Sunday 12:04:11

You are looking for the perfect gift. And you do it because up you want to see a smile on your wife or husband or children's faces on Christmas because you love them. The same is true of God. He loves us and desired to give us the perfect gift. But what did we need? Isaiah 59:2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear. We needed someone to come help us find our way to God. Isaiah 59:12-16 12 For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us. Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities: 13 rebellion and treachery against the Lord, turning our backs on our God, fomenting oppression and revolt, uttering lies our hearts have conceived. 14 So justice is driven back, and righteousness stands at a distance; truth has stumbled in the streets, honesty cannot enter. 15 Truth is nowhere to be found, and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey. The Lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice. 16 He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. V 12 - our sins are many, testify against us, Are ever with us, We acknowledge our iniquities. V 13 - our sin is against God. Ultimately all sin is rebellion, treachery, and forsaking God. David wrote in Psalm 51:4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge. Our problem was not just that we got lost along the way and need someone to point us in the right direction. We need someone to make right what we did against our Heavenly Father. We betrayed Him. V 16 - God looked, but no one could be found. Isaiah 63:5 I looked, but there was no one to help, I was appalled that no one gave support; so my own arm worked salvation for me, and my own wrath sustained me. Isaiah 51:18 Jerusalem's sons Of all the sons she bore there was none to guide her; of all the sons she reared there was none to take her by the hand. Ezekiel 22:30 “I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so I would not have to destroy it, but I found none. "Someone who would stand before me in the gap" - God is looking for someone who can intercede. The idea is from ancient times when a wall would be built around a city to fortify it. Where there were breaks in the walls, they would put a defender who would stand in the gap of the wall, defending the people behind him. In the Old Testament, this was the role of a prophet - to stand as an intercessor between God and man. Psalm 106:23 So he said he would destroy them—had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him to keep his wrath from destroying them. God was looking for someone who could stand in the gap for us. There was no one who could deal with man's sin. No one could intercede on behalf of men to God. No one. V 16 - so his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him. So God would do it Himself. He would be the one who would bear the burden of men's sins. It would be by His strength. He Himself would provide an intercessor, someone who would stand in the gap for mankind and stand before God on their behalf. But men would have to wait. The perfect gift to meet men's needs would come in God's perfect timing. Isaiah 53:4-6 4Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, Smitten by him, and afflicted. 5But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. 6We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Jesus came to bear your sins. Give them over to him. He fully and completely takes them away and even the guilt of sin. He is the perfect gift-the prefect answer to our problem. He is exactly what we needed to have be washed from our sin. Isaiah 53:12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. You need someone to stand in the gap for you. Or you may need him to stand in the gap for you in a different way, Do you need him to be your Strength in a time of weakness? Do you need him to be your shelter in a time that the enemy is attacking? He truly is the perfect gift. He will stand in the gap on your behalf. He will protect you and defend you.