“He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified,
died, and was buried.
Scriptural Text: John 18:28 – 19:42
Dearly Beloved,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Crucified Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Last week, we spoke to the story of Christmas.
‘Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary’, Jesus Christ - the Son of God and second person of the Trinity - as God-incarnate took on human flesh to come into a Genesis 3 world – a world that became a realm of death and destruction caused by Man’s sin – to fulfill His promise of redemption made at the very onset of Man’s Fall (Genesis 3:15).
In God’s mastery and mystery, divine quietness eclipsed the true reality enfolding the birth of Christ - an appointed escalation of our Triune God’s salvific rescue and redemption of Man; the invasion of the Genesis 3 world, and inbreaking of God’s eternal kingdom.
Indisputably, the birth of Jesus Christ is a historical event - God’s promise precisely fulfilled; in His divine incarnation through human agency (Mary) - and remains a present reality to us.
However, as far as God’s redemption plan goes, the Christmas story only makes sense when told as the overture for the Good Friday story.
Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
Historically documented in John 18:28 – 19:42, the Good Friday story must remain deeply etched in the consciousness of the Church as
Next week, we will take a closer look at the doctrine of Substitutionary Atonement and understand why Christ’s suffering and death was necessary for Man’s redemption.
For now, let us contemplate the relevance of the Good Friday story in our lives.
For now, let us simply understand that for the atonement of our sins, Christ didn’t just take our place in death - Christ took our place in excruciating suffering, crucifixion and death on the Cross.
His entire ordeal after His betrayal – the mock courts, the severe beatings, the flogging, His bearing of the Cross via dolorosa, and Cruxificion – was incomparably excruciating physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Did Christ have to suffer and die this way for the Atonement of our sins?
Yes, He did.
Christ’s suffering and death in the atonement for our sins reflects, and reveals the awfulness and repulsiveness of sin in the eyes of God.
Having been created in His Holy image, our sins have so trespassed against the Holiness of God, justifiably incurring the Wrath of God.
So when God made garments out of animal skin to clothed Adam and the woman, innocent blood was shed, temporarily averting His righteous wrath upon the sinful human race.
This animal sacrifice, and the atoning sacrifices that followed all through the Old Testament was simply a foreshadow of the perfect Lamb of God – our Lord Jesus Christ - who would one day die for our sins once for all (Romans 6:10).
We are sinners, and therefore fully deserving of the wages of our sin, which is suffering and death, a punishment that fully commensurates the gravity of our crimes against God.
This must be stressed again.
Our Lord Jesus Christ did not just die in our place - He suffered the most horrific and excruciating death known to Man, under the yoke of an utterly broken and wicked human system immersed in injustice and irrationality – a system influenced by the same evil who deceived Man in the Garden of Eden.
“It is finished.”
Though His death was due to the violence and extent of His suffering, Christ’s death – in stark contrast - was not violent. His ability to surrender His Spirit to the Father gives us clear and irrefutable evidence of His Divine nature (Ref: Luke 23:46, John 19:30).
Christ’s suffering and death was excruciating, violent and sickening, but it was necessary for God’s plan of salvific redemption of Man.
The world conceals and sanitizes this reality, but as Christians, we must not only know the truth, we must live out the truth as the reality of our lives.
“What is truth?”
In sheer despair, Pilate asks this existential question with the Lord Jesus Christ as the pre-existent and eternal embodiment of Truth before his very eyes (John 18:38).
If you are a true Christian, this is truth –
Jesus paid it all.
Jesus Christ ‘suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.’
For our sakes, He suffered under the yoke of worldly and demonic dominions.
For our sakes, He suffered the most excruciating and horrifying punishment.
For our sakes, He suffered death.
For our sakes, He suffered willingly, meekly and lovingly
For our sakes, Christ suffered – fully God, fully Man.
Even as a fellow human being, the pain that Christ suffered is beyond all human experience and imagination; as God, the pain He suffered for our sakes is unfathomable.
And yet, for our sakes… …
Jesus paid it all.
How then, do we live out this reality?
How is the Cross of Jesus Christ relevant in our lives today?
In everything, and in all things.
All that we are, and all that we have, we owe it all to our Lord Jesus Christ.
All.
Universally, the Cross of Jesus Christ is the only way to faith in the Living God.
Theologically, the Cross of Jesus Christ is the central doctrine to faith in the Living God – from which all doctrines emanate.
Philosophically, the Cross of Jesus Christ is the key to understanding Man’s fundamental impulse and impetus for eternal life.
