I am still reflecting on Easter. The words of a hymn that we sang Sunday morning keep running through my mind:
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain.
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
sin's curse has lost its grip on me.
For I am His and He is mine,
bought with the precious blood of Christ.
from In Christ Alone
I find it interesting that the glorious moment when Christ was raised from the dead was not witnessed by any man. God was quite content for the resurrection to take place quietly as the sun also rose. Man, who is redeemed by this great event, lies sleeping - unaware of the cosmic victory that was won. God promised a redeemer when man fell in the Garden, and now, that redemption is made sure and certain.
Hallelujah, the victory is won. Christ is risen. He is risen, indeed!
Showing posts with label Salvation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Salvation. Show all posts
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Good Friday
We call it Good Friday. And since it is when Jesus died for our sins, it is a very Good Friday.
But it wasn't good for those who actually lived through the events. Can you imagine what this day was like for them?
As Jesus suffered, His mother Mary stood faithfully beside Him watching these events unfold. She witnessed the treatment He received from the Roman soldiers; she saw them nail the spikes into His hands and feet; she saw them raise the cross and slam it into its hole in the ground. She saw her son take His last earthly breath. On that Friday she experienced what Simeon the prophet had foretold many years before: "a sword will pierce your own soul." [Luke 2:35] That Good Friday her soul was pierced.
This day was not a Good Friday for the disciples either. One of their trusted friends, a comrade they had shared life with, turned into a betrayer. Consequently, Jesus was ripped from them. Fear gripped their hearts. Peter pledged to stand with Jesus no matter what happened. But within a few hours, he denied that he even knew the Lord. And the rest of the disciples? Most of them had already fled the scene by the time Peter denied Jesus.
And on that Good Friday, Jesus suffered. He suffered at the hands of the Jews; He suffered in the hands of the Romans. He prayed that if it be the will of the Father that this cup would pass from Him. But it was the will of the Father for Him to bear the shame, the mocking, the beatings, the desertions. And beyond all understanding it was the will of the Father to turn His back on His holy, beloved Son as the sin of the world was cast upon Him.
Therefore Jesus cried,
“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
I can still hear that cry echoing through the pages of time. The holy, beloved Son was alone, separated from His Abba, Father as He bore my sin.
..."why have you forsaken me?”
How can it be that you and I are the answer to that question?
"The Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen." [Galatians 1:4] Amen and amen!
It is Good Friday.
But it wasn't good for those who actually lived through the events. Can you imagine what this day was like for them?
As Jesus suffered, His mother Mary stood faithfully beside Him watching these events unfold. She witnessed the treatment He received from the Roman soldiers; she saw them nail the spikes into His hands and feet; she saw them raise the cross and slam it into its hole in the ground. She saw her son take His last earthly breath. On that Friday she experienced what Simeon the prophet had foretold many years before: "a sword will pierce your own soul." [Luke 2:35] That Good Friday her soul was pierced.
This day was not a Good Friday for the disciples either. One of their trusted friends, a comrade they had shared life with, turned into a betrayer. Consequently, Jesus was ripped from them. Fear gripped their hearts. Peter pledged to stand with Jesus no matter what happened. But within a few hours, he denied that he even knew the Lord. And the rest of the disciples? Most of them had already fled the scene by the time Peter denied Jesus.
And on that Good Friday, Jesus suffered. He suffered at the hands of the Jews; He suffered in the hands of the Romans. He prayed that if it be the will of the Father that this cup would pass from Him. But it was the will of the Father for Him to bear the shame, the mocking, the beatings, the desertions. And beyond all understanding it was the will of the Father to turn His back on His holy, beloved Son as the sin of the world was cast upon Him.
Therefore Jesus cried,
“My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
I can still hear that cry echoing through the pages of time. The holy, beloved Son was alone, separated from His Abba, Father as He bore my sin.
..."why have you forsaken me?”
How can it be that you and I are the answer to that question?
"The Lord Jesus Christ gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen." [Galatians 1:4] Amen and amen!
It is Good Friday.
Monday, December 17, 2007
The Incarnation
Though I know the story, though I have pondered the texts, I simply cannot grasp the full significance of the Incarnation. How does the One who has always been and who always will be become a baby born at a given time, to die at the appointed hour; how does the One who created mankind, the Heavens, and the earth become a man to walk on His created earth; how does the One whose Home is Heaven be born in the animals' barn?
Everything seems backwards. The Messiah does not come in strength and power but in lowliness and humility. The King of Kings is not born in a palace but in a cattle stall. He is not raised as a king's son, but as the son of a poor young couple of Nazareth.
