Sin is destructive. One of the first lessons in scripture we learn is that sin brings death on a cosmic scale. It is not simply a legal punishment for sin, it is a natural consequence of the destruction of God’s created order. Adam sins, so death spreads through the cosmos. Thorns grow, choking out the life of plants that have no moral culpability. Sin brings the curse, the curse spreads through all creation, culminating in a slow march toward death, disfiguring everything along the way.
The destruction of sin is not merely physical, it is mental, emotional, internal. Sin brings guilt, fear, malice, and a host of other maladies that affect the heart. And always, the slow march of the curse affects our souls in the same way. We grow weary of the thorns and thistles that grow. We languish under the genetic degradation of the race. We bear the scars of monstrous sins committed against us. In short, sin is traumatic. In fact, all trauma can be traced to sin, whether personal sin committed by the individual or the universal effects of the sin cursed world. We were not made for sin, and we were not made to endure trauma: both are alien interventions in God’s created order. As the Westminster Catechism says, “the chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.” Sin mars the image of God in us so that we are unable to glorify God, and traumatizes our soul so that we cannot enjoy our birthright.
As sin is universal, so is trauma. We all suffer from various traumas; some more acutely than others. Psychology has taught us to trace the effects of trauma throughout the soul, and we can map the disfiguring and debilitating effects it can have. But psychology has no cure; it can only shed light upon the dilemma and give us coping strategies. This is not a fault, for psychology, as a human science, was never intended as a cure. In fact, there is only one cure, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 61 teaches us that the fullness of the Gospel is Jesus Christ himself restoring the image of the glory of God in souls that have been traumatized by sin. Though written hundreds of years before Christ would come to be, Christ himself would quote this very passage and tell the people “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing (Luke 4:18-21).” Jesus Christ himself was appointed by the triune God to a task that could only be accomplished by the God-man, to proclaim the good tidings of victory to souls that have been traumatized by sin, for so Isaiah 61:1a says: “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” Only God would have the power to defeat the curse, and only a man would have the right to stand for man and succeed where our first parents failed. So, Christ did, and in so doing, he brought is gospel to the class of people who needs it most: the poor. This is not an economic term, rather a descriptive, picturesque word describing someone who has been beaten down and crushed beneath repeated blows, someone who can no longer raise his head or dare to hope. This term describes the traumatized. It describes us who, from our own sins, the sins of others, and the sinfulness of the world, are so broken that we can no longer actualize the person we were created to be. We dare not even try. We have given up. And to us, a message of victory is proclaimed by the only one with the right and power to proclaim it.
The work of Christ’s gospel in the soul has two mighty operations in the soul: it systematically delivers the languishing soul from the tyrannical oppression of sin; and it creates a uniquely beautiful object of God’s glory from the distorted wrecks of sin. Let us examine these operations one at a time. The first operation can be seen from Isaiah 61:1b-2: “he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn.” There are four aspects of his work of deliverance in the soul. First, He heals the soul from the brokenness of sin. Sin is the great hammer that shatters our spirits and leaves us broken. We express our brokenness in different ways, but as we are all under the curse of sin, we are all, in some ways, brokenhearted. This is not a mere emotional response to sorrow, it is a brokenness that reaches to the depths of the affections, where thoughts, emotions, and will all spring forth. Jesus takes these great wounds of the soul that we hide from the world, and one by one he applies his Gospel to them, healing the wounds that we merely survived before. This is no mere coping strategy, but a true healing of the soul that is divine in its operation and scope. Time does not heal all wounds, and never the deep wounds of the soul. But he takes the disjointed pieces of our spirit and binds them together. He sees the deep lacerations and applies his healing balm. He finds the hidden bruises and soothes them. He fixes what could not be fixed in a process that, once begun, will continue until that great day when all tears are wiped away and all wounds are healed in their entirety.
