~ Michael Ramsden~
:-)
Been thinking about why Jesus had to die such an excruciating, mangled death. Why didn't He just die peacefully, maybe in a quiet room, comfortably on a bed? Just "cough cough", "wheeze wheeze", and go peacefully. Why did He have to be stripped, injured, ravaged, bloodied, mocked, made to suffer and left dangling shamefully on a cross?
Ravi Zacharias illustrated it very well when he said that it was like telling a drunkard to stop drinking, but wouldn't listen. Until one fine day, in his drunken stupor, he drives dangerously home and knocks over his own child playing in the driveway. Then he sees for himself what his drunkenness has done.
Jesus had to demonstrate to us that sin is bad, and the sooner we come to terms with that, the better. Sin destroys us and the people around us.
Or as I mentioned tongue-in-cheek to a friend recently, sin is like a good-looking person with a gun. They look good on the outside, but at the end of the day, they'll shoot you dead :P
It pains me when we not only justify our sins, but even boast about them. There's bragging about bedding a certain girl, or taking pleasure in another man's wife. Or committing a lesser crime of corruption for the sake of a so-called greater cause which in itself is also a crime.
Yet, down the road, you see those sins manifesting itself in such a real way in the form of broken families, severed relationships, people suffering and lives destroyed. Because sin destroys.
God understands this perfectly. I can't help but wonder that for a brief moment in history, even the Trinitarian relationship was broken when Jesus cried out "My Lord, My Lord, why have You forsaken Me?" So there! Because Jesus understood perfectly, He is able to save us perfectly!
No doubt, it's the hardest thing facing up to our sins. Repentance can be a painful process. Responses to the effect of "cannot la, I'm a hopeless case", "no point la, i'm gone case", etc etc etc crop up. It's hard, yes it's hard, to take an honest look at ourselves and see how we fall short when we stand before a God who demands nothing less than holiness and perfection.
But through Jesus Christ on the cross, what we get is forgiveness. A starting point from which renewal begins within when Jesus fills our lives, and the mending takes place. Without Jesus, we can't begin to make sense of things, find answers and fix the broken.
Jesus Christ's death on the cross is epic. That's why Good Friday is good. Blessed Good Friday everyone!
I'm forgiven, because You were forsaken
I'm accepted, You were condemned
I'm alive and well, Your Spirit is within me
Because You died and rose again
~Chris Tomlin~
Yet, down the road, you see those sins manifesting itself in such a real way in the form of broken families, severed relationships, people suffering and lives destroyed. Because sin destroys.
God understands this perfectly. I can't help but wonder that for a brief moment in history, even the Trinitarian relationship was broken when Jesus cried out "My Lord, My Lord, why have You forsaken Me?" So there! Because Jesus understood perfectly, He is able to save us perfectly!
No doubt, it's the hardest thing facing up to our sins. Repentance can be a painful process. Responses to the effect of "cannot la, I'm a hopeless case", "no point la, i'm gone case", etc etc etc crop up. It's hard, yes it's hard, to take an honest look at ourselves and see how we fall short when we stand before a God who demands nothing less than holiness and perfection.
But through Jesus Christ on the cross, what we get is forgiveness. A starting point from which renewal begins within when Jesus fills our lives, and the mending takes place. Without Jesus, we can't begin to make sense of things, find answers and fix the broken.
Jesus Christ's death on the cross is epic. That's why Good Friday is good. Blessed Good Friday everyone!
I'm forgiven, because You were forsaken
I'm accepted, You were condemned
I'm alive and well, Your Spirit is within me
Because You died and rose again
~Chris Tomlin~
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