Existentially, the Cross of Jesus Christ is the gateway of all life.
In reality, the Cross of Jesus Christ is the only solution to Man’s problem of sin and resulting death.
No other religion preaches this. No religious leaders have ever died, much less suffered, in the place of their believers.
Only Jesus!
““He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:24-25)
What is truth?
Through Christ’s suffering, crucifixion and death, those who seek to be saved by Him:
Are you still going astray today?
If you are uncertain about your salvation through Christ Jesus, today is the day to become certain.
And these are the questions you need to answer right now:
“Have I returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of my soul?
Have I returned to Christ Jesus, my Lord?
Do I recognize deeply, that Christ has indeed bore my sins in His body on the Cross?
In Christ, have I died to my sins and resolved to live for righteousness?
Have I made a conscious life decision – through prayer and meditation on the Cross of Jesus Christ – to stop my sinful ways, and remove any and all paraphernalia that will cause me to stumble and fall into sin again?
Brethren, be mindful that on our own strength and resolve, we have absolutely no ability to die to our sins and live for righteousness – this only happens when we truly believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Saviour.
All our hope is in Christ! Be assured and be certain!
Believe!
Our Lord’s suffering and death is the historical event that must invade and integrate with our present reality.
If you desire to grow deeper in relationship with God, your desire will indeed grow when you begin meditating on the Cross of Jesus Christ.
As you grow in the realization of how much Christ suffered to save you from sin and death, your heart will overflow in gratuitous love for the King who gave His life for you.
If you are struggling with physical pain and emotional wounds, you will find healing in the Cross of Jesus Christ.
“By His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5)
If you are struggling with sin and the power of sin’s grip in your life, you will come to deeper repentance and discover true freedom at the Cross of Jesus Christ.
Because of Christ’s imputed righteousness upon those who believe in Him, the devil loses authority and power over their lives.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
“The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.
This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. (1 John 3:8-10)
Be born of God!
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ!
Believe in the power of the Cross!
Believe! Everyone who meditates upon the Cross of Jesus Christ will be healed.
Brethren, don’t be so quick in checking off the boxes and saying, ‘this is not me, I don’t struggle with any of these circumstances.’
By virtue of that thought, you have already sinned.
Romans 3:10-12 reiterates our condition of brokenness, sin and shame;
As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
We may be saved, but we are still struggling with sin and its grip over our lives.
We are sinners; saved by grace, and justified by faith – but on this side of eternity, we are, nevertheless, still sinners
Where you have asked forgiveness for your sins and still struggle with temptation and perhaps even addictions, sin’s grip has not lost hold over your life.
The only way to true freedom is to meditate upon the Cross of Jesus Christ.
Where there is guilt, greed and godlessness, there remains the constant need to meditate upon the Cross of Jesus Christ.
We are familiar with guilt and greed, but know this about ‘godlessness’ – it comes in these 4 forms; apathy, boredom, complacency and defiance.
Apathy says, “I know about the Cross, but I just don’t care. I have more important things/people that I need to ‘care’ about.
What you are really saying: “I don’t need you, God.”
Boredom says, “I know about the Cross, but I am bored by it. I choose to believe that the Cross has no relevance in my life. I choose to fill my life with something else i.e. my personal (and insatiable) quest for pleasure, money, power and prestige.”
What you are really saying: “I don’t need you, God.”
Boredom is insidious, and may even be disguised religiously. “I know about the Cross, but I am bored by it. I choose to believe that the Cross has not much relevance to my ‘Christian’ life. Instead, I choose to fill my ‘Christian’ life with active participation in fellowships, church ministry and even leadership; everything but thinking about the Cross. The Cross is tedious. I am not into tedious… …’
Even if you are actively involved in church work, what you are really saying: “I don’t need you, God.”
Complacency says, “I know about the Cross, but I want to wait and see… if there are other options to getting to know God more, or possibly even other ‘easier’ options to getting to heaven.
What you are really saying: “I don’t need you, God.”
Defiance says, “I know about the Cross, but I don’t need saving. I am not a sinner all the time. In fact, I have been pretty good. Now, if I don’t think that I’m a sinner, then I don’t think I have incurred God’s wrath nor am I in need of His forgiveness. Therefore, why do I need a Saviour?
What you are obviously saying: “I don’t need you, God.”
Beware of guilt, greed and godlessness. These are sure signs that you are in need of the Saviour.
What is truth?
