Good Friday: We Were His Cross

And He, bearing His cross, went out to...Golgotha, where they crucified Him. ~ John 19:17-18

John, the beloved disciple, describes Christ's crucifixion in simple, straight-forward terms.

Let's break it down and explore the details:

And He...

Jesus - (Yahweh saves)

And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name JESUS, for He will save His people from their sins. ~ Matthew 1:21

Christ - (the Anointed One)

You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. ~ Matthew 16:16

Son of God -

And when the centurion and those with him, who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and the things that had happened, they feared greatly, saying, "Truly this was the Son of God." ~ Matthew 27:54

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...bearing His cross...

was spat upon and beaten -

I gave My back to those who struck Me, and My cheeks to those who plucked out the beard; I did not hide My face from shame and spitting. ~ Isaiah 50:6

Then they spat in His face and beat Him; and others struck Him with the palms of their hands. ~ Matthew 26:67

was scourged and disfigured -

So His visage was marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men. ~ Isaiah 52:14

So Pilate, wanting to gratify the crowd, released Barabbas to them; and he delivered Jesus, after he had scourged Him, to be crucified. The the soldiers led Him away...they twisted a crown of thorns, put it on His head...then struck Him on the head with a reed and spat upon Him. ~ Mark 15:15-19

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...where they crucified Him...

died in our place -

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and He was afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth; He was led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so He opened not His mouth. ~ Isaiah 53:6-7

And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him...Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." ~ Luke 23:33-34

Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness all over the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" ~ Matthew 27:45-46

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. Then behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, adn the rocks were split. ~ Matthew 27: 50-51

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WHY HIM?

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ~ John 3:16

For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. ~ 2 Corinthians 5:21

Therefore remember that...at that time you were without Christ...having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For through Him we...have access by one Spirit to the Father. ~ Ephesians 3:11-13, 18

But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. ~ Titus 3:4-7

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CELEBRATE GOOD FRIDAY!

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. ~ Galatians 2:20

Good Friday: We Were His Cross

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2009/04/good-friday-we-were-his-cross.html

WFW: Living in the Light

Seems like spring was a long time in coming this year. The gray, cold days of winter just lingered on and on… Even once the days started turning warmer, a stretch of chilling weather worked into the midst of the sunny days as a reminder not to take the warmth for granted.

Our lives as believers tend to mimic the seasonal changes. Sometimes pain and trouble seem to be endless, leaving us shivering, discouraged, and desperate. Once relief comes, it is often sporadic as we deal with the causes of the troubles – from our own actions or those of others.

Those darker, colder times are there to remind us to take care of the root causes of our pain and not hide away from them because we feel better for a time. If we don’t take care of the problem completely, especially if it is something we ourselves have caused, it will shoot back up to trouble us again.

God’s perfect plan for us is to live in His light, His Holiness…allowing it to penetrate even our deepest, hidden pain. Total exposure all at once to His Holiness would be unbearable, like stepping from extreme darkness into bright, hot sunshine – and being temporarily blinded. That’s why we end up dealing with our pain and, yes, our sins, in small doses.

Our loving Father knows we need to feel His warmth and love as we deal with our troubles. He also knows that to grow into the people He created us to be, we must take small steps into living holy lives. It would be wonderful if asking Jesus to be our Savior was all it took to live happy, productive Christian lives. But part of the redemption process includes not only walking into the light…but purposely stepping out of the darkness in which we have been living.

Thankfully, He doesn’t expect us to go it alone! Our first step is to allow Him to gently point His light into the hidden places. Then we either: 1) confront the pain, forgive the perpetrator of it, and allow God to heal us… Or, 2) we confront the sin His Holiness exposes, confess our guilt from a heart full of sorrow at the pain we have caused God, ask His forgiveness, and allow Him to help us turn away from the desire run back into the dark.

The unfortunate part of living in a fallen world is that we will continue to live in this cycle of seasons… People will let us down and cause us pain. We will let God down and cause Him pain. But just as spring follows winter, joy follows sorrow if we let God into our lives daily. We can deal more quickly with our pain and troubles if we are daily in fellowship with Him. No longer will it be like winter is creeping back into our lives…

We will still have stormy spring days…possibly dark and miserable for a time… But warm, glorious summer is just around the corner. Living in God’s light means that although we are not care-free, our storms can be more like sun showers – rain while the sun is shining. The most amazing thing about sun showers is the rainbow clearly visible in the midst of the storm… God’s promise is to be with us and not let us be pulled back into the darkness.

“Now may the God of hope fill you will all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 [NKJV]

For more Word-Filled Wednesday posts, visit AmyDeanne @ The 160 Acre Woods.

WFW: Living in the Light

https://typingone-handed.blogspot.com/2009/03/wfw-living-in-light.html