By Kenneth Rush
2012
Copyright © 2012-2018 NWS
All Rights Reserved
Published by
NWS Publishers
Pellston MI USA 2018
Matthew 27:46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
I don’t believe it is possible for us as mere humans to understand all that had transpired to cause our Saviour to cry out these words, but in order that we might see just a shadow of this sorrowful time, let us look at a few scriptures leading up to it.
Proverbs 8:22-31 22The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. 23I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was. 24When there were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains abounding with water. 25Before the mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth: 26While as yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. 27When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: 28When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: 29When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth: 30Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; 31Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men. Jesus Christ, Our Saviour Was with The Father from eternity past, never had they been separated. The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit, one Eternal God. To explain this great trinity is impossible for such a mortal as myself. But we know from Holy Scripture that all three persons of the Godhead had a part in creation, redemption, and salvation.
Genesis 1:1-5 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
In these precious verses we see God’s work .in creation. In these verses we see some of the method God used in this magnificent work. He called the earth into being, without there being any form to it in order that he might fashion it to His own desires. Some have tried to tell us that there was a long gap between verse one and verse two, actually giving room for an evolutionary view. However, if we are to believe God’s Holy Word, we must conclude that God’s work of creation was completed in one literal week. It really does not make sense to try to view this scripture in any other way. Certainly, God who could call into existence all of this could do it within any time He so chose.
In verse two we read “... And the Spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters.” As we will see throughout this writing, that when
The Holy Spirit moves, things happen, and in this case when God’s Holy Spirit moved,
God spoke light into being.
Now let us look at some new testament scripture.
John 1:1-5 1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2The same was in the beginning with God. 3All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4In him was life; and the life was the light of men.5And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
These verses, definitely refer to The Lord Jesus Christ, pointing out that He was the creator. This is not a contradiction, it just shows that God the Father, God the Holy Spirit, and God the Son, are one God.
1Cornthians 8:6 But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him.
Again, looking in the book of Proverbs we see the Lord Jesus, who’s delights were in the sons of men.
Proverbs 8:30,31 30Then I was by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him; 31Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.
The problem however was that men were sinful because of Adam’s fall, and God in His Holiness cannot tolerate sin in any form.
Romans 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
But God in His omniscience was fully aware that man would fall into sin, and had already devised a plan whereby man could be forgiven, and restored in full fellowship with Him.
This plan however had a great price for Him to pay to redeem man, for the penalty He had placed on sin was eternal death. Therefore He “God” must pay this penalty, in order to restore mankind. No other could accomplish this because all were condemned as sinners, having inherited the sin of Adam.
Therefore, God chose a young virgin “Mary” whom He overshadowed by His Holy Spirit that she may bare a son without the son inheriting Adam’s sin.
Luke 1:26 -31 26And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS
Luke 1:34,35 34Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
God’s only begotten Son, who had been with God the Father from eternity past indwelt this child who God had formed in the virgin Mary, to pay the penalty for our sin.
The angel said she was to call Him Jesus.
Jesus then dwelt in that sinless body for thirty-three years, being tempted in every aspect as we are, yet without sin, therefore becoming the perfect and only sacrifice for our sin.
The life He lived, and many miracles that He worked during His short earthly life, were accomplished by the power of The Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit and comforter that He sent to help us live a Godly spirit filled life until He returns.
When Jesus was accused of casting our devils by Beelzebub, He answered:
Matthew 12:27-28 And if I by Beelzebub cast out devils, by whom do your children cast them out? therefore they shall be your judges. . But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.
Matthew 12:31 Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
Jesus had to die a very cruel death and shed His innocent blood, in order, to pay the penalty for our sin.
God had shown throughout the years how blood must be shed to cover sin, by the many blood sacrifices he required. These sacrifices did not suffice to cover sin, but were only a type, of the real sacrifice that must come, which was His only begotten Son, in the body He had prepared for that purpose. The child born of Mary in the manger at Bethlehem.
Hebrews 10:3-7 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God.
Even before His death on that cruel cross, Jesus suffered while praying in the garden.
Luke 22:41-44 And he was withdrawn from them about a stone's cast, and kneeled down, and prayed, Saying, Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him. And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground.
Jesus agonized more in this garden than man has ever suffered, because he sweat as it were great drops of blood. No man has ever sweat blood and lived, and Jesus, wanting to do the will of The Father, may have died there in the garden, if God had not sent an angel to strengthen Him.
These verses are often misinterpreted thinking that Jesus wanted to avoid going to the cross. However, it is plain that He wanted to do the will of The Father, but agonized so much that He needed strength to do so.
Even after the agonizing in the garden He still suffered some more at the hands of the soldiers and Chief Priests.
John 18:28-40 28Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover. 29Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man? 30They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee. 31Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death: 32That the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die. 33Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews? 34Jesus answered him, Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or did others tell it thee of me? 35Pilate answered, Am I a Jew? Thine own nation and the chief priests have delivered thee unto me: what hast thou done? 36Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence. 37Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. 38Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. 39But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews? 40Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.
