God & Easter

The last week of Jesus Christ’s life on earth was brutal. The Passion of our Lord was full of terrible pain, humiliation and suffering. Though completely innocent, the incarnate Son of God was betrayed, punished and murdered. And the strangest aspect of the story is that Jesus faced the cross voluntarily. Why? Because every detail of God’s character had to be vindicated. Think about how the various attributes of God came perfectly together and “kissed” at the cross:

• Holiness – God must always remain morally perfect… separate from sin & evil
• Goodness – God cares deeply about people made in His image & seeks our well-being
• Severity – The cross is an eternal reminder that sin is forever heinous in God’s sight
• Mercy – God desired to create a way of escape for fallen humans beings
• Wrath – God’s righteous anger against human sin had to be poured out
• Immutability – God could not & would not “bend the rules” or change His character
• Justice – Someone had to pay the full price for sin & face our earned condemnation
• Love – God gave of Himself & made the ultimate sacrifice of His only Son to save sinners
• Righteousness – Jesus had to live a perfect life to become an acceptable, substitute sacrifice
• Forgiveness – Only secured through the shedding of innocent, blameless blood
• Timelessness – God planned our salvation from eternity past
• Sovereign – God over-ruled & transformed the worst sin & evil of hell & the human race
• All-Knowing – God pre-announced how salvation history would be accomplished
• All-Powerful – Even death was reversed & Satan “check-mated” with the resurrection
• Ever-Present – All created order is affected by the cross & will bow before Jesus Christ
• Wisdom – No one could ever design such an amazing plan of salvation & redemption

 

In Christ, sinners are made perfect and perfectly acceptable in God’s sight while, at the same time, we are still working out our salvation with fear and trembling on earth! What a plan! What a God!

 

“God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

 

“When the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” (Galatians 4:4-5)

 

PRAYER, THANKSGIVING & WORSHIP TIME: Think deeply about how the entirety of God’s amazing character was completely glorified and vindicated with the Passion of Jesus Christ, followed by His resurrection from the dead on Easter morning. Bow your head and pour out your heart in thanksgiving and praise to your Maker for the complexity, power, love and beauty displayed in the cross of Christ to buy you back forever from certain death and condemnation. Worship Him for allowing Jesus’ resurrected life to flow in you and through you by faith alone in Christ alone.

 

“There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1)