To Be Satisfied...

Ice cream on a hot summer’s day.

Warming yourself by the fire after the first snow.

Taking your socks and shoes off after a long day on your feet.

What do all of these things have in common? For me, they all bring some level of satisfaction. To “satisfy” means to “meet the needs, desires, or expectations” of someone. When I think of being satisfied, I think of receiving something good. I find satisfaction when my eight-month old puppy obeys my command. I am satisfied when I get a good job performance review. I am satisfied in the chocolate brownie I ordered from a restaurant I visited last night.

But is this all there is to satisfaction?

Recently, I was teaching the youth of my church that Yeshua is fully God, yet fully man. He has both a divine nature and a human nature. Only Yeshua’s sacrifice provides full atonement for our sins. Many of my students were learning this for the first time and I could see that it was resonating with them.

Yet, the two natures of the Messiah was not their main takeaway.

So what was their main takeaway? It was that Yeshua wanted to give His life for our sake. That He desired to suffer for us. Sure, they heard that only Yeshua's atonement was sufficient to cover their sins. But that He wanted to give everything? To them, that was incredible.

I often speak about what was done on that tree outside Jerusalem’s city walls nearly two millennia ago — that event is so incredibly important! Yet, I too easily forget that this act, Yeshua’s death, was pleasing to God. Many of us fear death. We avoid the topic. For God, Yeshua’s death delighted Him.

A student approached me after the service. We opened to Isaiah 53 and read how God’s Suffering Servant was despised and rejected. How He was beaten and crushed, killed with the wicked, yet buried in a rich man’s tomb. The prophet says that it was the will of the Lord to crush the Servant.

And after being despised, rejected, beaten, crushed and ultimately killed, verse 11 states, “Out of the anguish of His soul, He shall see and be satisfied.”

May the truth of Messiah’s sacrifice be proclaimed for all to hear! And as we walk with Him, suffer with Him and minister with Him, may His delight over His own suffering be an encouragement to us. Because satisfaction is much deeper than a warm brownie, an ice cream cone, or even an obedient puppy.

True, whole and lasting satisfaction is found only in the One who gave His life for us — and was satisfied to do so.

Written by Chase, LIFE Staff