In truth, we are
Consistent Sinners
in need of
Constant Repentance
made possible by the
Crucified Saviour
whose name is
Christ Jesus.
What is truth?
Jesus paid it all.
We are the Church of God, because our Lord Jesus bought us ‘with his own blood.’ (Ref: Acts 20:28)
Jesus paid it all.
For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! (Romans 5:10)
We were God’s enemies. But because our Lord Jesus shed His blood and died for us, we are reconciled with our Father in Heaven.
Jesus paid it all.
May the God of peace…through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will… (Hebrews 13:20-21)
Because our Lord Jesus shed His blood and died for us, our humanity – created in the image of God - is restored.
Because of the power of the Cross, we may step up, and live up to the very best, most divine version of ourselves.
Have you ever regretted your actions, your character flaws, your impulsive reactions to the various circumstances of life; all of which stems from your sinful nature?
We all do.
We each hope to do better the next time.
We hope to be more loving, more peaceful, more generous, kinder to the people in our lives, but we fail and as a result, we live in perpetual regret.
The Cross of Jesus Christ heals us from our shame and sets us on the path to completion and fullness as God’s image.
And this can only happen, when we cast aside all of life’s demands and distractions, and meditate on the Cross of Jesus Christ, on which ‘the image of the invisible God’ (Colossians 1:15) had died for our sakes – for the purpose of restoring us to the most divine versions of ourselves.
Through ‘the blood of the everlasting covenant’, we stop surviving; we start thriving.
Start thriving today. Grow in gratuitous love for our Crucified Christ.
Meditate on the Cross of Jesus Christ.
With His Blood, Jesus paid it all.
Believe.
Shalom.
Before you pray today, I encourage you to take the time to meditate upon the Cross of Christ.
“Jesus paid it all’ is a song that ministered to me deeply during my own times meditating upon the Cross. May this song minister to you as deeply.
Listen to it at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5DyeCx8H4U
Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be Your Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done; on earth, as it is in heaven.
Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that You suffered and died on the Cross at Calvary to save me from the penalty and power of sin in my life.
I am saved by Your finished work on the Cross, and may be a part of God’s New Creation and Family through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
I acknowledge that I am a sinner in need of Christ Jesus, my Lord and Saviour.
Today, I recognize and repent from my sinful ways, and turn towards the Cross of Jesus Christ.
Lord Jesus, Your tremendous suffering has caused me to realize the true darkness of my sins. I am so sorry for my wickedness and my past choices of living my life separated from You.
I believe that in You, I have redemption through Your blood, the forgiveness of my sins.
I have trespassed against You, my God, and for that, I am fully deserving of Your wrath. Instead, You send Your only Son, Jesus Christ, to bear my sins on Calvary’s Cross.
My God, thank You for Your forgiveness in my life through Jesus Christ, my Saviour – who took our place in excruciating suffering, crucifixion and death on the Cross.
Thank you for Your mercy and grace.
I believe that You have forgiven me, and by the power of the Blood of Jesus Christ, I am free from sin’s grip over my life.
In Christ, I am free indeed! And in Christ, I am healed indeed!
Holy Spirit, guard my heart against sin and its effects – guilt, greed and godlessness; apathy, boredom, complacency and defiance.
I have indeed sinned against God in this regard. Forgive me, O Lord and help me repent from my sinful ways.
Holy God, I declare that I need You in my life.
Grant me the resolve to constantly meditate on the Cross of Jesus Christ, and keep the Cross at the very centre of my existence and reality, my hopes and dreams.
For I am indeed a consistent sinner, in need of constant repentance, made possible by the Crucified Saviour, whose name is Christ Jesus.
Grant me the impulse to grow deeper in love with You, my God.
May my heart overflow with gratuitous love for my King who gave His life for me.
Holy Spirit, may You constantly grow and deepen my faith in Christ with each and every passing moment of my life.
May I never waver in my faith nor falter in my steps in proclaiming that my only Salvation is through Jesus Christ – my Lord and Saviour - with these resolute words,
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
Indeed, no one comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ.
Holy Spirit, fill my life, fuel my heart and fulfill Christ’s destiny in my life.
Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that You paid it all.
All that I am and have, I owe to You.
I thank You and pray all these in the Name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.
died, and was buried.
Scriptural Text: John 18:28 – 19:42
Dearly Beloved,
Greetings in the Name of our Lord and Crucified Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Last week, we spoke to the story of Christmas.
