“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift.” (2 Cor 15)
Last Thursday, on Christmas Eve, in “The Indescribable Gift,” Part 4, we saw that integral parts of Jesus’ “Indescribable Gift” include receiving His Spirit, receiving His healing for our broken hearts, and receiving His deliverance from our addictions and sins. But Jesus’ gift isn’t just about one day of the year, it is about a lifetime, and today, though it is after Christmas, we will further look to Isaiah 61 for even more clues as to what this “Indescribable Gift” entails:
“To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD, And the day of vengeance of our God;” (Isaiah 61:2a)
Just what is this “acceptable year?”
The Old Testament speaks of a special year, the year of Jubilee. During this year that was to come once every 50 years, all land would be returned to its rightful owner and all slaves would be released (See Lev 25). The significance of this year of jubilee goes far beyond the scope of this devotional; however Jubilee was put into place to create a system of social justice, a system where the rich would never be able to dominate and the poor would not eternally remain so, because every 50 years things would be equalized and regulated.
The Old Testament Jubilee is also a forerunner to Jesus’ “Indescribable Gift.” The “acceptable year” referred to by Isaiah is none other than Jubilee, the return to social equity. Jesus came to this Earth to return to us what had been stolen by the enemy: “So I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten…You shall eat in plenty and be satisfied…And My people shall never be put to shame.” (Joel 2:25 NKJV); to restore our ancestral inheritance, to make us one again with God, sons and daughters of the Most High: “Jesus answered and said to them, ‘…But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead…are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.” (Luke 20:34-36).
Jesus came to bring us the ultimate Jubilee, the “acceptable year of the Lord.”
But there is still more: “To comfort all who mourn, To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness…” (Isaiah 61:2b-3a).
And herein lies another beautiful part of Jesus’ “Indescribable Gift,” one that I am afraid so often remains unopened by those who have accepted Jesus’ gift of Salvation.
Let’s remember that in Jesus’ day, a sign of mourning was to tear their clothing and put ashes on their heads. Thus, when Isaiah says that Jesus will give them “beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness,” he is saying, under the direction of God’s Spirit, that there will be no further need to mourn, because Jesus has made available to us the “oil of joy” and the “garment of praise!”
We must notice here that in all of this, there is no mention that Jesus’ gift includes freedom from troubles, and just knowing that Jesus brings us comfort doesn’t make dealing with death and illness and loss any easier. How do we access that “oil of joy” and that “garment of praise?”
David gives us the answer in Psalms 16: “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Ps. 16:11). In other words, at times when we mourn, Jesus promises to take us into His presence where we will find fullness of joy and garments of praise, despite the “spirit of heaviness.”
There is just one more part to this incredible description of Jesus’ “Indescribable Gift:” “That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” (Isaiah 61:2,3)
I don’t know about you, but I don’t feel very righteous. I still sin, I still give in to temptation. Nonetheless, Isaiah tells us we shall be “called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord.” How can this be?
The answer can be found in vs 10: “…For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness…” (Isaiah 61:10).
Friends, we are “trees of righteousness, the plantings of the Lord,” not because of any merit of our own, but because of Jesus who has given us HIS righteousness, and if we don’t feel righteous or worthy of the presence of the King, it’s because we haven’t fully unwrapped Jesus’ “Indescribable Gift,” for part of that gift is to don his righteousness where ours is but filthy rags.
Can there be still more to the “Indescribable Gift” that God gave us through Jesus that first Christmas? Join us after on January 2, after New Years, to see how this Christmas message doubles as my New Year’s message to you: “The Indescribable Gift,” Conclusion.
In His love,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Speech-Language Pathologist, mother of two, Author — “Aboard God’s Train — A Journey With God Through the Valley of Cancer”, Author and Moderator for The Nugget, a tri-weekly internet newsletter, and Scriptural Nuggets, a website devoted to Christian devotionals and inspirational poems, with Answers2Prayer Ministries. Follow Lyn on Twitter @lynchaffart.
* www.Dictionary.reference.com
** http://www.jesus.org/is-jesus-god/names-of-jesus/wonderful-counselor.html
(To access the entire “Indescribable Gift” mini-series, please click here.)