But death is not the mere cessation of life; death is separation. Physical death is the separation of the soul from the body. Spiritual death is the separation of the soul from God. Physical and Spiritual death was the necessary payment for our sin, which is why Jesus had to die physically, and God had to sever His connection with Jesus temporarily.
The prophet Nahum asked the question, "Who can stand before His indignation? And who can abide in the fierceness of His anger?" (Nahum 1:6). From the cross, the answer resounds, "Jesus can!"
Jesus alone can "stand." Only He could bear the curse of the Law and endure the agonies of physical and spiritual death, and rise victorious. Only He could suffer all the wrath of a Holy God and, while doing so, magnify the Law and make it honorable. Only He could let His "heel" be bruised by Satan and in that bruising destroy him (the devil) that had the power of death.
Oh, friend, Jesus was forsaken by God, alienated from Him, rejected and abandoned by Him to atone for our sin.
God is not only the embodiment of justice, holiness, and righteousness, but He is also perfect love! He delights in mercy, and therefore in His wisdom, He devised a way that justice might be satisfied and mercy might flow freely to those who sin. This way was the cross, the method of substitution, the Just suffering for the unjust.
On that "midnight at midday" (as Pastor Charles Spurgeon called it), a divine transaction occurred. Our Representative, Jesus, became sin for us. He took our place on the cross, bore our sins in His own body, drank the full cup of God's wrath, was despised and rejected by men and forsaken of God. And as He hung there, cursed, afflicted, abandoned, and rejected by God, the miraculous happened; God in Christ reconciled the world to Himself, “not counting men's sins against them!” (2 Corinthians 5:19).
God the Father forsook His Son temporarily that we might enjoy fellowship with Him forever. He poured out His wrath on Christ so that we would be saved from it through Christ. God does not treat us as our sins deserve because He treated Jesus as our sins deserve!
The question Jesus cried out in anguish, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken Me?" we can answer. Jesus' cries of anguish purchased our tears of joy and cries of thankfulness! Jesus entered the dark and dreadful storm of God's wrath that we might be set free to enjoy the Light (Job 33:28). His abandonment is our acceptance (Ephesians 1:6). He was forsaken that we might be forgiven; He was despised that we might be loved!
Such good news! The only appropriate response to Jesus' horrible suffering on our behalf is our worship, thanksgiving, and praise.
“And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,” Revelation 5:9
Oh, friend, I pray that your heart is singing the song of the redeemed along with me! We are a ransomed, blood-bought Bride richly blessed in Jesus!
Let us never forget these final words of torment our Savior cried as He hung on the cross paying the wages of our sin! Let us preach, pray, and sing the gospel to ourselves and each other daily, for unless we do, we will give in to either despair or pride, both of which are death to the soul. Let us be those who love to both hear and tell the story of Jesus. As the old hymn says:
Tell of the cross where they nailed Him,
Writhing in anguish and pain.
Tell of the grave where they laid Him,
Tell how He liveth again.
Love in that story so tender,
Clearer than ever I see.
Stay, let me weep while you whisper,
Love paid the ransom for me.
https://hymnary.org/text/tell_me_the_story_of_jesus_write_on_my_h
Question 1. What is your response to the cry of anguish from the lips of Jesus Christ on the cross?
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Bill writes, "This aspect of the cross is mind-boggling in its enormity. I believe that the most excruciatingly painful thing Jesus suffered on the cross was the inevitable and unavoidable separation from the Father, an occurrence that had never happened prior to that moment and will never happen again! And the fact that Jesus and the Father were willing to cause and endure this occurrence is astonishing. My finite mind cannot grasp it, but I most humbly and gratefully accept it as a sacrifice pleasing to the Father, by which Jesus made a way for me to be reconciled to the Father and have eternal life. Praise You, and blessed be Your Name, my Lord Jesus, my Liberator, my Regenerator, my All-in-All!!!"
Miles writes, "I am weeping that God would not spare His perfect son. That He would allow His one and only, Holy Son to die for a wicked soul like mine. I am overwhelmed with sorrow, gratitude and joy all at the same time knowing that Jesus suffered and died so I could live with Him for eternity."
Let’s finish up this lesson affirming the same truth that Charles Spurgeon did:
I will tell you this thing about myself to encourage you. My sole hope for heaven lies in the full atonement made upon Calvary’s cross for the ungodly. On that I firmly rely. I have not the shadow of a hope anywhere else. You are in the same condition as I am; for we neither of us have anything of our own worth as a ground of trust. Let us join hands and stand together at the foot of the cross, and trust our souls once for all to Him who shed His blood for the guilty. We will be saved by one and the same Saviour. If you perish trusting Him, I must perish too. What can I do more to prove my own confidence in the gospel which I set before you?
https://ccel.org/ccel/spurgeon/grace/grace.vi.html