Then, He liberates the soul from the imprisonment of sin. Here again, psychology is useful in drawing attention to a truth that scriptures have always affirmed: sin effects behavior in profound ways. Once sin enters our life, we are no longer free, we are enchained with the chains of hell, so that we cannot escape the sinful ways that our heart has developed. We are traumatized from sin, within and without; and our sinful responses to that trauma create pathologies that quietly but effectively govern our lives. We can see them, sometimes, but we have no power to conquer them. But Christ authoritatively proclaims liberty to those who are imprisoned behind walls of sinful pathologies. The first proclamation of liberty is profound enough, for what captive would not love to hear news that his sentence has been remitted; but it is expanded in the next clause. He not only grants them freedom; he opens the prison for those that are bound in chains. What good is official freedom to a chained man who cannot stand to take it? Christ breaks the chains of darkness. In a deliberate play on words, the word used for opening the prison is also the word used to describe opening blind eyes. The walls that circumscribe us have been removed; but even more, the chains that incapacitate us like blindness are burst asunder by his light. So, we are free from the traumatic effects of sin that circumscribed us with pathologies and debilitated us with maladies.
After this, He enfranchises the soul from the slavery of sin. Here, we must understand a little bit about the Jewish laws regarding liberty and the Jubilee. No one was born a slave in Jewish law, but a Jewish person could sell himself into slavery if he lost all the means to support himself. However, he could only do so temporarily. Every seven years, all slaves were set free. But then, even more importantly, every 50 years, all land and resources reverted to the rightful tribal owners. So, one might ruin one’s life, but that would not carry on to the next generation. This system was designed to ensure that every Jewish person would be enfranchised with all the rights and privileges of his birthright, no matter what happened in previous generations. Unfortunately, there is no record of the Jubilee ever being practiced, but so was the intention of the righteous God. Every 50 years, wrongs would be righted and all things would be restored. The trauma of sin robs us of our birthright; so that even though we are healed and freed, we have nothing left with which to build the life God has designed for us. It was taken away from us by sin. So, Christ declares a Jubilee for the soul. Whether by your own sin or the sin of others, all your rights and privileges that were lost by sin are restored, and all the wrongs done are made right. As with healing and freedom, this is a process that will only be completed in the great day when the children of light come into their own, but once started by Christ in the soul, it is a process that can never be derailed. The trauma of sin causes wrongs that cannot be made right; until He makes them right.
Finally, he soothes the soul from the sorrow of sin. This may sound like a very insignificant thing after the mighty works previously, but those of you who know the trauma of sin know that sorrow is the one great, lingering malady that cannot be erased. Yet for Christ, it is his perpetual and personal work in the soul to comfort those who mourn. The comforting here spoken of is not a distant well-wishing of a faraway being who tries to distract the sorrowing soul with trinkets; it is a deeply personal word, involving personal and perpetual action. Our Christ was called Immanuel, God with us, and so He is. He personally comes to the soul in distress, and comforts them from their sorrows. In that great day, he will wipe away all tears from their eyes, but he will have much practice at is already, for he has been doing just that since before the foundation of the earth. The trauma of sin creates a boundless sorrow that none can understand or sooth; but He can. Every day, as new sorrows arise from the old traumas, he is there to dry the eye. So even our sorrows are sanctified, for they create opportunity for us to have a foretaste of the glories of heaven.
Having systematically delivered the languishing soul from the tyrannical oppression of sin; our Christ now creates a uniquely beautiful object of God’s glory from the distorted wrecks of sin. We see this in Isaiah 61:3: “to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he may be glorified.” We see here that He personally provides, and personally applies His own remedies. “To grant” and “to give” look very similar in English, but the Hebrew words are conveying to separate concepts. “To grant” is to arrange or provide. So, Christ sees the sorrowful soul, and from his own nature ordains and provides precisely what they will need to become everything they were meant to be. But the task of bestowing these bounties he leaves to no underling, he undertakes it himself, for he also gives them personally. Let us consider the three distortions of sin that Christ personally replaces with unique applications of his own beauty.
