Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Friday, May 11, 2012
The High Price of Redemption
At the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" -Mark 15:34
On the cross, Jesus took our sin upon Himself, enduring the wrenching consequence of broken fellowship with the Father - the One He adored, the One from whom He had never experienced a moment's separation. I cannot understand the agony behind His words because I have never known truly perfect relationship.
Now, if I have a distant cousin, someone I barely know, and for some reason even the scant ties that we do have are broken, I may experience some distress. Ah, but when I experience broken relationship with my spouse, with whom I interact intimately on a daily basis, my distress level rises greatly. The amount of pain felt in a severed relationship is in direct proportion to the health, intimacy and endurance of that relationship.
Christ's words on the cross expressed the distress of a perfectly whole, intimate relationship - that had been that way from eternity past - being ripped apart. I will say again, as I have in the past, the physical suffering was only a small portion of the cost of my salvation. Perhaps when I am fully redeemed I will look upon my Savior's sacrifice with the awe and thankfulness that I desire to have now. Perhaps then I will comprehend perfect relationship and what it meant for Him to give that up...for my redemption...for His glory.
Until that time, Holy Father and Son, accept my feeble "thank you!" Thank you for the enormous price you paid for the forgiveness of my sin.
On the cross, Jesus took our sin upon Himself, enduring the wrenching consequence of broken fellowship with the Father - the One He adored, the One from whom He had never experienced a moment's separation. I cannot understand the agony behind His words because I have never known truly perfect relationship.
Now, if I have a distant cousin, someone I barely know, and for some reason even the scant ties that we do have are broken, I may experience some distress. Ah, but when I experience broken relationship with my spouse, with whom I interact intimately on a daily basis, my distress level rises greatly. The amount of pain felt in a severed relationship is in direct proportion to the health, intimacy and endurance of that relationship.
Christ's words on the cross expressed the distress of a perfectly whole, intimate relationship - that had been that way from eternity past - being ripped apart. I will say again, as I have in the past, the physical suffering was only a small portion of the cost of my salvation. Perhaps when I am fully redeemed I will look upon my Savior's sacrifice with the awe and thankfulness that I desire to have now. Perhaps then I will comprehend perfect relationship and what it meant for Him to give that up...for my redemption...for His glory.
Until that time, Holy Father and Son, accept my feeble "thank you!" Thank you for the enormous price you paid for the forgiveness of my sin.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
When I watched the movie, "The Passion of the Christ," the scene that affected me the most was Gethsemane. I was thinking about this during Passion Week, and when I read the following words by Nancy Leigh DeMoss, it set me to contemplating my Lord's time in the Garden. I finally took the time to put my thoughts down...
It Required Gethsemane
“It should stir us to
our very core to see just how outrageously costly the forgiveness of our sins
was to God. Our redemption hurt Him more
deeply than any human has ever suffered.
It drew blood. It required Calvary .”
-Nancy Leigh DeMoss
I am so very thankful for Calvary ! But before Calvary there was Gethsemane .
I have no doubt that all the forces of Hell were present
there, in the Garden, battling with all their evil strength to take Christ
down. After all, if The Plan could be
stopped there… The anguish of soul was
beyond our comprehension. “My soul is
very sorrowful, even to death.” (Matthew 26:38)
The battle between spirit and flesh raged at Gethsemane . “The
spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41)
The disciples, though they boasted of their loyalty, had
already defected. While Christ toiled in
prayer, they slept, completely disengaged from their Friend’s pain. (Matthew 26:40) Luke states that an angel from Heaven
appeared and strengthened Him, but the walk on that lonely road of suffering
had begun in earnest.
I have known true anguish only a few times in my life. It hasn’t been because of physical pain, but
it has had a fierceness to it that has made me physically ill. It has always involved broken or damaged
relationships. It has always involved
sin – mine and/or someone else’s. And
not just anyone else’s… Only people we love dearly can cause us the deepest anguish.
Christ’s anguish in Gethsemane ,
I believe, was like that – only infinitely greater. It involved a broken relationship with One He
loved dearly. It involved sin, not his
own, but of ones He loved dearly. It
made Him physically ill. It drew blood!
(Luke 22:44) While His physical
suffering truly was horrific, the agony of soul was infinitely more
piercing. Words fail…
“…though some may
insist you need to ‘forgive and forget,’ the truth is, forgiveness at its best
requires that you face how badly you’ve been hurt.” –NLD Gethsemane is forgiveness at its best! Though the words were not uttered until
Calvary, it was at Gethsemane that the hurt
was faced and the choice was made.
Yes, our redemption hurt Christ more deeply than any human
has ever suffered. It drew blood. Both at Calvary and at Gethsemane !
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