John Stott says ~
"The essence of sin is we human beings substituting ourselves for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for us. We…put ourselves where only God deserves to be; God…puts himself where we deserve to be."
As Christians we need to stay at the Cross, no matter where we are in our Christian walk. The Cross is important. The whole of the Old Testament has been pointing towards this moment in history, it has been pointing to Jesus.
As we open Mark 15:33-39, we observe this moment the world has been waiting for. Here it comes to a climax and what happens is significant and not to be overlooked...
Three instances are unfolded in this scene -
1. The sky turns black - A sign of Gods judgment. Just imagine that you are at the movies and this chapter opens up with rolling black clouds. Something is about to happen and anger is the vibrations...
2. Jesus Cries Out - Heartfelt cry that is full of anguish and pain. Abandonment. Could this really happen to the Son of God? Psalm 22 comes to mind. Incredible how the Son of God goes through this for us.
3. The Curtain is torn in two - Suddenly the scene is cut short and the director take us to the temple... why bother going there?? Because here, in the most Holy place the curtain separating God and man has been cut. We now have freedom. We can now come near to God...this is Good News!
There at the Cross, Jesus died paying the price for our sins. He appeased the Fathers wrath by his obedient sacrifice. It is incredible and here we should stay at the Cross and be in awe of Jesus and what He has done. Because at the Cross there is no room for pride. The Cross gives us freedom, we can stay free when we are at the Cross.
I love the fact that I get to study this with students and that I am also reminded of the Cross and can stand in awe of Jesus.
This was only a glimpse of what I studied, but I wanted to share a small drop of why the Cross is amazing and why we all need to stay there!
2 comments:
Good article.
My previous post (March 26) mentioned the temple curtain being torn.
In addition, there was a great earthquake, and the dead rose from their tombs and walked into the holy city, and were seen by many people.
Good point, that we should "stay at the cross." We always need to go back to the basics. Spending time in God's Word is how we are fed spiritually, and how we stay connected to the Vine. Prayer is also vital, and is like our spiritual breathing. Witnessing to others is like our spiritual exercise (if we don't take the gospel outside the church walls, we just get spiritually fat).
Yes, good point to "stay at the cross." We should always remember that, because we have offended a holy God, we fully deserve to burn in Hell for all eternity. But, because He chose us before the beginning of time, He has demonstrated His mercy, rather than His justice, upon us. And we should be eternally thankful and grateful to the Son, Christ Jesus, Who absorbed the full wrath of the Father at the cross. God takes sin so seriously that He (God the Father) crushed His own Son at the cross. He paid our fine. He paid our bail. He was executed in our place. And we did absolutely nothing to deserve His favor. But its not about us; it's about glorifying His Name, and spreading abroad the fame of His Name, and expanding His Kingdom. The Holy Spirit honors the Son, and the Son honors (and is voluntarily and eternally subservient to) the Father. Three different roles, three different divine Persons, making up one unified Being - one God. To Yahweh God - God the Father, Yeshua Hamashia the Son, and the Holy Spirit - be all the glory, honor and praise.
Awesome :)
Thanks for the reminder Catty!That's whacked a great whopping smile on my face.
Post a Comment