‘Conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary’, Jesus Christ - the Son of God and second person of the Trinity - as God-incarnate took on human flesh to come into a Genesis 3 world – a world that became a realm of death and destruction caused by Man’s sin – to fulfill His promise of redemption made at the very onset of Man’s Fall (Genesis 3:15).
In God’s mastery and mystery, divine quietness eclipsed the true reality enfolding the birth of Christ - an appointed escalation of our Triune God’s salvific rescue and redemption of Man; the invasion of the Genesis 3 world, and inbreaking of God’s eternal kingdom.
Indisputably, the birth of Jesus Christ is a historical event - God’s promise precisely fulfilled; in His divine incarnation through human agency (Mary) - and remains a present reality to us.
However, as far as God’s redemption plan goes, the Christmas story only makes sense when told as the overture for the Good Friday story.
Our Lord Jesus Christ suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
Historically documented in John 18:28 – 19:42, the Good Friday story must remain deeply etched in the consciousness of the Church as
- God’s fulfilled promise of Substitutionary Atonement for the salvific redemption of Man, and
- The present reality of our daily lives.
Next week, we will take a closer look at the doctrine of Substitutionary Atonement and understand why Christ’s suffering and death was necessary for Man’s redemption.
For now, let us contemplate the relevance of the Good Friday story in our lives.
For now, let us simply understand that for the atonement of our sins, Christ didn’t just take our place in death - Christ took our place in excruciating suffering, crucifixion and death on the Cross.
His entire ordeal after His betrayal – the mock courts, the severe beatings, the flogging, His bearing of the Cross via dolorosa, and Cruxificion – was incomparably excruciating physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Did Christ have to suffer and die this way for the Atonement of our sins?
Yes, He did.
Christ’s suffering and death in the atonement for our sins reflects, and reveals the awfulness and repulsiveness of sin in the eyes of God.
Having been created in His Holy image, our sins have so trespassed against the Holiness of God, justifiably incurring the Wrath of God.
So when God made garments out of animal skin to clothed Adam and the woman, innocent blood was shed, temporarily averting His righteous wrath upon the sinful human race.
This animal sacrifice, and the atoning sacrifices that followed all through the Old Testament was simply a foreshadow of the perfect Lamb of God – our Lord Jesus Christ - who would one day die for our sins once for all (Romans 6:10).
We are sinners, and therefore fully deserving of the wages of our sin, which is suffering and death, a punishment that fully commensurates the gravity of our crimes against God.
This must be stressed again.
Our Lord Jesus Christ did not just die in our place - He suffered the most horrific and excruciating death known to Man, under the yoke of an utterly broken and wicked human system immersed in injustice and irrationality – a system influenced by the same evil who deceived Man in the Garden of Eden.
“It is finished.”
Though His death was due to the violence and extent of His suffering, Christ’s death – in stark contrast - was not violent. His ability to surrender His Spirit to the Father gives us clear and irrefutable evidence of His Divine nature (Ref: Luke 23:46, John 19:30).
Christ’s suffering and death was excruciating, violent and sickening, but it was necessary for God’s plan of salvific redemption of Man.
The world conceals and sanitizes this reality, but as Christians, we must not only know the truth, we must live out the truth as the reality of our lives.
“What is truth?”
In sheer despair, Pilate asks this existential question with the Lord Jesus Christ as the pre-existent and eternal embodiment of Truth before his very eyes (John 18:38).
If you are a true Christian, this is truth –
Jesus paid it all.
Jesus Christ ‘suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.’
For our sakes, He suffered under the yoke of worldly and demonic dominions.
For our sakes, He suffered the most excruciating and horrifying punishment.
For our sakes, He suffered death.
For our sakes, He suffered willingly, meekly and lovingly
For our sakes, Christ suffered – fully God, fully Man.
Even as a fellow human being, the pain that Christ suffered is beyond all human experience and imagination; as God, the pain He suffered for our sakes is unfathomable.
And yet, for our sakes… …
Jesus paid it all.
How then, do we live out this reality?
How is the Cross of Jesus Christ relevant in our lives today?
In everything, and in all things.
All that we are, and all that we have, we owe it all to our Lord Jesus Christ.
All.
Universally, the Cross of Jesus Christ is the only way to faith in the Living God.
Theologically, the Cross of Jesus Christ is the central doctrine to faith in the Living God – from which all doctrines emanate.
Philosophically, the Cross of Jesus Christ is the key to understanding Man’s fundamental impulse and impetus for eternal life.