As a man, the Messiah was subject to the same temptations, hunger, cold, thirst that we know. He entered - willingly - into every aspect of what it means to be human. It is God who came and fully entered the human condition. Isaiah foretold that this child, this baby born of Mary, shall be called Emmanuel: God with us.
God comes to dwell with us; it is inconceivable mystery.
"Christ, by highest heaven adored; Christ, the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold him come, Offspring of the virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel."
- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing by Charles Wesley
Everything seems backwards. The Messiah does not come in strength and power but in lowliness and humility. The King of Kings is not born in a palace but in a cattle stall. He is not raised as a king's son, but as the son of a poor young couple of Nazareth.
As a man, the Messiah was subject to the same temptations, hunger, cold, thirst that we know. He entered - willingly - into every aspect of what it means to be human. It is God who came and fully entered the human condition. Isaiah foretold that this child, this baby born of Mary, shall be called Emmanuel: God with us.
God comes to dwell with us; it is inconceivable mystery.
"Christ, by highest heaven adored; Christ, the everlasting Lord!
Late in time behold him come, Offspring of the virgin's womb.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see; Hail the incarnate Deity,
Pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus, our Emmanuel."
- Hark! The Herald Angels Sing by Charles Wesley
Monday, December 3, 2007
Advent - The Coming of the Messiah, the Promised One
Since the fall of man, all creation has been restlessly waiting for the Promised One. God foretells of this Promised One when He declares to Adam and Eve the punishment for their sin. God says that One will come who will save His people from their sin. Since then, this expectation and hope has echoed through the pages of Scripture.
"As for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me." (Micah 7:7)
But generations were born and generations died - yet the promised Messiah had not yet come. God’s people “died in faith, without receiving the promises, but have seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13)
As years turned into decades and decades into centuries, both the world and the prophets cried out, “How long, O Lord?” Men see the pain in the world and in their hearts, and they cry with Habakkuk and David
“How long, O Lord, will I call for help, And Thou wilt not hear? I cry out to Thee, ‘Violence!’ Yet Thou dost not save.” (Habakkuk 1:2) “How long, O Lord? Wilt Thou forget me forever? How long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me?” (Psalm 13:1)
But God did not forget; God was not delaying. The time had not yet come. To encourage His people, He gave the promise through His prophet Isaiah, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)
Though the Messiah had not yet come, the hope remained burning within the hearts of the people. “We have waited for Thee eagerly; Thy name, even Thy memory, is the desire of our souls.” (Isaiah 26:8)
The pages of history fly by. The Promise is not forgotten amidst the pain and suffering on earth. Several millennia come and go since the Savior was promised. But then, in the darkness of the night, in a humble stable, in the small town of Bethlehem, Mary, a willing servant of the Most High God, delivers a child.
“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman.” (Galatians 4:4)
The Heavens shout out, “For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” (Luke 2:14)
The world sleeps, unaware of the momentous event that has just occurred. It is not just a baby who was born that night; it was the Son of God Himself, coming to fulfill the promise made long ago - coming to deliver the people from their sins!
The Promise is fulfilled! Immanuel has come.
"As for me, I watch in hope for the LORD, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me." (Micah 7:7)
But generations were born and generations died - yet the promised Messiah had not yet come. God’s people “died in faith, without receiving the promises, but have seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.” (Hebrews 11:13)
As years turned into decades and decades into centuries, both the world and the prophets cried out, “How long, O Lord?” Men see the pain in the world and in their hearts, and they cry with Habakkuk and David
“How long, O Lord, will I call for help, And Thou wilt not hear? I cry out to Thee, ‘Violence!’ Yet Thou dost not save.” (Habakkuk 1:2) “How long, O Lord? Wilt Thou forget me forever? How long wilt Thou hide Thy face from me?” (Psalm 13:1)
But God did not forget; God was not delaying. The time had not yet come. To encourage His people, He gave the promise through His prophet Isaiah, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.” (Isaiah 7:14)
Though the Messiah had not yet come, the hope remained burning within the hearts of the people. “We have waited for Thee eagerly; Thy name, even Thy memory, is the desire of our souls.” (Isaiah 26:8)
The pages of history fly by. The Promise is not forgotten amidst the pain and suffering on earth. Several millennia come and go since the Savior was promised. But then, in the darkness of the night, in a humble stable, in the small town of Bethlehem, Mary, a willing servant of the Most High God, delivers a child.
“But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman.” (Galatians 4:4)
The Heavens shout out, “For today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:11)“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.” (Luke 2:14)
The world sleeps, unaware of the momentous event that has just occurred. It is not just a baby who was born that night; it was the Son of God Himself, coming to fulfill the promise made long ago - coming to deliver the people from their sins!
The Promise is fulfilled! Immanuel has come.
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