Satisfied In Anguish?

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.

Isaiah 53:11

This verse is taken from what is probably the most complete messianic prophecy of Jesus Christ in all of the Old Testament. Isaiah 53 tells the story of how the Christ will suffer at the hands of the very ones whom he came to save. It speaks of a suffering servant who is acquainted with grief and of lowly disposition. It speaks of a righteous, innocent servant of God who didn’t even offer a response when being led to his own execution. In verse 11, we see that this servant humbly submitted to this treatment so that many would be accounted righteous in the sight of the living God. Blessed is the Lamb, Jesus Christ, who was slain and incurred God’s wrath that we might be reconciled to God through Him!

I want to do something very “Spurgeon-like” with the first phrase of this verse. Of course, my effort will lack the poetic brilliance that embodies Spurgeon’s words, but nonetheless, I consider him the inspiration for this exercise. (I hope my brother won’t mind!)

Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied…

While this text is speaking of Jesus Christ, I want us to consider what it has to say to each of us who find our lives hidden with God in Christ Jesus (Col. 3:3). If we are to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Rom. 6:11), then what does this text mean for us? Is our response to suffering supposed to be any different from that of Jesus Christ after we have died to sin and been raised to new life in Christ? Are we to approach anguish the same way that we always have and chalk it up to “being human”?

Contrary to popular belief, we are charged to have the mind of Christ and share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death (Phil. 2:5, 3:10). We are to know Christ more and more fully so that His heart becomes ours, His thoughts become our thoughts, and His life becomes our lives. And this isn’t just some self help plug. Paul tells us, “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” As we grow our knowledge of Jesus Christ through His Word, God’s grace works to transform us to be like our Savior. And people say that miracles no longer happen today! Show me a hardened, rebellious man who has been raised to new life in Jesus Christ, and I’ll show you a miracle that defies all comprehension.

To get to the point, we must do more than gloss over the suffering of Christ. We must embrace His suffering for ourselves. Scripture is so clear. All who desire to live a godly life will be persecuted (2 Tim. 3:12). Jesus told His disciples that the world will hate them because it hated Him (John 15:18). We are commanded to share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ (2 Tim 2:3). And Paul goes so far as to yearn to share Christ’s sufferings so that he might know Him (Phil. 3:10-11) and attain the resurrection from the dead by whatever means necessary!

So we have two options. We can go on responding to suffering like the world does by becoming distraught and surprised that anything bad could actually happen. Or we can put on a smiley face and pretend that everything is ok. We can fake our happiness while striving to find satisfaction in some other pursuit even though we are empty on the inside. We can turn to another idol whether it be pleasure or wealth or relationships or family or alcohol.

Or, we can find satisfaction in the anguish of life. As Tim Keller reminded me yesterday while listening to a sermon he preached on Psalm 1, happiness and satisfaction are possible. True happiness does not result from better circumstances or the perfect marriage or success in one’s career.

True happiness results from finding the entirety of our satisfaction in Christ Jesus alone.

When we make the choice to be satisfied in Christ no matter what trials and anguish come our way, we find the “secret” to this life. We find that Jesus Christ really is a treasure that our money, obedience, and sacrifices cannot buy. He becomes our joy. We find Him comforting us in the midst of terrible circumstances. We find peace. We are content in Him.

But this will never happen and we will never want to be satisfied in the anguish of life until we see how great our need for Jesus Christ is. Without the understanding of how great a sacrifice was made for us while we were rebelling against God, we will never believe that Christ is enough to satisfy no matter the circumstances. Jesus Christ died for our sins. God’s wrath is satisfied because Jesus took our place on the Cross. Jesus restores sinners to right relationship and justified status before the one, true God!

The 80 years we spend on this earth are worthless until we realize that the sole reason we were created (to glorify God) cannot happen as it should until we repent of our sins and put the totality of our faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.

But…! But God grants us the ability to see this reality and gives us new life in Jesus Christ, we are able to find true, lasting satisfaction. Jesus is the source of all satisfaction, whether our lives are great or our lives are awful. Circumstances do not matter. The only thing that matters is the new heart that God gives to all those who put their faith in Jesus Christ. And that new heart beats with gratitude even in the midst of anguish.

For the glory of Christ, the giver of new life.