The pleasure of God...

Isaiah 53:10
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise Him;
He has put Him to grief.
When You make His soul an offering for sin,
He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days,
And the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in His hand.

Isaiah 53 is one of the most beautiful messianic passages in all the Bible. I've been dwelling on it for some time and trying to pull out some of the deep theology and implication for my life.

It pleased the Lord to bruise and grieve and punish His seed, His Son, Jesus of Nazareth. At first read this is a puzzling passage, maybe even problematic. How could it please God to wound an innocent, righteous man? This sort of injustice could never please a just and righteous God.
However, when Isaiah writes of God being pleased, it does not refer to His enjoyment of Jesus' suffering. There was no smile on the face of God as His Son suffered at the hands of Roman torturers and endured the cross. On the contrary, God displayed his own grief as Christ hung on that tree by darkening the sky and taking away His light.
Instead, the pleasure of Isaiah 53:10 is God's satisfaction with the sin offering of His Son. God's demand for justice was served and his wrath was averted from humanity through the righteous sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He stood in our place and bore not only the sins of the world but also the wrath of God.
This sacrifice so pleased the Lord that the life of the One sacrificed (of His own volition) would be prolonged through the resurrection. And it truly pleased the Lord to offer Him an eternal kingdom where those things that truly please the lord, put a smile on His face, would prosper.

So what are the implication of this for my life. To start, God's wrath (punishment) has been averted from me. My penalty has been paid and my punishment achieved by Christ. There is nothing left for me to pay. Furthermore, the wrath (anger) of God has been turned to pleasure through the substitution and sacrifice of Jesus. I am no longer His enemy (Romans 5:10) but have been given the right to be called a child of God (John 1:12). Finally, because it pleased the Lord to receive Jesus' sacrifice, I can please the Lord with my life. Because my sin has been paid for, my offering, my worship, my service, my life can put a smile on the face of God.

Thank You Father for Jesus Christ. Thank You for the cross that has averted Your anger and wrath and my punishment. I pray that my life would put a smile on Your face. May my sacrifice truly please You. Amen.