THE PASSION.
WHY DID OUR LORD JESUS DIE AT CALVARY?
He died as our substitute. ( 1 Corinthians 15:3 )Christ dies for our
sins according to the scripture. We deserved
Gods justice
and His wrath; but the SON suffered in our place.
The weight of our rebellion rested on Him as our
sin-bearer/ ( 1 Peter 2:24 ) Who Himself bore our
sins in His own body on the tree. Being born
of the Virgin Mary, His perfect,
sinless body was crushed (marred ) beyond recognition. He bore it alone.
He was obedient to His Father. (John 5:30) saying, I do not seek My own will,
but the will of the Father who sent Me. He was born to die, while we were born again to live
and triumph. It pleased the Lord to
bruise Him, as in Isaiah 53.
He washed us ( or loosed us ) from our sinful
lifestyle. (Revelation 1:7 ) states that
He loved us and washed
us from our sins in His own blood. No soul detergent or swirling fluid is more
effective than His powerful cleansing blood.
We must teach it fearlessly. His death was Gods exclusive, cleansing
means. Accept this truth!
He died so that we could take in the life of Christ.
In the Passover, You shall
eat the flesh on that night: roast with fire, with unleavened bread and with
bitter herbs shall you eat it, ( Exodus
12:8) WE must take His head , allowing the mind of Christ to saturate our
thoughts. His legs speak of God mobilising His people to take the precious
gospel to needy nations. His purtenance- the entrails, liver, bowels, excretory
and reproductive organs tell of the hidden life of our Lord.Our life is hidden
(securely) with Christ in God.
God commanded that all yeast and unfermented bread in
the Passover feast be removed, showing that the child of God has been freed
from all the contaminating influences represented in the yeast. He triumphed in His death. Christians have
witnessed in unbearable situations, such as the house churches of China, in
purity and holiness.
He endured the three hours of darkness when CREATOR
God obscured the sun, with its frightening blackness for human, animal and
plant effects, so that He could overcome the irresistible darkness of evil,
dominating the minds and lives of many of HIS creatures.
He was Gods Lamb. John
the Baptist cried, Behold the
Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29 ) We now treasure our unblemished and
spotless Lamb as the perfect sacrifice, for His excruciating sufferings have
been accepted by the Father.
The blood of the lamb on the doorposts and upper post
was a token, (Exodus 12:13 )
A token is an ensign,
standard, distinguishing mark, a miracle and warning. ( Strongs Concordance ). As the
Lord hovered over the land of Egypt, He sought for the homes, marked with this
token. Why do many teachers despise the precious truth of the blood of the lamb, fully
protective when applied to the Israelite homes ? The blood of the LAMB is equally effective protecting our homes
and loved ones from God's judgment on our sin.
That they
maybe healed is the
secret of His cold-blooded scourging. Old and New Testament alike tell how By His stripes we are
healed ( Isaiah
53:12, I Peter 2:24. who Himself bore our
sins in His own body, that ugly scars of our sinful behaviour would be healed.
Chunks of muscle, nerves, and arteries were gouged from His back by the
senseless whipping, so that our sin-scarred lives should be perfectly restored.
Oh, the mysterious healing of the cross!
He carries the scars in heaven, while we live victoriously on earth.
Then Hebrews writer told how The children have
partaken of flesh and blood, He himself shared in the same, that through death,
He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is the devil. (2;14
) Through His dying on the cross, the
Lord Jesus shattered the great enemy, satan ( lower case because of his defeat
). John confirmed this major victory in
(1 John 3:8 ) , For this purpose, the SON OF GOD was manifested ( His virgin
birth, sinless holy life, His substitutionary death ) that He might destroy the
works of the devil. See beyond the
limp, blood-stained, crucified figure, a victorious Conqueror, our Lord.
Our Lord discoursed on the Good Shepherd in John 10, showing that I Am the good
Shepherd. The good Shepherd gives His
life for the sheep, (v11) In dying, our
Lord presented Himself as the good
Shepherd, fulfilling the promise of Psalm 23,The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. I lay down My life, as
the Father knows Me, so I know the Father.(v15) The Father willed that His Son should die for the sheep as the
eternal plan. It was no accident- but
gloriously designed. And ingloriously
executed among the gore and cursing of murderous fallen man.
His Calvary suffering showed the Fathers deep love,
because I laid down My life that I may take it again. (v17) His shameful
death progressed to the glorious resurrection, when He took again His life.
Look beyond the agony and disgrace to the splendour of the empty grave and the
risen Lord. WE may never exhaust the
undignified depth of His suffering - nor the unscaleable height of His triumph.
Isaiah 53 clearly reveals the meaning of His cross sufferings.
He was wounded for our transgressions (v5); He was bruised for our iniquities:
the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and by His stripes we were
healed. Our transgressions wounded
Him. We were blame-worthy; He was there
in our place.
Our iniquities, hidden sins, battered Him ( bruises
are bleeding in deep tissues). He shed His blood for us. Intensely ashamed of
our fallen nature, the Lord Jesus suffered the blows of the Romans. The scourging, the chastisement of our
peace, was on Him; deeply bruising those hidden tissues No wonder we are
healed by His stripes.
He died as your Saviour, Substitute, Sin-bearer,
Cleanser, Passover Lamb, Sun of righteousness, Healer, Destroyer of satan; Good
Shepherd, Wounded and Bruised One. Praise HIS holy Name.
Make sure that you have wholly trusted the Saviour,
Who died for you.