First, the marks of our loss and destitution are changed to marks of his beauty and honor. Hats do not play as distinct a role in our culture as in Hebrew culture, but in those days, distinct and ornate headwear were reserved for special occasions, special roles, and special people. The High Priest had a headdress of beauty to display the glory of God to the people. Also, in those days it was customary to spread ashes upon one’s faith to mark great loss or total destitution. This was not the mere spot of ash the Catholic church places upon people once a year, but an extreme disfigurement that could not be missed. Ashes told everyone around you that all was not well, and that you were the victim of life altering loss and poverty. An ornate and beautiful headdress told everyone around you that you were especially honored and privileged. We victims of the trauma of sin get pretty good at hiding it, or so we think; but everyone can see our ashes. They know we are not ok, it is spread about our face, impossible to miss. In the same way, the honor and beauty of Christ himself is lent to his people, so that all who see them can see the marks of beauty about their soul that only come from Christ.
Second, our air of sorrow is replaced by the air of his gladness. Sorrow has a stink about it. We can smell it ourselves, an others can smell it on us. I am not referring to the natural sadness that comes upon us as a reaction to sad things, but the deep sorrow of the soul that comes from a life of trauma. It is a sorrow that casts an odor upon us even in our happiest moments. You think that you hide it, but you don’t; it is a part of your smell that cannot be masked by any perfumes of earthly mirth. Yet there is an exulting joy about the Man of Sorrows that flavored everything he did. Even in Gethsemane, when he declared that his soul was exceeding sorrowful, even unto death; he could still delight to do God’s will. The exultation of Christ was so far beyond the momentary happiness of the creature that it effected everything he did. It could be smelled upon him. So, with us, the sorrow that poisons our happiest moments is replaced by an exulting, exuberant joy that can be seen even in our greatest sorrows. We will still weep with those who weep, and lament the sorrows of our age, but the oil of gladness will be a divine perfume that can be smelled upon us even in the darkest of times.
Finally, our faded and weary spirit is replaced by his stunning radiance. We see first that our face and head is changed from loss and destitution to beauty and honor. Next, our smell is changed from sorrow to gladness. Now, our wardrobe must be addressed to complete the picture. The trauma of sin is a heavy thing: it has been weighting our spirit down since our birth. And it shows. Our spirit is clothed in this faded, miserable garment that even the quickest glance will notice. We have been through too much, and the clothing of our spirit shows the wear. Oh, we can iron our clothes and look our best for the masses, but the very cloth is faded and worn by the heaviness of our life. In place of this, we receive the stunning radiance of He who is clothed in light. Christ was not immune to weariness and labor; yet even when his back was bent under the burdens of life, he had a glow about him that came from within. His spirit was clothed in a garment so worthy of praise that people would see him from afar and know there was something special about him. Even when stripped of his earthly garments and crucified in shame, the radiance of his indominable spirit shown through. He could be weary, but never overcome by weariness. He could never fade, any more than light itself could stop being light. So in us, the faded garments that mark the hardships of our pilgrimage are replaced with his garments. Someday, we will see Him as He is, and we will be clothed in his own white robes. So every day, we are being prepared for that glorious day, as his radiance shines from us, replacing the faded remnants of our traumatized spirit.
In doing these things, He plants His righteousness so deep into our soul that we grow organically into mighty objects of his glory. The word translated “oaks” is not referring to a specific variety of tree, but is rather a comparative word, referring to particularly grand, strong, and lofty trees. We become oaks of righteousness, for the righteousness that grows from us towers above the mere good works of humankind as the redwoods tower over the grass. We become monuments to the righteousness of God: not monuments of cold, dead stone, built up by dead works; but organic structures, having righteousness growing from within our restored nature as naturally as trees grow from saplings. This is not our own work, for this monumental, organic righteousness is a planting of God, and a testimony to His glory. Oh sin-traumatized soul, could you ever be so righteous? No! You may do some good, but you know in your bones that you are too broken to ever be something so majestic. Yet when Christ completes his work of replacement in the soul, and you become a unique, finite expression of his infinite goodness; you become something that would have seemed impossible before. And truly, it is impossible. That is why only a divine work can accomplish it.