Existentially, the Cross of Jesus Christ is the gateway of all life.
In reality, the Cross of Jesus Christ is the only solution to Man’s problem of sin and resulting death.
No other religion preaches this. No religious leaders have ever died, much less suffered, in the place of their believers.
Only Jesus!
““He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”
For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” (1 Peter 2:24-25)
What is truth?
Through Christ’s suffering, crucifixion and death, those who seek to be saved by Him:
- Are saved from the penalty of sin,
- Are saved from the power of sin.
Are you still going astray today?
If you are uncertain about your salvation through Christ Jesus, today is the day to become certain.
And these are the questions you need to answer right now:
“Have I returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of my soul?
Have I returned to Christ Jesus, my Lord?
Do I recognize deeply, that Christ has indeed bore my sins in His body on the Cross?
In Christ, have I died to my sins and resolved to live for righteousness?
Have I made a conscious life decision – through prayer and meditation on the Cross of Jesus Christ – to stop my sinful ways, and remove any and all paraphernalia that will cause me to stumble and fall into sin again?
Brethren, be mindful that on our own strength and resolve, we have absolutely no ability to die to our sins and live for righteousness – this only happens when we truly believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Saviour.
All our hope is in Christ! Be assured and be certain!
Believe!
Our Lord’s suffering and death is the historical event that must invade and integrate with our present reality.
If you desire to grow deeper in relationship with God, your desire will indeed grow when you begin meditating on the Cross of Jesus Christ.
As you grow in the realization of how much Christ suffered to save you from sin and death, your heart will overflow in gratuitous love for the King who gave His life for you.
If you are struggling with physical pain and emotional wounds, you will find healing in the Cross of Jesus Christ.
“By His stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5)
If you are struggling with sin and the power of sin’s grip in your life, you will come to deeper repentance and discover true freedom at the Cross of Jesus Christ.
Because of Christ’s imputed righteousness upon those who believe in Him, the devil loses authority and power over their lives.
“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
“The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.
This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. (1 John 3:8-10)
Be born of God!
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ!
Believe in the power of the Cross!
Believe! Everyone who meditates upon the Cross of Jesus Christ will be healed.
Brethren, don’t be so quick in checking off the boxes and saying, ‘this is not me, I don’t struggle with any of these circumstances.’
By virtue of that thought, you have already sinned.
Romans 3:10-12 reiterates our condition of brokenness, sin and shame;
As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.
All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
We may be saved, but we are still struggling with sin and its grip over our lives.
We are sinners; saved by grace, and justified by faith – but on this side of eternity, we are, nevertheless, still sinners
Where you have asked forgiveness for your sins and still struggle with temptation and perhaps even addictions, sin’s grip has not lost hold over your life.
The only way to true freedom is to meditate upon the Cross of Jesus Christ.
Where there is guilt, greed and godlessness, there remains the constant need to meditate upon the Cross of Jesus Christ.
We are familiar with guilt and greed, but know this about ‘godlessness’ – it comes in these 4 forms; apathy, boredom, complacency and defiance.
Apathy says, “I know about the Cross, but I just don’t care. I have more important things/people that I need to ‘care’ about.
What you are really saying: “I don’t need you, God.”
Boredom says, “I know about the Cross, but I am bored by it. I choose to believe that the Cross has no relevance in my life. I choose to fill my life with something else i.e. my personal (and insatiable) quest for pleasure, money, power and prestige.”
What you are really saying: “I don’t need you, God.”
Boredom is insidious, and may even be disguised religiously. “I know about the Cross, but I am bored by it. I choose to believe that the Cross has not much relevance to my ‘Christian’ life. Instead, I choose to fill my ‘Christian’ life with active participation in fellowships, church ministry and even leadership; everything but thinking about the Cross. The Cross is tedious. I am not into tedious… …’
Even if you are actively involved in church work, what you are really saying: “I don’t need you, God.”
Complacency says, “I know about the Cross, but I want to wait and see… if there are other options to getting to know God more, or possibly even other ‘easier’ options to getting to heaven.
What you are really saying: “I don’t need you, God.”
Defiance says, “I know about the Cross, but I don’t need saving. I am not a sinner all the time. In fact, I have been pretty good. Now, if I don’t think that I’m a sinner, then I don’t think I have incurred God’s wrath nor am I in need of His forgiveness. Therefore, why do I need a Saviour?
What you are obviously saying: “I don’t need you, God.”
