“My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” (Matthew 27:46b NLT)
The nails didn’t hold Jesus on the Cross. Love did!
Jesus experienced our Hell when He took upon Himself our sin, so you and I wouldn’t have to. He paid the penalty for the sin of every person who would ever voluntarily kneel before Him in humble submission, seeking His forgiveness and cleansing. It’s not just about “receiving Christ into your life,” it’s about finally understanding that without Jesus we have no life. He BECOMES our life.
By His Spirit, upon our invitation (John 1:12) Jesus takes up residence in our heart and life. Similarly, as a pilot of an aircraft “controls” the plane, Jesus takes command of our life and walks in our shoes, giving us instruction and direction. A few days ago, we talked about what it might look like to be yoked with Jesus.
When I was first in ministry, I met an elderly woman who told me every Sunday she had the same conversation with her body. She said: “When I wake up, I tell my body, ‘It’s time to get up and get ready for church.’ To which my body responds, ‘You’re going to have to go without me, ‘cause I’m staying in bed.’ She said they’d go back and forth for a while, then she’d say: ‘Look, body, I’m going to church and you’re the only way I have to get there. So, get up and get movin’!’”
In my mind’s eye, I can see a similar conversation between our spirit and God’s Spirit as He’s seeking to give us instruction from day to day. What we fail to understand is, Jesus’ death on the Cross purchased on our behalf a place with Him in Heaven, that even if we had all of eternity, we could never find any other way for ourselves.
Peter writes in 1 Peter 1:18-19 (NLT): “For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom He paid was not mere gold or silver. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.” The word that Peter uses that’s translated “precious” literally means “priceless.” It means of incalculable worth; you can’t set a value on it.
Because of the Cross, you can be redeemed (bought back) from the death grip satan has on you. You’re invited to become a new person (2 Corinthians 5:17) in Christ Jesus. The word Paul uses to describe what happens to us when we’re born again of the Spirit, is the word from which comes our English word “metamorphosis,” and it paints the picture of the process of a potentially beautiful butterfly, breaking out of the cocoon. It means “a brand-new species of being, one that has never existed before.”
In light of what Jesus did for us on the Cross, we can’t live in both worlds, the world of sin and death and the world of forgiveness and new life. We must decide: “Am I going to live for Jesus and walk in newness of life?” or “Am I going to ignore what Jesus did for me and keep living the same old life I’ve been living?”
Peter wrote: “So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk, so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, now that you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness.”
We’ll dig a little deeper into this tomorrow.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 