I wonder if we can understand the pain that Jesus went through when He suffered on the cross. When Jesus came to earth as the Messiah, He was the one who chose to enter the world during a time when Rome had perfected the awful, torturous execution method of the cross. He chose to come to earth and die knowing the pain He’d have to endure.
At the Mount of Olives, He spent time in prayer with such anxiety over the torture He would be enduring in a few hours that the text says,
“And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.” (Luke 22:44 ESV).
We can read historical records that describe the way Rome used the cross as a means to show unspeakable cruelty to their fellow man. The cross was not a humane means of execution; it was designed to extract every bit of torture possible.
The pain that the cross inflicted was so bad, we had to invent a word to describe it: “Excruciating.” It was of Latin origin based on “crux”, “cruc- a cross” Excruciating was pain “of the cross.” This is what Jesus endured as He willingly laid down His life to become the sacrifice for us.
And this was foretold from the beginning. When Satan tempted man to sin, God spoke to this excruciating sacrifice He would one day make to bring back together what sin had separated. Speaking to Satan, God said,
“I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Genesis 3:15 ESV).
It was this bruising of Jesus’ heel that was found on the cross. But in this pronouncement, we see God’s wrath unleashed upon Satan for the role he played in tempting Adam and Eve to sin. Where the excruciating pain of the cross which led to death was described as a bruised heel, God told Satan that what would happen to him would be far worse than what Jesus would endure on the cross. Jesus would bruise Satan’s head which was a more devastating injury.
What should that tell us? To me, it serves as a warning that God isn’t playing around with sin. As bad, as painful, and as excruciating as the pain that Jesus had to endure on the cross, it would be nothing compared to the punishment that awaited Satan. Jesus would crush him.
This fatal injury began when Jesus conquered death and will be brought to completion at Judgement when Satan and his angels are sentenced to eternity in the lake of fire.
“and the devil who had deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur where the beast and the false prophet were, and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.” (Revelation 20:10 ESV).
If man had to invent a word to describe the painful death that the cross created, can we even begin to imagine how horrific the torment from the lake of fire will be? If the bruised heel Jesus endured was excruciating, then what must the pain that represents a bruised head be like? This is reserved for the devil and His angels.
But our Lord tells us something that we should all should heed:
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matthew 25:41 ESV).
Those who are created in the image of God and refuse to submit to their Creator, rebel and go their own way, and let sin reign over them, will share the same judgment reserved for the devil and his angels. But God, in His rich love and grace, is pleading with us to choose the life which is found only in His Son. He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Jesus experienced excruciating pain so we can avoid a far worse punishment. This is how deep His love is for us. He was willing to endure the cross so we wouldn’t have to endure eternal death. And this is the reason why we should give everything to Him. He has offered us more than we could ever repay.
The words I long to hear the most are not,
“I love you”
Or
“You’ll never have to worry again”
Or
“You’ve accomplished all your goals”
The words I long to hear most are,
“Well done, good and faithful servant”
I am in Daniel in my Daily Bible reading. It’s amazing how God taught Nebuchadnezzar what true sovereignty was. But the lesson God taught centered on the King’s goodness, not his greatness. I wonder if we often confuse goodness and greatness today.
Notice, in chapter 4, God sends the king a dream that shows that God was about to raise His hand against Nebuchadnezzar. This frightens Daniel, who seemed to have developed a close relationship with the king by this time. Notice the advice that Daniel gives the king:
“Therefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable to you: break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that there may perhaps be a lengthening of your prosperity.” (Daniel 4:27 ESV).
He did not council that the king should make great proclamations about the true God or build a beautiful temple for Him. He simply said to show mercy to the oppressed and practice righteousness.
Then, in the next chapter, Nebuchadnezzar is dead and one of his descendants is on the throne. This king sees a hand writing on the wall and calls in the aged Daniel to interpret the writing. Listen to what Daniel says as he recounts the lessons of king Nebuchadnezzar:
“But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him.” (Daniel 5:20 ESV).
Referring back to the same account, Daniel tells the king about how God dealt with Nebuchadnezzar when his heart was lifted in pride. Together, we see that God taught Nebuchadnezzar He wanted the king to show humility and serve others who were in need.
This is a hard lesson for rulers to learn but it is also a hard lesson for us to learn today, especially those of us who live in a land where we value the individual and we are brought up learning the social values of looking out for number one. But Jesus gives us fair warning that He will expect the same from us, and one day, these will be the expectations we will be judged by.
Listen to what Jesus says is coming for each of us. As we read these words, we need to ask ourselves if we are living in self-center pride or if are we showing righteousness by humbling ourselves in selfless service to others.
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.
For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink,
I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’
Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’
Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’
And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” (Matthew 25:41-46 ESV).
I am convinced that on the Day of Judgment, every man who was ever created will bow their knee and confess with their mouth of their own free will Jesus as Lord.
