At
three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi,
Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why
have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34. NIV).
That
moment He turned from you, Lord Jesus, because He could not look upon
my sin–how completely deserted and alone you must have felt. You
had always had His love and His heart had always beaten within you,
and suddenly that heart was ripped from you. You, His beautiful Son
who had no sin, became filled with all the sin of the world. You were
only fulfilling your mission–taking my sin upon you and giving your
life for me. You were only doing His will–what He required of you.
On the cross you bore my sin which separated me from your Father. The
sin which had separated me now separated you, His perfect Son. For
me, Lord Jesus, you paid the greatest price. You were forsaken for my
sake.
You,
who had always been one with the Father, now born my sin alone. How
the weight of all the sin of the world must have pulled against the
nails trying to support you! In those hours of painful terror, how
all the demons of hell must have laughed and tormented you with cries
of “where is your Father now and why does He not save you?” Like
the Psalmist, you must have cried, “My God, my God, why have you
forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries
of anguish” (Psalm 22:1, NIV). But you knew the reason, and you
paid the price for me.
Your
love, Lord Jesus, your mercy and your grace–all these took you to
the cross for my sake. The moment you died on the cross for my sin,
the wall which had always separated me from the Father, was torn. Now
I can approach Him in my times of need because of your sacrifice.
Three days following the gift of your life, the Father raised you
from the dead so that I too might have a new life by receiving your
love into my heart. I can be free from sin's control because of your
grace. I can be free because you were forsaken for me. “Well then,”
Paul wrote, “should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more
and more of his wonderful grace? Of course not! Since we have died to
sin, how can we continue to live in it? Or have you forgotten that
when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in
his death? For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And
just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the
Father, now we also may live new lives. (Romans 6:1-4, NLT).
Just
as He raised you, Lord Jesus, He raises me, to new life! Sin shall
not be master over me. I receive the price you paid for me. I receive
your grace. Thank you for fulfilling your purpose and for doing the
Father's will. Praise you, Lord, for being forsaken for me.
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