Which is more painful: the body broken or the spirit broken?
Context:
* His brothers did not believe him and had
forsaken him - but His Father was still there.
* Nation had forsaken him and turned him over to
the Gentiles - but His Father was still there.
* Judas Betrayed - but His Father was still there.
* Peter Denied - but His Father was still there.
* All had forsaken Him - but His Father was still
there.
It’s now 12 Noon - Midday - Darkness fell upon the land. Some try
and say it was a natural eclipse.
Hardly! No eclipse lasts three hours.
This
darkness was so thick, because the Light of the world was being snuffed out!
The
darkness of sin…sin entered the Sinless. The Perfect Man was made a Sinner. God allowed no one to share in this
sight, He turned out the lights.
A
theologian once wrote:
"If
you could pierce that Darkness and gaze at the Saviour's face, I believe that what you would see would
drive you stark raving mad."
After
3 hours of silent Darkness what no man saw was expressed in words as Jesus shattered that silence with a
scream:
Matthew 27:46 About the ninth
hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?”
that is, “My God, My God, why
have You forsaken Me?”
The
Ultimate price: No longer Father - Abba - Daddy - Intimacy was broken -
Fellowship was changed.
Theologically
I can not figure this one out: Jesus never ceased being God. Yet there was a
separation of some kind. Truth is Truth whether we can comprehend it or not.
Some,
in an attempt to explain everything, have really gone off. They teach Jesus died
– went to hell and had to be born again! Tragic!
Jesus
was resurrected – not regenerated! The body needs resurrection – our nature and
spirit needed to be regenerated, NO Where in Scripture is it taught that Jesus
needed to be regenerated. Only accountable sinners need that.
Jesus
was the sacrifice – not accountable but charged with my sin and He paid the
price. A unregenerated man can only pay for his own sin, not the sin of the
world.
Romans 8:29 For those whom He foreknew, He also
predestined to become conformed
to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;
Colossians 1:15 He is the image of the invisible God, the
firstborn of all creation.
Colossians 1:18 He is also head of the body, the church;
and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will
come to have first place in everything.
First
Born of the Ressurection – yes because Jesus’s body did die but he did not need
to be regenerated. He became sin, yes as the sacrifice – but not because He was
a sinner.
Now
how do I get together the fact that Jesus and the Father were separated in some
way, yet Jesus never ceased being God.
If
I try and figure that one out, you will find me under the bed quoting the greek
alphabet to myself and catching make believe butterflies.
What’s
important is that I understand the Bible teaches that it happened.
What
I can get, what I can try and understand is what a tremendous sacrifice this was and what horrible anguish
Christ went through for me - Heart can explode because of mental stress
Psalm 22:1 For the director of music. To the tune of
"The Doe of the Morning." A psalm of David. My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me? Why are you so
far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?
Psalm 22:6-8 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men
and despised by the people. [7] All who see me mock me; they hurl insults,
shaking their heads: [8] "He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."
Psalm 22:14-18 I am poured out like water, and all my
bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within
me. 15] My strength is dried up
like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in
the dust of death. [16] Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has
encircled me, they have pierced my
hands and my feet. [17] I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over
me. [18] They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.
Two
realities hit me
(1) My sin cost Him that terrible
price, so is that “little” sin really so little?
Next
time we get ready to sin – perhaps we should think – “MY GOD!”
Isaiah 53:6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of
us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us
all.
Isaiah 53:10 Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and
cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life a guilt offering, he
will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will
prosper in his hand.
(2) Never think God has forsaken
you. God will forsake no one. They will choose through unbelief to forsake Him.
If you become part of the family of God, He will never forsake you.
Psalm 27:10 For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
But the Lord will take me up.
Isaiah 49:15
“Can a woman forget her nursing child And have no compassion on the son
of her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you.
Easter has come and gone…but
let’s spend some time pondering - The
Sacrifice of Christ!