I do not think God will force anyone to do anything against their will, just as He does not force us to sin or act righteously today.
I am not sure we are prepared for the awesome experience of standing before the One true God.
Being in His presence will be overpowering as we witness His unlimited glory, power, and majesty compared to our frail, weak and limited existence.
Even the most rebellious blasphemer on earth today will be in awe when standing in the presence of God the Creator.
In His presence, there will be no fight, no argument, no accusation against the holy and mighty I AM.
On the Day of Judgement, before His Throne, we will all finally understand who we are and who He is.
Sadly, for many of us, the free-will kneeling and confession will be too late.
Today is the day to humble ourselves in the presence of God Almighty and prepare to meet Him on His terms when Judgment Day comes.
We want to kneel and bow at His right hand, not at His left hand on that Day.
“for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.” (Romans 14:11-12 ESV).
Today, I am in the book of Hosea in my daily Bible reading. This is a book where God tries His best to get the people to understand that they are being unfaithful to Him. But here’s the thing… outwardly, they keep some form of worship of God, yet they mix it with idol worship and “villainy” as Hosea puts it.
God tells them that He doesn’t want their outward service, He wants their heart.
“For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6 ESV).
Perhaps, we do the same thing the people of Israel did in the days of Hosea. Perhaps we have enough God in our lives to make us feel comfortable and ease our conscience. Yet, we “move the landmarks” (5:10), we look for ways to take from others and commit villainy (6:9), “A merchant, in whose hands are false balances” (12:7), (Think cheat on our taxes or misrepresent the truth).
“there is swearing, lying, murder, stealing, and committing adultery; they break all bounds, and bloodshed follows bloodshed.” (Hosea 4:2 ESV).
And after we do these things, we come together on Sunday to worship and pray to the Lord.
This is what Israel did and it pained God as one who was a husband with a cheating wife.
God wants our worship, but He wants it from a pure heart. If we intend to play the harlot with God, then it’s best to stay home. He finds no joy in our sacrifice and worship unless it comes from a faithful heart.
I pray we never grow so comfortable with our whoredom against God that we get to the point where we will never return to Him.
“Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. For the spirit of whoredom is within them, and they know not the LORD.” (Hosea 5:4 ESV).
But our Lord is rich in mercy and offers abundant grace, seeking a relationship with His children. Therefore, He calls us to come out of our whoredom and again become one with Him.
“Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.” (Hosea 14:1 ESV).
As we make plans to worship God with our brothers and sisters today, think about the words of the aged apostle John. It has to do with owning our sins so we can have them forgiven.
It is one thing to say, “Yeah, I sin.” But it is another thing to be able to identify what our sin is to God.
When we name our sin, we take ownership of it. We can’t hide behind generalities. We can’t group ourselves with other sinners. We look at God and say, “This is my sin against you. I am guilty of this.”
I encourage all of us this morning to search our hearts for sins and call them out before God. Ask the one Who is able to forgive those sins to wipe their guilt from us.
Naming our specific sin takes humility. It takes accountability. It takes faith because we recognize that we need something from God.
But this kind of confession makes builds a character of being open and honest before God. It creates a character of dependency on God.
So let us all look into our own hearts, identify our own sins, own them, confess them, and ask our God to forgive them.
Then let us worship our God together with a pure and clean heart.
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” (1 John 1:8-10 ESV).
I am in the minor prophets in my daily Bible reading. A verse in Amos struck me this morning. God is naming all the nations, including Judah and Israel, and saying because of their iniquities, He will bring judgment that will not be revoked.
Amos mentions the sins of nations that bring God’s judgment upon them. Most have to do with the way that nations deal with people by mistreating them or taking advantage of those who are weak. But listen to the specific charge God brings to Israel:
“But you made the Nazirites drink wine, and commanded the prophets, saying, ‘You shall not prophesy.’“ (Amos 2:12 ESV).
Two of the charges that God brings against Israel are forcing the people of God to violate their commitment to the Lord and commanding that they no longer speak the things of the Lord.
While we do not have Nazarites or prophets today, we do have people who are keeping vows to the Lord when they called upon His name and we have preachers and teachers who speak His message to a lost world.
Our nation is growing increasingly hostile to God and His people. We are living in a society that tries to force the people of God to violate their vows in the name of diversity. We live in a society that is trying to censor the message of repentance from sin that we preach from the Word of God.
Could we be within the generation who sees the weight of law fall upon us for keeping our vows to the Lord or for speaking the message of sin and repentance?
We may have to endure persecution unlike any we have seen in our lifetime, but the message of the prophets is that God is always in control. His eye sees and in the end, He will act against those who lift their hand against Him and His people.
These are the times when we act in faith though we live among people who try to silence God and His people. Let us do good and rely on God to sort out injustices in His time. Let us not trade our crown for a mess of pottage when and if we face the same type of persecution we read in Amos.