, and satisfaction to His redeemed by the finished work of His Dear Son. Rejoicing in Jerusalem signifies the joy of salvation, granted not by human effort but by the LORD’s sovereign will. Just as a mother nurtures her child, God supplies His people with peace and spiritual abundance. The flowing stream of His grace is not earned but freely given, demonstrating His sovereign love and care for His chosen ones. This passage ultimately reflects the fullness of joy found in Christ Jesus alone (John 15:11) through whom God pours out His mercy on those He has called. It reminds His elect children, the true Israel, that all spiritual blessings come not by works, but by His sovereign grace and finished work at the cross alone. When, by God's grace, we truly grasp what He has done through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for sinners such as we are, our lives would be filled with rejoicing. Yet, like the parable of the sower, the cares of this world often steal our joy and peace. However, our standing before God remains unchanging. If He has chosen us from eternity, Christ has redeemed us, and the Spirit has drawn us, then we are as near to God as we will ever be in our state before Him. Yet, in our experience, our joy fluctuates like the waves of the sea. The world relentlessly seeks joy and peace, but what it pursues is fleeting. Isaiah 66:10 declares, "Rejoice ye with Jerusalem, and be glad with her." Jerusalem symbolizes the church, which grows as God calls His people to Himself. Acts 2:47 affirms, " And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." Salvation is not a new decree but the unfolding of God's eternal purpose in time. If you are one of those that God the Father has chosen and the LORD Jesus has redeemed, consider what grace it took to call you—wretched sinner—unto Himself. That is reason to rejoice! Even when we see hardness around us, we must remember the hardness of our hearts and rejoice in God's grace. There is no case too hard with the LORD. 1 Peter 2:2-3 states, "As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby." Just as an infant longs for its mother's milk, so must we continually hunger for Christ. This longing is the mark of spiritual life. Christ declared in Matthew 18:3, "Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." The desire for Christ never fades; it is a lifelong dependency. Isaiah 66:11 speaks of drawing satisfaction from "the breasts of her consolations." These signify Christ and His Spirit—inseparable in their ministry. Christ, having completed His work and ascended, has not left us orphans. He sent His Spirit to intercede for us, drawing us continually to Him. The church's Glory is not in herself, but in Christ. As the hymn declares, "The bride eyes not her garment but her dear Savior's face." Isaiah 66:12 proclaims, "I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the Gentiles like a flowing stream." The Jews of Christ’s time resisted the truth that He was the Savior of the world, not just of Israel. Many today misunderstand "world" in John 3:16 to mean every individual, but in context, Christ was revealing to Nicodemus that salvation always included the Gentiles. Our hope is not in physical Jerusalem, which remains in turmoil, but in the true Jerusalem—Christ and His finished work. "No other foundation can any man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 3:11). True joy and peace are most evident in the storms of life. The Lord continually exercises our hearts, keeps us from becoming too attached to this world, and draws us closer to Him. This is His grace—to make us rejoice in the finished work of Christ. May He ever cause us to know that abiding joy and peace in Him.

Isaiah 48:1 "Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the LORD, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in righteousness." The God of Israel is the one true God of the universe, sovereign and supreme over all creation and all nations. He governs all things, and nothing in history happens apart from His will. His eternal purpose is not limited to one specific ethnic race or nation. All that transpires in time is what He has ordained to come to pass already before time. "Hear ye this, O house of Jacob." Isaiah’s address is to the descendants of Jacob, the natural Israelites. Though they were born into the family of Abraham, this did not automatically make them the true people of God, just as many today claim the Christian faith in name only. The people of Israel in Isaiah’s time were merely Israelites outwardly, but their hearts were far from the true God. Much like today with those who have a mere profession of faith and think that something they do by way of making a decision, walking an aisle, or baptism somehow contributes to their salvation. The people Isaiah addressed falsely boasted about their heritage. But, as Paul declares in Romans 9:6-8, " not all who are descended from Israel are truly Israel." True children of God are those who are children of the promise, those whom God has elected in Christ. "Which are called by the name of Israel" The people of Israel took pride in their physical birth and their descent from Abraham, but this did not guarantee God’s favor. This misguided belief parallels many today who think their religious background, a prayer made at an altar, or membership in a denomination secures their salvation. True faith, however, is not based on such external factors, but on the internal work of God through His Spirit in the heart. Christ, the true Seed, is the fulfillment of Israel's promise. He is the Lion of Judah, the True Israel (Galatians 3:16). "And are come forth out of the waters of Judah" This is a poetic or figurative expression. In this context, the phrase refers to people who have come from the nation of Judah, or the lineage and heritage of the Jewish people. The passage is directed toward the people of Judah or Israel, emphasizing their identity as descendants of Jacob (Israel) and their covenantal relationship with God in His mercy toward them. However, the verse highlights God's judgment of their actions, as they claim to be God's people but are ignorant of the truth or righteousness of the covenant, which is Christ alone (Romans 10:1-3). "Which swear by the name of the LORD." Many today profess to acknowledge God as Lord, but their lives do not reflect true submission to Him. They may honor God with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him (Isaiah 29:13). Some have made decisions for a "god" or a "jesus" based on personal preference or tradition, but these are only idols of their imagination. The Lord's warning is clear: external professions, ceremonies, or decisions cannot replace true faith revealed in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior of His people. Many today follow empty, man-made traditions, much like the Pharisees, who outwardly adhered to the law but missed God's true Righteousness that the LORD JESUS alone has fulfilled on behalf of those that the Father gave Him from eternity (Mark 7:7-8). "And make mention of the God of Israel." It is not enough to merely mention God’s name or to speak of salvation. Many profess faith in Christ and yet miss the essential truth of who Christ is, why He came, and what He accomplished. They