Sin-cursed souls are conditioned by their trauma to think very little of themselves. We cannot change the world; we can barely get through the day. It is well that we think little of ourselves, for little we are indeed. A mountain is just a pile of stones, yet it stands exactly as God has ordained. But the sin traumatized soul fails in its most fundamental duty: it fails to be what God has made it to be. Yet the sin-traumatized soul, when it is transformed by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, becomes the pinnacle of all God’s created works. Nothing brings such glory to God as the mighty work he does in such poor souls. Yeah, this mighty work has universal ramifications, for the transformed soul fulfils its role in God’s universal plan to the fullest possible extent. Isaiah 61 was written to Israel, and in verses 4-9 we see what a restored Israel will look like: “They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks; foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers; but you shall be called the priests of the LORD; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy. For I the LORD love justice; I hate robbery and wrong; I will faithfully give them their recompense, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them. Their offspring shall be known among the nations, and their descendants in the midst of the peoples; all who see them shall acknowledge them, that they are an offspring the LORD has blessed.” We are not Israel; we have different promises and different roles. Since our fulfilment will look very different from Israel’s we will not go over these verses in depth. But just as Israel was able to truly fulfil her role in God’s plan after God’s work took effect in the soul, so we shall fulfil our role as we allow God to work in us.
Yet there is a personal fulfilment as well, for the transformed soul dances for joy at the excessive beauty which God bestows upon it. Isaiah 61:10 says “I will greatly rejoice in the LORD; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.” Using the same root for the word translated “gladness” above, the rejoicing soul doubles it, and declared a great, inner, irrepressible joy in Jehovah. This inner joy bursts forth in exultation, the Hebrew word for exuberant, expressive, dancing joy. Joy floods the transformed soul, and bursts out from it; a joy that would seem so foreign to the trauma it once knew. This passage refers back to the replacements that Christ has made within the soul, but puts it in a far more intimate context. Yes, we have the oil of joy, garments of salvation, and a robe of righteousness; but all these are to prepare us for our new and intimate relationship with Christ: a relationship so close that only human marriage comes close to describing it. He dresses us in his finest so that we might be fitted to stand before him as his appointed bride. Man’s chief end is the glorify God and enjoy him forever; and Christ has that exact same object in relation to us. He desires to glorify the Father to us, and enjoy us forever as his bride. So let the transformed soul dance, for the plans of the gospel are not some cold, legal formula to moralize the world; but a loving plan to transform the dregs of earth into the bride of the God-Man himself. This transformation of a sin traumatized soul into the consort of the King of Kings is God’s chosen method to display his glory throughout all creation. The passage closes in verse 11 by saying “For as the earth brings forth its sprouts, and as a garden causes what is sown in it to sprout up, so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to sprout up before all the nations.” This work Christ does in transforming the traumatized soul into his bride is not a little fancy God engages in on the side, while he does the great work through the movement of nations. Yeah, he declares that all the nations are as a drop in a bucket to him. But this transforming work of individuals is the center piece of God’s chief aim in creation: to bring glory to himself. Soul, your transformation from a sin-traumatized mess into his beautiful bride is the seed which he has planted that will glorify himself through countless ages. It matters. You who don’t know his gospel personally, who have never trusted in his death on the cross alone to atone for your sins, embrace his gospel today. It is not about rules, words, or ceremonies; it is a reality in the soul that will work within you until you are what he has created you to be. You who have known his gospel, but still cling to your trauma and still wallow in your old ways, let the gospel that once touched your soul fill every aspect of your being, until there is no deep part of you that has not been overwhelmed with His gospel. The fullness of the Gospel is Jesus Christ himself restoring the image of the glory of God in souls that have been traumatized by sin. Embrace this work in yourself, and be transformed by it in ever increasing ways, until his Gospel is fully actualized in your glorified soul, when you shall see Him as he is, and be with him forever.