John 19: 1-17 1Then Pilate therefore took Jesus, and scourged him. 2And the soldiers platted a crown of thorns, and put it on his head, and they put on him a purple robe, 3And said, Hail, King of the Jews! and they smote him with their hands. 4Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him. 5Then came Jesus forth, wearing the crown of thorns, and the purple robe. And Pilate saith unto them, Behold the man! 6When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. 7The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. 8When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid; 9And went again into the judgment hall, and saith unto Jesus, Whence art thou? But Jesus gave him no answer. 10Then saith Pilate unto him, Speakest thou not unto me? knowest thou not that I have power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee? 11Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin. 12And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar’s friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. 13When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! 15But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.
16Then delivered he him therefore unto them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him away. 17And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:
As we see the terrible load of sin that was placed on our Saviour, we can somewhat understand The Father turning from His Son on the cross, for on Him was laid the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Let us now consider if we may, the suffering of our Saviour as He cried out “My God! My God! Why hast thou forsaken me.” Remember He had been with The Father from eternity past, he had known only love, purity, and holiness, until He came to this sin cursed earth to redeem us.
Sin was so repulsive that a penalty of eternal death, and condemnation to eternal hell had been placed on it. Now He had to take upon himself all that sin and degradation.
Can you imagine being well dressed, with a new suit, tie etc. and going in to wallow with pigs. That is even a very poor example, for the sin our Saviour had to take upon himself was much greater than the mire a pig wallows in.
Not only did Jesus take upon himself all our sin, but He suffered, an extremely excruciating death, and that among the worst of criminals. He shed his pure holy blood, to take our place and set us free from that terrible penalty. Asking only that we repent and trust that He will present us faultless before The Father as His redeemed people with exceeding joy, having accomplished the great mission that He came to earth for, as stated in:
Proverbs 8:31 Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the sons of men.
Oh! What great love our Saviour has shown in this magnificent act of procuring our salvation.
The scripture compares the love between married couple to the love of Christ to us. We as members of the “Church” Christ’s purchased possession, purchased by His blood at Calvary, are those He saved on that cruel cross.
Ephesians 5:25-33 25Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; 26That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, 27That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. 28So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. 29For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it, even as the Lord the church: 30For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones. 31For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. 32This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church. 33Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband.
How often we fall short in our obedience to Christ, even after all He has done for us. We need always to keep present in our minds, and heart, the suffering of our Saviour for us, in order that we might reverence Him for it.
Romans 3:21-26 21Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 24For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? 25But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
26Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
We are continually reminded in scripture to keep ourselves in God’s love. We are Warned of the wickedness of this world, and of those who would try to lead us astray, but we can be sure of our salvation, if we are trusting Christ and walking in His marvelous light.
1John 2:3-5 3And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. 4Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come. 5His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it.
If we love God we will be obedient to His Holy Word, in order, to please Him, therefore proving to ourselves, and others that we belong to God.
1John 4:19 We love him, because he first loved us.
If we love God we will not willingly practice worldly things, rather we will enjoy fellowship with His people, and avoid the wickedness of this world. We also should be studying His Word in order to build up our faith.
1John 5:18-20 18We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. 19And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. 20And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
Jude 1:17-21 17But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; 18How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. 19These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit. 20But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, 21Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
I have heard some say that they don’t have time to study, because they are so busy. My friends don’t get into this trap.
We know the unsaved world does not take time for Christ, but as saved people, studying God’s word and spending time in prayer should be the most important things in our lives.
Let us not forget what He did for us to bring us to Himself
Let us not forget our sin that He took upon himself.
Let us not forget the great penalty He paid for us.
Let us not forget His suffering in the garden.
Let us not forget the abuse and crown of thorns.
Let us not forget what He gave up to save us.
Let us not forget the love He has for us.
Let us not forget the humility as they tore his garments from him, stripping Him naked
Let us not forget the suffering on the cross, the worst punishment ever meted out, reserved for the worst of criminals.
Let us not forget His cry “My God, My God why hast thou forsaken me?”
God the Father had turned from His only begotten Son, because of our terrible sin He had taken upon himself. Christ suffered all this for you and me.
Considering these things:
Is it unreasonable to ask us to love Him?
Is it unreasonable to ask us to trust Him?
Is it unreasonable to ask us to obey Him?
Is it unreasonable to ask us to follow Him?
Is it unreasonable to ask us to serve Him?
Romans 12:1,2 1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
In the garden He prayed, not my will but thine
Great drops of blood He sweat
An angel came to strengthen Him
That the penalty for our sin be met.
The soldiers came with force.
They scourged Him in the hall.
He was accused, but had no fault
For our sin He suffered all.
With nails they pierced His hands and feet
A crown of thorns, His head
A spear was driven into His side,
And for our sin He bled
On the cross He cried, I thirst
They gave Him vinegar and gall
He shed His precious blood there
To pay for Adam’s fall.
His Father had forsaken Him.
‘Twas all that He could bear.
He was left alone to die for us.
Our sin He paid for there.
They placed Him in a borrowed tomb.
He would not long be there
For on that third day He arose.
The stone removed with care.
He conquered death and there arose,
He left the napkin neatly laid
God had accepted His finished work.
For our sin the price was paid.
Christ now lives to intercede
For all who repent and trust
He is waiting to forgive your sin
But yield to Him you must.
Since he suffered all to purchase us
And set us free from our sin.
Is it not right that we owe Him all,
And that we should live our lives for Him?
Heb 12:2 Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.