isaiah 53

If Jesus had not left the beauty of heaven, where He was adored and worshiped as God, and entered humanity through a dark, obscure cave;

if He had not endured betrayal by the ones He loved most,
and stood silent while mere humans plucked out His beard
and spat on His face,
and struck,
and whipped,
and accused,
and mocked Him;

if He had not lifted and carried the rough instrument of His death,
and laid His hands against the cross beam,
and accepted nails into His flesh;

if He had not hung there
with His blood dripping down into the sand below,
and His prayers of forgiveness ascending to His Father above,

then we never would have received the comfort of Isaiah 54, or the promises of Isaiah 55.

Instead, we would have inherited exactly what we deserve:

grief
fear
shame
regret
hunger
thirst
wrath
terror
judgment
death.

But Jesus did come.

The Trade (written and sung by Brett Williams); I Cling to the Cross (written and sung by Paul Baloche)