may speak of grace, redemption, and salvation, but without the true Spirit-given understanding and belief in the righteousness of God in Christ, their words are empty. As Paul states in Romans 10:2, many have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. The wide gate of professed Christianity today leads to destruction because it perverts the one exclusive Way (Christ) for an inclusive view of salvation—one that ignores the narrow way of Christ’s redeeming work at the cross and God's imputed righteousness there when He had finished the work and laid down His life. "But not in truth, nor in righteousness." Truth and righteousness are inseparable. True faith confesses God's righteousness, which is revealed in Christ alone. There is no righteousness apart from Christ’s work on behalf of His people. If salvation depended on anything other than Christ, then He died in vain (Galatians 2:21) . Many today believe they must contribute something to their salvation, thinking that God's righteousness that Christ accomplished is a down payment that requires their efforts or trust in addition. This is a false profession. True salvation is grounded in the righteousness of God alone, imputed to believers by God from the cross, and revealed by the Spirit in the Faith of God that is in Christ. To trust in anything other than Christ’s completed work is to reject God's righteousness for a self-righteousness that leads to destruction. Christ came, lived, died, and rose again for the salvation of His people. True hope is found in knowing that our righteousness is not of ourselves, but is a gift from God through Christ (Philippians 3:9). This hope is not a "hope so" kind of hope, but a "good hope" established by grace through the work of the Holy Spirit. As the apostle Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:16, Christ, through His grace, has given us eternal comfort and good hope. This hope is certain and founded in the unchanging righteousness of God in Christ, and it assures us that our salvation is entirely in the Person and work of the LORD Jesus alone. Thus, the true people of God are those who don't merely profess Him with their lips but live in the truth of God’s righteousness, resting solely on the work of Christ for their salvation. Let us not be deceived by outward professions, but examine whether we are in the True Faith, standing firm on the finished work of Christ. Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness—nothing of ourselves, but entirely of God's grace alone.

Isaiah 61:3,4 "…to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He might be glorified. And they shall build the old wastes,..." Isaiah 61:3-4 is a powerful passage that speaks of restoration, hope, and renewal in the face of the judgment that God would bring on Israel at the hands of the Babylonian Empire. It is part of a prophetic message in which the prophet Isaiah, speaking under divine inspiration, declares God's promise to bring comfort to an elect people identified as the brokenhearted. God's work of salvation is described as beauty in place of ashes and joy instead of mourning. These verses specifically highlight God's transforming power in the lives of the remnant that He had purposed to preserve from utter destruction, and for whom the Lord Jesus would lay down His life at the cross. By the work of Christ, they would be as "trees of righteousness" (imputed righteousness), the planting of the Lord. By His Spirit, they would be turned from despair into a nation of redeemed sinners, where there had been utter weakness, and life in the place of ruins—first in Adam's fall, and then from the destruction by the Babylonian nation. In verse 3, the focus is on God’s compassion for those who grieve, giving them a "garment of praise," instead of a "spirit of despair." This reflects God's purpose to restore a remnant to dignity by redeeming them from their lost and broken estate in the blood of the Lamb. Verse 4 then extends this message to a broader community of needy sinners, emphasizing the rebuilding of ancient ruins and the restoration of devastated cities, historically referencing the destruction of the land and Jerusalem in 587 B.C. but ultimately the spiritual renewal that God would bring upon His true Israel in Christ. I n Romans 9:6-8. Paul writes, "Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel: Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called. That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed." God's purpose from the beginning for national Israel was to preserve a remnant, for whom the Lord Jesus would come and redeem out of the rest of the nation. It is this remnant that Christ came to redeem. These verses ultimately point to the deep hope found in God's promise to save sinners—both Jew and Gentile—out of every tribe, nation, and tongue, by His grace alone. Those whom God has chosen are compared to trees of the forest that the Lord has planted. They have certain qualities similar to other trees, although they are distinct. Each tree differs in height, size, foliage, and bark, yet each one shares fundamental characteristics: roots, a trunk, and branches. Scripture often uses the metaphor of a tree to describe those who belong to the Lord. If any are the Lord’s, it is because they have been planted in Christ by the Father, who is the Husbandman (John 15:1). They spring up unto eternal life, not by their own doing, but because they are of the seed sown in the life and death of the Lord Jesus. They are called "trees of righteousness" (Matthew 13:31-32), not by personal merit but by the righteousness imputed to them by God—through the obedience of the Lord Jesus unto death—revealed in their hearts by the Holy Spirit. This revelation causes them to submit to Christ and His imputed righteousness alone, in all grace and humility (1 Peter 1:2, Romans 10:3-4). A writer of old once said: "Like trees that are well planted; whose root is in Christ, whose sap is the Spirit and His grace, and whose fruit is good works; and that they might appear to be good trees, and of a good growth and stature, and be laden with the fruits of righteousness, and be truly righteous persons, made so by the imputation of Christ's righteousness to them: '" the planting of the Lord" —planted by Him in Christ and His church and so never to be rooted out." One notable characteristic of trees in a forest is that, although some grow within feet of each other, they grow together rather than against each other. Likewise, believers have been planted in Christ in various parts of the world, and where they gather, there is a unity of mind and heart. They share a collective desire to grow in grace and the knowledge of the Lord as revealed in His blessed Gospel (Ephesians 4:13-15) . One final point about trees is that a tree trunk tells an interesting history. Strong winds or erosion may have once caused it to lean or bend, but where there is a strong root, the tree will continue growing upward, drawn by the light of the sun. In the same way, believers—when examining their spiritual "trunks"—will see notches, bends, and curves, shaped by the afflictions and trials of life and the effects of sin. Nevertheless, being planted in Christ, they continue to grow upward, nurtured by the Son and blessed by Him.