Yet when we are among the full-grown (spiritually mature Christians who are ripe in understanding), we do impart a [higher] wisdom (the knowledge of the divine plan previously hidden); but it is indeed not a wisdom of this present age or of this world nor of the leaders and rulers of this age, who are being brought to nothing and are doomed to pass away. But rather what we are setting forth is a wisdom of God once hidden [from the human understanding] and now revealed to us by God — [that wisdom] which God devised and decreed before the ages for our glorification [to lift us into the glory of His presence]. None of the rulers of this age or world perceived and recognized and understood this, for if they had, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Corinthians 2:6-8- Amplified).
The wisdom of God sent Jesus to the cross. The whole reason that Jesus was incarnated was so that He could die for the sins of humanity. The Magi who offered Jesus the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh were prophetic in their deed (Matthew 2:11). The gold spoke of Jesus divinity, the frankincense of His anointing as Messiah, and the myrrh spoke of His death, since myrrh was used in preparing the dead for burial.
If we knew the day, time, and events surrounding our death, it would take a heavy psychological toll on us. A. B. Simpson says the veil that hides our future is woven by the hand of mercy. But this is not so with Jesus. He was born to be the lamb taken to the slaughterhouse. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil (1 John 3:8).
But it was not just Jesus gruesome physical death that bore our sins. His sacrifice was much deeper than that. In the wisdom of God, the sinless Son of God became a man so that he as a sinless man could assume our sin debt and pay it for us! When Jesus cried out on the cross My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me, He fulfilled part of His purpose in coming to the earth in incarnate form. Isaiah reveals that the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6).
The Apostle Paul received the revelation from the Holy Spirit that Jesus was our sin substitute there on Calvary. 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). Jesus actually bore our spiritual death on the cross. He became what we are, so the we could become what He is! He became our sin, our separation from God, so that we could become the righteousness of God in Him! That means that now we can stand before God as though we had never sinned!
When Jesus cried out My God, My God on the cross, He was hit with the sudden realization that God had turned His back on Him. The sweet fellowship He has with the Father from eternity past was suddenly gone. Gloom and darkness surrounded Him. The legions of hell in the spirit realm gaped upon Him. They gape at Me with their mouths, like a raging and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all My bones are out of joint; My heart is like wax; it has melted within Me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and My tongue clings to My jaws; You have brought Me to the dust of death. For dogs have surrounded Me; the congregation of the wicked has enclosed Me. They pierced My hands and My feet (Psalm 22:13-16).
Yes, Jesus became our spiritual death on the cross. And He endured our sin penalty so that we could go free. Tomorrow we’ll look a bit deeper into Jesus death and what it did. Let’s not take personal sin lightly in our lives. Jesus endured hell so that we could be forgiven. He gave both His natural and spiritual life so that we could escape hell!
0 comments:
Post a Comment