ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

Pulelulu Novema 29, 2017

Na‘e tokonaki tokotaha pe ‘e he ‘Otua

( God, himself, provided a way )

Fehu‘i #19

‘Oku ‘i ai nai ha founga ‘oku malava ke tau hao ai mei he tauteá pea toe fakafoki kitautolu ki he hoifua ‘a e ‘Otuá ?

( Is there any way to escape punishment and be brought back into God's favor?)

‘Io, na‘e ‘osi fakakakato pe ‘e he ‘Otuá , ‘iate Ia pe, ‘a e ngaue ke fakafiemālie‘i ‘ene fakamaau totonú , ‘i he‘ene meesí  ‘ata‘atā pe, pea ne fai hotau fakaleleí  pea ne fakahaofi kitautolu mei he angahalá mo hono tauteá , ‘o fou ‘i he Fakamo‘uí .

( Yes, to satisfy his justice, God himself, out of mere mercy, reconciles us to himself and delivers us from sin and from the punishment for sin, by a Redeemer )

‘Aisea 53:10-11

Ka na‘e finangalo ‘a Sihova ke laiki ia; kuo ne tuku ke ne mahaki‘ia: Ka ke ka ‘atu hono laumālie ko e feilaulau-halaia, te ne sio ki hano hako, te ne fakalahi hono ngaahi ‘aho, pea ko e finangalo ‘o Sihova ‘e tu‘umālie ‘i hono nima. Te ne mamata ki he fua ‘o e mamahi ‘o hono laumālie, ‘o ne fiemālie: ko e me‘a ‘i he‘ene poto ‘e ngaohi ke angatonu ha tokolahi ‘e he‘eku Sevāniti faitotonu; pea te ne fafa ‘enau ngaahi hia.

ISAIAH 53:10-11

Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. 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.

Commentary - MIKA EDMONDSON

The catechism tells us that God freely and mercifully satisfied the demands of his own justice on our behalf. According to Isaiah 53, God made the righteous life of his servant (Jesus Christ) to be a sub-

stitutionary offering for the unrighteous. In obedience to God's will, Jesus Christ lived the life we should have lived and so fulfilled the just requirements of God's law on our behalf. Yet he also died the death we should have died. Isaiah's graphic language of the servant being "crushed" and "put to grief" (Isa. 53:10) reminds us of the heavy price of our sin. At the cross, Jesus bore the full weight of God's curse against sin and so fully satisfied the demands of God's just condemnation against sin. So we have a righteous life that satisfies the justice of God for us and an atoning death that satisfies the justice of God for us. This great exchange is the heart of the gospel itself.