“Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish. 2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest.” Psalm 22:1-2 NIV
God, the Creator of the universe who is both just and loving in all His ways, sees sin as deserving of His wrath and punishment (Romans 6:23). In His mercy, God sent His Son to accept the verdict of ‘guilty as charged’ on our behalf.
Jesus, unlike Jonah, was holy and perfect in all His ways. Even so, He volunteered to receive the punishment of death as if He were a sinner, to be dishonored, disowned, and repudiated. Jesus reached out His hand to stop the rod of God's just punishment from falling on us and let it crush Him instead.
Jesus silently stumbled along the long road of beatings and mockery to His crucifixion and into the furnace at the cross of God’s fiery wrath for our sins. What a joy it is to take in the truth that we are now no longer under condemnation (Romans 8:1).
“Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” Romans 8:34 NIV
When we linger at the cross, we see the fearful distance that Jesus was flung down in death at Calvary, cast out alone and sinking into the deep of God’s wrath, with all ways of avoidance and escape closed off to Him. As we read in Jonah 2:6: “I went down to the land whose bars closed upon me forever”. He suffocated in the flood of our sin and the darkness of Satan’s torments. His head carried the crown of weeds and thorns.
“For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me...The waters closed in over me to take my life; the deep surrounded me; weeds were wrapped around my head” Jonah 2:3,5 NIV
Then in His resurrection, we are triumphantly lifted up in power out of the depths of sin and fear
into abundant life. Through His death on the cross, Jesus conquered death, replaced our fear of
punishment with eternal love, and brought us everlasting peace.
“Since the children have flesh and blood, [Jesus] too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil - and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.” Hebrews 2:14-15 NIV
Jonah, the sailors, and even the city of Nineveh, were subsequently saved by the mercy of God. The crew of Jonah’s ship desperately prayed that they would not be held accountable for killing an innocent man: “Please, Lord, do not let us die for taking this man’s life. Do not hold us accountable for killing an innocent man (Jonah 1:14).
Jonah, of course, was not innocent. But we rejoice that Jesus Christ, both innocent and without sin, stepped forward and condemned our sin in His flesh (Romans 8:3). He held Himself accountable for our punishment and impending spiritual deaths and died in our stead. In our times of anxiety we can speak truth into our hearts with faith and confidence:
“Who then would dare to accuse those whom God has chosen in love to be his? God himself is the judge who has issued his final verdict over them—“Not guilty!” Romans 8:33 TPT
The men of Jonah’s ship searched to find the immediate reasons for their calamity in Jonah’s past, their present circumstances, and in possible future dire consequences, forgetting that each one was under God’s sovereign hand.
Similarly, we try to dissect our lives to find the cause of our fears, thereby amplifying the anxiety in our minds. The gospel always leads us safely back to the present moment of looking up into the face of Christ, where love reigns and fear cannot.
I Look Not Back
A Hymn by Annie Johnson Flint
I look not back; God knows the fruitless efforts,
The wasted hours, the sinning, the regrets.
I leave them all with Him who blots the record,
And graciously forgives, and then forgets.
I look not forward; God sees all the future,
The road that, short or long, will lead me home,
And He will face with me its every trial,
And bear for me the burdens that may come.
I look not round me; then would fears assail me,
So wild the tumult of earth's restless seas,
So dark the world, so filled with woe and evil,
So vain the hope of comfort and of ease.
I look not inward; that would make me wretched;
For I have naught on which to stay my trust.
Nothing I see save failures and shortcomings,
And weak endeavors, crumbling into dust.
But I look up--into the face of Jesus,
For there my heart can rest, my fears are stilled;
And there is joy, and love, and light for darkness,
And perfect peace, and every hope fulfilled.
https://hymnary.org/text/i_look_not_back_god_knows_the_fruitless_
Question 1: As you consider the lyrics of the hymn of “I Look Not Back”, how could you apply its gospel truths to your life?
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Question 2: How does looking at Jesus' finished work on the cross, His removal of God’s wrath from you, bring peace to your heart and mind? Would you write a prayer of thanksgiving to God?
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We are saved from fearing death through Jesus’ victory over death.