Golgotha
Jesus went to the cross for you and for me. The culmination of every moment in the past, present, and future comes to completion in three days. Regardless of all the arguments, one fact remains. The man called Jesus laid down His life for all of humanity.
In Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus was speaking to His disciples and shared with them the new covenant, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”
Living love comes with risks. When we live love we open ourselves up to the possibility of being hurt deeply. We open ourselves up to disappointments and struggles. We also open ourselves up to the greatest life imaginable. Living love is the new covenant. It is the carrying on of the old covenant into a life of grace and forgiveness.
Jesus, the one I call Savior, laid down His life for me. He took my sin, along with the sins of all of humanity. He drank the cup of God’s wrath…every drop of God’s wrath so that I…we…could choose to live in grace.
I could go into all the gruesome details of the death of Christ on a cross. The details are beyond description. But I will not. If you are just learning about Christ and His sacrifice for you it is definitely something that you need to read about and ponder. I think of it often and it always reminds me of how much I was loved by my Creator.
There is so much that we could talk about and think about today. But I feel led today to just talk about love. So many people in this world today are searching for something that makes them feel complete – whole. The search takes them into all kinds of situations…sometimes good and fairly happy, most of the time broken and hopeless. Satan offers many roads for people to travel on this quest for peace and fulfillment; drugs, alcohol, sex, pornography, wealth, power, fame, beauty, and the list goes on and on. The battle is real. Look around and you will see it everywhere.
John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”
Yes, Satan offers many roads. God offers one road – Jesus Christ. There is no hope, no contentment, no fulfillment, no peace without Jesus.
But, praise God He made a way for us. God loved us. He made a way for us. He became one of us to save us.
John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.”
Jesus could have called the whole thing off as He was hanging on that cross. He could have stopped the plan of our salvation at any point during His life. You can bet the angels were standing ready to come to His side. But He chose me. He chose you. John 15 speaks of a love that I cannot even comprehend. Yes, I have prayed in my life for God to take the illness or the pain or the heartache from members of my family and give it to me instead. I understand that love, I feel that love for my family. But Jesus took the dirty, rotten, stench of the sin of the entire world on Himself. He died for all of us. I don’t know about you, but I don’t deserve for anyone to die for me you probably don’t either. We don’t have to deserve it, we just have to accept it as the free gift from a Savior that loves us… He knows us…all of us…and He still loves us enough to die for us.
When Jesus died and the curtain into the Holy of Holies was torn from top to bottom, a new covenant began. The offer of salvation was here. The God of the universe removed the separation and death brought on by sin and placed it squarely on the shoulders of Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, God in flesh. When Jesus died, the gift of salvation was laid at our feet. He loved us too much to force us to love Him in return. The decision to accept this salvation is ours alone.
John 3:16 – 18 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
What is your choice today? Have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior? It is your choice that only you can make. Choosing to be a good person is a wonderful choice but it does not bring salvation. Choosing to go to church is a great choice but it does not bring salvation. Choosing to be generous and to serve others are both great choices but they do not bring salvation. You can even choose to follow the new covenant and love God and love others with all your heart. But without Jesus there is no salvation.
Go back and read John 14:6 again. You must choose Jesus! Please do not let another Easter season go by without making the best choice you will ever make. If you have questions, please feel free to call, message, or email me at any time.
May God bless you all.
