There’s good news today! Yet, as we look around us, we see that problems abound—everywhere! Though you and I face despair, still there is hope! You do not have to wonder if anyone really cares or if there is a genuine path to lasting happiness.
The good news is that God has provided a way to joy and peace, though it was very costly. Do we have to pay? No, someone has already paid for us. You see, you and I have a sin debt that we cannot pay. Jesus paid our debt—though He did not owe it. Following is a word picture of all of this, the greatest event of history.
God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to the earth in the form of a man to pay for my sins and yours. Jesus was God in the flesh. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. John 1:1,14 He also placed Himself in the hands of angry men. Following is what men did to “God” as they crucified “Him,” and what it all means. Here representative men enact what mankind think and feel about God.
Note what they did to...
HIS FACE
...they spit in his face, and buffeted him;...
Matthew 26:67
The face of God in the scriptures stands for his divine favor. To spit in one’s face was the ultimate expression of contempt and shame. When they spit in the face of Jesus, they were saying, “YOU CANNOT BE THE REDEEMER.” Over against the contemptuous acts of men is the marvelous meekness and submission of Christ.
HIS HEAD
And when they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon His head...and took the reed, and smote Him on the head.” Matthew 27:29,30
His head indicates His authority. Here man shows his contempt for His favor and rejects His authority by smiting Him on the head and crowning Him with thorns in cruel mockery.
HIS HANDS
And when they had bound him, they led him away… Matthew 27:2
His hands represent His ministry and His work. Although the whole of creation is the work of His hands they nailed His hands to a cross. They bound the hands of creative power and spiked the blessed hands of ministry.
HIS BODY & PERSON
...and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified...And they stripped him, and put on him a scarlet robe.” Matthew 27:26,28
They had contempt for His favor, rejected His authority, repudiated His ministry and vilified His person.
He was crucified and placed into a tomb, and three days later GOD RAISED JESUS, HIS SON, FROM THE DEAD. We can accept what Christ endured on the cross for us as payment for our sins.
As Bill and Gloria Gaither have expressed in their song, Because He Lives, “An empty grave is there to prove our Savior lives.” The Bible says “....because I live, ye shall live also.” John 14:19
Following is God’s plan for our salvation as presented in the Bible:
A—Declare to yourself, “I am a sinner.”
“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23
B—Realize that there is a penalty for our sin.
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23
In Isaiah 53:6, the Bible says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way and the Lord hath laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.”
C—Ask Christ, right now, to come into your heart and save you.
“He came unto His own and His own received him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name.” John 1:11–12
If you will bow your head and heart before the Lord right now and accept Christ as your Savior, He will receive you, and you can be His child. Just pray:
Dear God, I want to be your child. I am guilty before you and I want Jesus to be my Savior and Lord. I do, right now, take Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. Wash my sins away in the blood of Christ. Help me to live for you all the rest of my life. Amen.
If you prayed this prayer, sincerely, God has saved you and given you eternal life. Tell someone today about this wonderful commitment you have made to God. Now you can rejoice Because He Lives.
-Lindsay Terry and Bill Compton