Mysteries In The Garden (Part 2)

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. —1 THESSALONIANS 5:23

The physical body can become sick, the soul (mind) can experience negative emotions, and the human spirit can become tainted by sin through disobedience to God’s Word. The atonement sets out to redeem the spirit, renew the soul, and restore or heal the body, causing a person to become whole or complete in Christ.

Isaiah breaks down how the sufferings of the Messiah will impact the tripartite nature of mankind:

1. The atonement of the body

Isaiah prophesied that, “With his stripes we are healed” (Isa. 53:5). Isaiah looks forward to the atoning work of the Messiah. Peter, however, looks back at the finished work of the cross and proclaims, “By whose stripes ye were healed” (1 Pet. 2:24).

2. The atonement of the soul

Isaiah revealed the atonement for the soul when he wrote, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief” (Isa. 53:3). Christ was also oppressed and afflicted (v. 7). Oppression, sorrow, and grief are all emotions that can wreck havoc on the emotions and minds of believers. Yet Christ carried sorrow and grief to the cross on our behalf.

3. The atonement of the spirit

The prophet then revealed that the Christ would be wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities (Isa. 53:5). In verse 10 he wrote, “Thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin.” Sin is a spiritual disease that eats away at man’s spirit. Christ’s ultimate goal was to redeem the spirit of a person and impart the gift of eternal life.

Isaiah sums up the sufferings of the Messiah in the last two verses of Isaiah 53: He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. —ISAIAH 53:11–12