Ravindave_3600
03-25-2005, 04:29 PM
"The governor's soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around Him. They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on His head. They put a staff in His hand and knelt in front of Him and mocked Him. "Hail, King of the Jews!" they said. They spit on Him and took the staff and struck Him on the head again and again. After they had mocked Him they took off the robe and put His own clothes on Him. Then they led Him away to crucify Him...
From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness was over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi lama sabachthani" which mean, "My God, my God! Why have You forsaken me?"...
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He gave up His spirit. And at that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom....
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And since we have been justified by His death, how much more shall we saved from God's wrath through Him? For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life?"
Matthew 27:27-31, 45-46, 50-51; and Romans 5:5-11
Today is Good Friday, Holy Friday, the day we most remember Christ's sacrifice for us. We're all busy - some at our offices, some with our families, some getting ready for Sunday - but this is the moment to pause with a sense of dread, a horror to think of what took place.
Isaac Watts said it as well as anyone, I guess, when he wrote these words:
"Alas! And did my Savior bleed, and did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head for sinners such as I?
Was it for crimes that I had done, He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown! And love - beyond degree!
Well might the sun in darkness hide and shut his gories in,
when Christ the mighty Maker died for man, the creature's, sin."
Here in Boise the sun is shining bright. It's an absolutely beautiful day. But maybe THAT day was bright, until creation wept at the death of her Lord.
It's fitting that we should weep, too, at the thought of the crucifixion. What could be more appropriate as our nation (and world) debates the war, and Terri Schiavo, and the death penalty, than to shudder at the thought that the only truly innocent Person in human history was tortured and brutally murdered on our behalf?
That's right: on our behalf. For us. Offered as a perfect sacrifice by His own Father, and willingly serving both God and man in that role. Not by our suggestion, or even by our choice. We were enemies of God, rebels, disfellowshipped, condemned. And God the Father took it upon Himself to provide our salvation and through Christ reconciled us to Himself.
That is the Good News - that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Before I was yet a sinner, Christ died for me. Though I am still a sinner, Christ's death is effective for my salvation. And though we shall never in this world completely escape the lure of sin, there will be a day when - through Christ's death - we shall stand free and strong and rejoicing as we look on His beautiful face.
Praise God!
What does that mean for us, for today? Let me refer you back to Brother Isaac:
But drops of grief can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe.
Here, Lord, I give myself away - tis all that I can do.
Today is Good Friday. Can we repay the debt? We can not save Him (as if He needed saving!). But we can do as He did, and give up our lives. Let's take a moment and repay the debt - as if we could! - by once again giving ourselves away to Christ. Once again, remember Him as the Savior Who suffered for us, and rejoice in Him as our Life, and commit to Him as our King.
I'm blessed to share this little corner of the cyberworld with you, my brothers, and look forward to the day we can all meet face-to-face. Be blessed today, and be a blessing.
David
From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness was over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi lama sabachthani" which mean, "My God, my God! Why have You forsaken me?"...
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, He gave up His spirit. And at that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom....
And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. And since we have been justified by His death, how much more shall we saved from God's wrath through Him? For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life?"
Matthew 27:27-31, 45-46, 50-51; and Romans 5:5-11
Today is Good Friday, Holy Friday, the day we most remember Christ's sacrifice for us. We're all busy - some at our offices, some with our families, some getting ready for Sunday - but this is the moment to pause with a sense of dread, a horror to think of what took place.
Isaac Watts said it as well as anyone, I guess, when he wrote these words:
"Alas! And did my Savior bleed, and did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head for sinners such as I?
Was it for crimes that I had done, He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown! And love - beyond degree!
Well might the sun in darkness hide and shut his gories in,
when Christ the mighty Maker died for man, the creature's, sin."
Here in Boise the sun is shining bright. It's an absolutely beautiful day. But maybe THAT day was bright, until creation wept at the death of her Lord.
It's fitting that we should weep, too, at the thought of the crucifixion. What could be more appropriate as our nation (and world) debates the war, and Terri Schiavo, and the death penalty, than to shudder at the thought that the only truly innocent Person in human history was tortured and brutally murdered on our behalf?
That's right: on our behalf. For us. Offered as a perfect sacrifice by His own Father, and willingly serving both God and man in that role. Not by our suggestion, or even by our choice. We were enemies of God, rebels, disfellowshipped, condemned. And God the Father took it upon Himself to provide our salvation and through Christ reconciled us to Himself.
That is the Good News - that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Before I was yet a sinner, Christ died for me. Though I am still a sinner, Christ's death is effective for my salvation. And though we shall never in this world completely escape the lure of sin, there will be a day when - through Christ's death - we shall stand free and strong and rejoicing as we look on His beautiful face.
Praise God!
What does that mean for us, for today? Let me refer you back to Brother Isaac:
But drops of grief can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe.
Here, Lord, I give myself away - tis all that I can do.
Today is Good Friday. Can we repay the debt? We can not save Him (as if He needed saving!). But we can do as He did, and give up our lives. Let's take a moment and repay the debt - as if we could! - by once again giving ourselves away to Christ. Once again, remember Him as the Savior Who suffered for us, and rejoice in Him as our Life, and commit to Him as our King.
I'm blessed to share this little corner of the cyberworld with you, my brothers, and look forward to the day we can all meet face-to-face. Be blessed today, and be a blessing.
David