"Born sinner just like any other man standin'
Couldn't keep the standard so God sent a Stand In"
~ Lecrae
"But redemption is costly. For me to receive forgiveness, Jesus had to be made sinful for me and die in my place. I can imagine Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane praying for me. I imagine Him saying, 'God, is there any other way this person could get into Heaven except for Me to go and die on the cross for all of his sins and pay for them?' And God says, 'Son, You know there’s no other way. You know that no sin can enter into Heaven. Somebody has to pay for that man’s sin.'”
~ Anonymous
"Alright, Father. Let the judgment fall.”
~ Jesus
With Easter quickly approaching, I felt it would be most appropriate that this month's blog post discuss "The Crucifixion Heard Around the World".
Many of us have heard pieces of the story of Jesus, if not the whole thing, however with this post, I want to dig a little deeper into it. I want to really get to the meat of it and talk about some of the things that many may pass over because it's just too hard to imagine or speak on. We are going to focus in on one very meaningful aspect- zoom in and really look at it through a different lens. I believe that we can't ever really understand how deep Christ's Love is for us or fully begin to fathom how far It stretches until we learn of how deep the thorns were placed in His head and how far they stretched His arms on the Cross.
Quick review
In the beginning man was blameless and all was perfect but due to a disobedient act committed as a result of a conversation that man had with satan, all of that was undone. (Genesis 3)
But just as a father is with his son when he disobeys, so God is with us. Though we were at fault and though we had deliberately disobeyed, God made a way for us, made a plan for rescue. He sent His Only Begotten Son to die and redeem us all, that we may have abundant life on earth and eternal life with Him in Heaven.
Born of an immaculate conception, Jesus lived and faced the same challenges and temptations as we do today, yet He did not sin. He was the perfect Sacrifice, blameless in every way. He came to bring Love, Joy, and Peace to the world, but most importantly, He came to bring redemption/salvation and show the world Who God really Is. Though there was no fault to be found in Christ, some of the very people He came to save refused to accept Him for Who He Is, the Messiah. Instead they went out of their way to try and find fault in Him so that He could be discredited and put to death. Yet they were unsuccessful, so they conspired to put false accusations against Him. Though He had given sight to the blind, voices to the mute, hearing to the deaf and healing to the lame and sick, they did not want to accept Him as their King, they refused to declare Him as their Lord.
(Praise God that other's rejection of Him as King of kings does not remove Him from His throne!)
Though many hated Jesus, many loved Him and He had His faithful 12 (well really 11 but I'll touch on that), the disciples. The disciples left all they had in order to follow Jesus. They spent all of their time with Him, grew close to Him and became like His family. However there was one disciple in the group who wasn't so loyal , Judas. When Judas realized that Jesus had been teaching about a Heavenly Kingdom and not an earthly one, he decided to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. (Matt. 26:15)
Dive Deep
I think a lot of times, we view Jesus' life and death differently than we view the life and death of others. Don't get me wrong, we should definitely view Jesus' life and death differently in that His life brought hope and healing and His death and resurrection brought redemption and eternal life for all mankind. However, the difference that I'm speaking on here is the emotional and physical aspect of it all. Let me explain it this way, when we think of a man facing temptations in life and not sinning, we are proud and amazed because we understand how hard it is to deal with hateful people, to be betrayed and to face impure/fleshly temptations. However, when we speak about Christ living as man facing temptations and remaining blameless, we say it casually in a way as if it is just to be expected and should have been easy for Him or as if He didn't experience all that we go through, but that's not true. Christ experienced the same things that we go through today. He experienced being hated, lied on, falsely accused, beaten, He was even spat on. He experienced temptations, heartbreak, death and betrayal of those He held dear. He felt every human emotion that we feel and yet remained sinless.
Then when we speak on the death of Jesus, we speak of it in a nonchalant or watered down way that makes it seem as though He didn't experience too much pain and some even feel that because He was God in man's body He didn't feel any pain at all but that is also false. Jesus felt every hit, every cut, every scratch, every gash, every thorn and every nail in His flesh. He felt the kicking, the slapping, the spitting and the whipping. Yet He endured it all and mumbled not a word or grumbling complaint. All He said, was "forgive them Father, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34)
Last Easter, my Pastor, Pastor Chance D. Lynch, broke down the medical report of what happens to one's body when being crucified.
