O That Wonderful Cross
On Good Friday, how can I not think about...well, Good Friday. A memory as a kid flashed back to me. I was supposed to go to Mass on Good Friday, held right at 3 P.M. One of the church rules I learned is that you're supposed to fast several hours before taking communion. But I forgot the rule that day!
I was at the swimming pool most of the morning and early afternoon. And around 1 P.M. I accidentally ate a potato chip. Then I suddenly remembered -- I broke "the rules." And I felt so guilty!
I don't want to act like I'm now part of the elite, enlightened ones, no longer bound by such church rules and regulations. However, I do want to declare how much I praise God that through knowledge of the blood of Jesus covering my sins, I now know that I live under grace, not law! (Have you noticed that this is a recurring theme in my blogs?) . The gospel frees me from the tyranny of my sin, my rule-keeping obsession, from spiritual death.
This morning I read some of the book of Romans and my heart leaped as I re-read this familiar passage:
"but now God has shown us a different way of being right in his sight—not by obeying the law but by the way promised in the Scriptures long ago. We are made right in God’s sight when we trust in Jesus Christ to take away our sins. And we all can be saved in this same way, no matter who we are or what we have done. --Rom. 3:21-21, New Living Translation
I love that last verse especially. Because our trust is in Jesus Christ we can be saved, no matter who we are or what we have done! Even if we eat a potato chip before taking communion and break "the rules."
Today when three o' clock rolls around, let's meditate on that cross. Think about that shed blood. Realize that Jesus went to the cross for our sins -- dying a death that we deserved.
And cleansing us from a guilty conscience. (Heb. 10:22)
As the hymn says, "Hallelujah, what a Savior."
Rejoicing in the cross,
Jim
posted by Jim Clark @ 12:18 PM
1 comments
1 Comments:
Jim-
When I drive long distances the hours often become my "meditation time". On a trip back from Roswell this week, I wondered about what the cross and death meant to Jesus. He had the full story, he knew he would rise from the dead on the third day, so what did it really mean? Then I thought about Hebrews 5:7-10. He had never known obedience, there was no need. He learned obedience to God in his suffering, because he and God did not agree that his death on the cross was the only way. "Not what I want, Father, but what you want." He endured the taunts, judgements and hate of the crowd and the Jews, then they tortured him to death, nailed to a cross. From Eph. 4:8-10, I think he went straight to Hell, a place where the presence of God was not felt or heard or imagined. A place of wickedness and evil power, where the bad guys always win; teeth-gnashing and hatred, the complete absence of peace. This was the most vile of places for the Son, who had never known sin. He went there, GUILTY OF MY SINS AND YOUR SINS, AND PAYING THE PRICE FOR THEM!!!
What did death mean to him?? It meant a fighting chance for you and me, my brother, and the cost was high, very, very high. It meant the fulfillment of his dream and prayer (that we would be one with each other and one with Him), had a chance. It meant that the Justice of God was satisfied, and the mercy of God spread out over all the world; past, present and future.
It also meant that Sunday morning was coming. The whole earth groaned and puckered and pitched at the death of its Creator, but what a day was Sunday!! The worst of all imaginable circumstances was turned by God into the greatest event in history! Jesus had triumphed over the evil one, ascended into heaven in the Spirit, then returned to use his physical body to calm and soothe those friends he loved. What a day!! What a Saviour!! What a gift. Thank You, Lord, for being willing to die. Thank you, God that you loved us so much even before we were born, that you gave your son, your baby, to pack our sins to hell on his own shoulders!
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