“But it was the Lord’s good plan to crush him and cause him grief.”

Isaiah 53:10 NLT (emphasis mine)

Just for a moment, I want you to imagine with me. Think about your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews or students. What do you envision for their future? If you could write out the script of their lives, what would you be sure to include? What sort of things would you exclude? Would a prestigious college be in their future? Perhaps a job in the mission field? Maybe you are looking forward to them getting married and starting their own families. You might be praying they will have financial security. Regardless of their specific plan, you probably want them to be happy, safe and at peace. Would anyone plan for their child to suffer terrible pain and die a horrible death?!

God did. That was His plan for His Son.

It wasn’t God’s Plan B. It was His only plan. Isaiah even tells us that it was His good plan. Good? How could losing your only son be good? The second part of verse ten tells us He did it for us. The Message paraphrase of Isaiah 53:10 says this:

Still, it’s what God had in mind all along, to crush him with pain. The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin so that he’d see life come from it—life, life, and more life. And God’s plan will deeply prosper through him.

“So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them.”

Genesis 1:27-28a

From the very beginning of creation (even before), God had a plan for us. That plan included His Son, Jesus Christ, giving up His very life. God gave man a choice between good and evil, between a relationship and separation. In our frail, human form, He knew that we would always choose the latter. Left to our own devices, we would forever live apart from Him (and one day suffer the tormenting consequences of our wrong choices). Yet, He loved us and desired to remain with us. That is why Jesus said in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

“For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.”

1 Corinthians 15:22

God’s plan did not stop at death. The story did not end there! Hallelujah!! “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead” (1 Cor 15:19-20a, emphasis mine). Jesus Christ, our Messiah, rose on the third day and is alive today!! God’s plan for Christ was made perfect when He suffered our wrath and became our second chance at life!

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

Revelation 4:11

If you have been around Christians or church for any length of time, I am sure you have heard it said that God does nothing by accident. It is true. There are no coincidences. He makes no mistakes. He perfectly planned to make you and me, and He included in that perfect plan a way for us to come back from our shame. I am so thankful that God’s plan included the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In this life, I will never grasp what that truly means, but I will be eternally grateful! This Easter, I want to share with you just a few of the reasons why I believe this day, this time of year is so important and so worthy of great celebration! It all began with God’s perfect, amazing, and gracious plan!

“Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.”

Isaiah 53:11-12*

*All scriptures come from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.