CONTENTS ARE VERY DETAILED AND MAY BE DISTURBING
CONTINUE WITH CAUTION:
The crucifixion of Christ was more than mocking, it was more than beatings, it was more than carrying a cross, it was more than 39 lashes of a whip made with a Roman cat of nine tails (40 would have killed any man), it was more than a crown of 3 inch thorns pressed into His head and it was more than the six inch nails in His hands and feet. That's just the beginning. In those hours Jesus Christ spent on the Cross, His weight pushed against the nails in His hands and feet caused His shoulders to pop out of place and His wrists and ankles to become dislocated. His rib cage opened up and shifted while His arms stretched an extra 9in for supporting His weight. As His heart beat increased to over 200bpm, His blood would squirt out every time He breathed, resulting in Him being covered in blood and sweat. Then, as though that wasn't enough, Our Savior slowly began to suffocate. He could've come down from that Cross if He wanted to. He was in control of it all. He was blameless dying a sinners death for all, even those who were crucifying Him. But His Love, Grace and Compassion for us and His commitment and faithfulness to His Father kept Him on that cross. He came to earth with one mission and He was going to complete it to the very end so that the scriptures would be fulfilled, His Father would be glorified, and that we may spend all of eternity with Him.
I feel that in a sense, the Crucifixion has been watered down to make it more bearable for people to hear. I don't think that people truly understand the full extent of torment, anguish and pain that Jesus experienced for the redemption of humanity. When you fully learn of it, it changes you perspective, wants, desires and life as a whole!
But it didn't end there on the cross....Christ got up!
There's a reason why the crucifixion of Christ is heard around the world when countless people in that day and still today are crucified. It's because there is power in the crucifixion of Christ. It wasn't a just punishment for an unjust man but a sacrifice of the just Son of God, for an unjust, sinful people. The crucifixion of Christ brings life to all who are dying, peace to all who are in despair and salvation to all who are deserving of death. The Cross Christ bore was the ultimate Sacrifice and the ultimate expression of Love.
"Jesus went through all this trial, and all the suffering, and all the scourging, and then they nailed Him to a cross...And in that moment of agony, Jesus from the cross cried out, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Then the skies turned dark and for three and a half hours there was silence in heaven. At that time, Jesus was taking on the sin of the world.
That is love. And that is love in the first degree. When they drove those nails through the hands of Jesus, they went straight into the heart of God. This is what the Easter season is really all about."
Won't you welcome Christ into your heart and accept the Gift that He has laid before you?
I encourage you to watch the clip above again now that you have this new perspective. I promise it will change your life, literally.
"He was human enough to relate, yet divine enough to redeem." - Pastor C.
Song of inspiration: Jesus Saves by Tasha Cobbs
Salvation
If you do not know Christ as your Lord and Savior and wish to do so today, I encourage you to go to Christ in prayer. I'm not going to tell you exactly what to say because it is meant to be personal and directly from your heart to the heart of God. However, I will guide you with this:
Thank Jesus for dying for your sins.
Confess your sins to Him and ask for forgiveness.
Invite Him into your heart and accept Him as your Lord and Savior.
Repent for your sins.
God and all of the angels in heaven rejoice as you have entered the Kingdom of God and this new journey in life.
Salvation doesn't end here with a prayer. It's an everyday walk. In the Word Christ always told people to repent for their sins, go and sin no more and take up their cross and follow Him. Now that you have embarked on this new endeavor it is important to spend time getting to know Christ on a personal level so you can learn the heart of God and form a relationship with Him. Allow His Holy Spirit to guide you. Christ has already died on the Cross making Him your Savior, now allow Him to lead and direct you, making Him the Lord of your life.
Congratulations on your salvation! I welcome you to the body of Christ. Now, go buy a great Bible if you don't already have one and find a church family that can help inspire and motivate you!! Also, feel free to contact me with any questions and/or prayer requests! HAVE A BLESSED EASTER!