“For it pleased the Lord that in (Christ) should all fullness dwell. 20. And having made peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.”
There are those who think that we are coarse, or crazy, to praise and thank God for the “blood of His cross.” After all, it is an ugly picture. A man hangs bleeding and dying and we are thankful and we praise God. Understand that in the economy of God, a lot depended on the Son giving Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. Jesus told His disciples, “For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and give His life a ransom for many.” This meant that “His time had come” as John mentions so many times in His gospel. Yes, we celebrate, because of the cross of Jesus some great things can happen in our lives. Following are at least three of these things. Because of the cross of Jesus, we can truly know that God loves us. All we need to do is to go back to the promise of John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”If you need proof that God loves you, look to the cross and the words of John 3:16 should echo through your soul and give you the assurance of God’s love for you. The love of God is beyond our imagination and our intellectual understanding, but that does not mean that it is not real. Because of the cross of Jesus, we can be saved. “Saved” seems a quaint word in our sophisticated age. Sometimes people make fun of our claim to be saved. It might seem simple-minded to many, but those who have looked to the cross and to the empty tomb of Jesus, being saved is no joke. It is through the “blood of His cross” that we can be reconciled to God – forever. We have been saved to serve the Lord and to live what we call “the saved life.” What does this saved life entail? It entails worship of God, not just in church, but in our daily lives, living daily in the light of His presence. It entails living in fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. It entails loving people whether they are lovable or not, because we know that Jesus also died for them. Goodness, I’m making us sound like super humans, but being saved does not make us super humans. We do not always show the “saved life” to the world. We are sinners saved by grace. We are not perfect, but thank God through our faith in Jesus and because of His grace we are saved. I might reiterate that we are saved because of the cross of Jesus. We didn’t earn it, but it was given to us by God’s unmerited favor – His amazing grace! Because of the cross of Jesus, we can go to heaven. There are other scriptures that I could refer to about this eternal abode with God, but I want to go back to a promise that Jesus gave His disciples in His words of comfort about His coming crucifixion in John 14:2b-3: “I go to prepare a place for you. 3. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am there shall you be also.” Here Jesus gave a promise that those who believe in Him, surrender their lives to Him - shall be saved and we will be with Him eternally. Hey, that is good news and it comes to us via the cross of Jesus. I guess that I could have shared other great things because of the cross of Jesus, but these should give reason for rejoicing during this joyous season. Bro. Joe
1 Comment
Margaret M Jones
3/25/2016 09:21:17 am
This message humbles me, yet I rejoice in God's great love for us.
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