There is no greater pain in my life than the pain of feeling God’s heart break over my sin. My wounding Him is greater than I can bear and only His children are allowed to see that part of His nature. Why couldn’t God just let Jesus die to pay for our sins, why did He have to suffer the brutality that He did? In Israel, the practice of sacrificing innocent animals for one’s sins was part of the law. When a person acknowledged his sin or trespass, he would bring a clean animal such as a lamb, bull or goat to be sacrificed on his behalf according to the Laws given to them in Leviticus 4-5. However, before offering the animal, the person would lay his hands on it and confess his sins, laying his sins upon the animal represented their personal sin passing to the animal so that it could serve as a sacrifice to pay for that individual’s sins. In the sacrifice of Jesus, they were not coming to confess their sins to God. But, they were sinners who were unaware that they were laying their sins upon the very Son of God by whipping, beating, bruising and piercing His body according to Isiah 53:5 “But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by his wounds we are healed”. God’s truly unsearchable love for us is revealed in that Jesus was willing, and God the Father was willing, to allow our sins to be laid upon Him. The punches, the beating and ripping of His flesh, the thorns in the head, the mocking, the spitting upon, the whipping and scourging, the rejection, the cries for His death and all the horror of His final hours were necessary to lay upon Him the sins of all mankind. That is the picture! There we see in this, the violence of our own sins upon the life of one who was innocent. With every stroke of violence that was laid upon Him there is a reminder to us of the violent nature of our own personal individual sin. “Scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” Romans 5:7-8. By bearing our sins, He made it possible for us to be free from sin, guilt, shame and fear. By taking upon Himself the violence of our sins, He freed us from the effects of sin which ultimately result in eternal death and separation from God. Romans 6:23. As much as God loves me, He hates any sin in my life no matter how great or how small with a holy, burning hatred that I cannot comprehend. And while He does love me, the only way that He can embrace me on a personal level or for me to come to Him, was to take His own hatred for my sin and make someone else pay for it according to Romans 5:1. Yet, it couldn’t be just anyone it had to be someone perfect, and since there was no one else to do it, He came Himself. That’s the Gospel, the whole story. I broke the law, He extended to me His grace and mercy that covers my sin, allows forgiveness and repairs what I myself broke. “In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:10 The Scripture urges us all to “examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith” 2 Cor. 13:5. A great place to start, is to consider His own words, “My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27 Jesus knows that I can’t follow Him flawlessly, even though I should and that I will make mistakes. Yet in spite of that, He invites me to follow Him anyway and provides me with His constant presence to keep watch over me and help me do that which I are incapable of doing on my own. He has called me out of sin and that means that I am no longer to be a part of the sins of my past. I have chosen to allow God to drive out the things in me that break His heart. The old in me has gone and I am embracing the new life that the cross affords me upon my accepting Christ into my life and the work that He did on my behalf. “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 Why did Jesus have to suffer? He had to suffer to make you and me whole. He had to be broken down so we could be built up. He had to be slain so that we could have eternal life. He took upon Himself all the devastating effects of sin with all its violence so that you and I could know the peace of forgiveness and the joy of salvation. His sacrifice for us is the proof of how truly valuable we are to Him. That is why it pains me so to break His heart. Do you hear His voice today sweet friend? Sheep recognize their shepherd’s voice because they know him. He treats and loves those that are His, like a perfect shepherd does, even though they are not perfect sheep. Embrace the gift that He is offering you today sweet friend! Embrace the cross, His purpose for your life! Loving on you, Bren
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 17:31:25 +0000
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