Beware of guilt, greed and godlessness. These are sure signs that you are in need of the Saviour.
What is truth?
In truth, we are
Consistent Sinners
in need of
Constant Repentance
made possible by the
Crucified Saviour
whose name is
Christ Jesus.
What is truth?
Jesus paid it all.
We are the Church of God, because our Lord Jesus bought us ‘with his own blood.’ (Ref: Acts 20:28)
Jesus paid it all.
For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life! (Romans 5:10)
We were God’s enemies. But because our Lord Jesus shed His blood and died for us, we are reconciled with our Father in Heaven.
Jesus paid it all.
May the God of peace…through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will… (Hebrews 13:20-21)
Because our Lord Jesus shed His blood and died for us, our humanity – created in the image of God - is restored.
Because of the power of the Cross, we may step up, and live up to the very best, most divine version of ourselves.
Have you ever regretted your actions, your character flaws, your impulsive reactions to the various circumstances of life; all of which stems from your sinful nature?
We all do.
We each hope to do better the next time.
We hope to be more loving, more peaceful, more generous, kinder to the people in our lives, but we fail and as a result, we live in perpetual regret.
The Cross of Jesus Christ heals us from our shame and sets us on the path to completion and fullness as God’s image.
And this can only happen, when we cast aside all of life’s demands and distractions, and meditate on the Cross of Jesus Christ, on which ‘the image of the invisible God’ (Colossians 1:15) had died for our sakes – for the purpose of restoring us to the most divine versions of ourselves.
Through ‘the blood of the everlasting covenant’, we stop surviving; we start thriving.
Start thriving today. Grow in gratuitous love for our Crucified Christ.
Meditate on the Cross of Jesus Christ.
With His Blood, Jesus paid it all.
Believe.
Shalom.
Before you pray today, I encourage you to take the time to meditate upon the Cross of Christ.
“Jesus paid it all’ is a song that ministered to me deeply during my own times meditating upon the Cross. May this song minister to you as deeply.
Listen to it at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D5DyeCx8H4U
Let us pray.
Our Father in Heaven,
Hallowed be Your Name.
Your Kingdom come, Your Will be done; on earth, as it is in heaven.
Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that You suffered and died on the Cross at Calvary to save me from the penalty and power of sin in my life.
I am saved by Your finished work on the Cross, and may be a part of God’s New Creation and Family through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.
I acknowledge that I am a sinner in need of Christ Jesus, my Lord and Saviour.
Today, I recognize and repent from my sinful ways, and turn towards the Cross of Jesus Christ.
Lord Jesus, Your tremendous suffering has caused me to realize the true darkness of my sins. I am so sorry for my wickedness and my past choices of living my life separated from You.
I believe that in You, I have redemption through Your blood, the forgiveness of my sins.
I have trespassed against You, my God, and for that, I am fully deserving of Your wrath. Instead, You send Your only Son, Jesus Christ, to bear my sins on Calvary’s Cross.
My God, thank You for Your forgiveness in my life through Jesus Christ, my Saviour – who took our place in excruciating suffering, crucifixion and death on the Cross.
Thank you for Your mercy and grace.
I believe that You have forgiven me, and by the power of the Blood of Jesus Christ, I am free from sin’s grip over my life.
In Christ, I am free indeed! And in Christ, I am healed indeed!
Holy Spirit, guard my heart against sin and its effects – guilt, greed and godlessness; apathy, boredom, complacency and defiance.
I have indeed sinned against God in this regard. Forgive me, O Lord and help me repent from my sinful ways.
Holy God, I declare that I need You in my life.
Grant me the resolve to constantly meditate on the Cross of Jesus Christ, and keep the Cross at the very centre of my existence and reality, my hopes and dreams.
For I am indeed a consistent sinner, in need of constant repentance, made possible by the Crucified Saviour, whose name is Christ Jesus.
Grant me the impulse to grow deeper in love with You, my God.
May my heart overflow with gratuitous love for my King who gave His life for me.
Holy Spirit, may You constantly grow and deepen my faith in Christ with each and every passing moment of my life.
May I never waver in my faith nor falter in my steps in proclaiming that my only Salvation is through Jesus Christ – my Lord and Saviour - with these resolute words,
I believe in God the Father Almighty, Creator of Heaven and Earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
Indeed, no one comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ.
Holy Spirit, fill my life, fuel my heart and fulfill Christ’s destiny in my life.
Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that You paid it all.
All that I am and have, I owe to You.
I thank You and pray all these in the Name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.