February 25, 2014

Resurrection

The Cross.

Jesus died for humanity on the Cross.
That picture of a beaten man on a wooden cross is immortalized in the the mind of every Christian.
We see the scars, we see the blood, and we think, "wow, what pain Christ endured for us."

But in truth, there was so much more that Christ took upon Himself.
I believe that there were 3 major pains that Christ endured.

First, the least painful, the beatings, the scars, the torture, the nails, the cross.

The second we forget, for we cannot comprehend it.
Think of all the pain and suffering that you have or will see in your entire life.
It's a lot. So much pain and hurt we will see and go through.
But Christ saw, witnessed, felt, and took upon Himself the pain and suffering of every human that ever existed, in past, present, and future.

We can't understand that. It's simply too much pain for us to comprehend. He bore that.

And last, which was indeed worst of all, He was separated from His Father.
The Word says, "the Father turned His face away."
From His son!
That is the worst pain that Christ endured on the Cross.
For to endure all that pain is horrible, but that pain in comparison to all that God is, it's nothing.
So to be apart from the Father, that was truly excruciatingly painful.

But then there is the good news and the most under appreciated event in the history of existence:
The Resurrection.

By not only dying but rising again, Jesus brought hope.
Every single pain and suffering ever, was redeemed.
Jesus dying was taking away the consequence of all that, Him rising was the redemption of history, of everything.

By rising He sent hope for every heart to receive.
That is the Resurrection, the hope of history.