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A Man with a Plan
by Ramona Cook The passion of Jesus was to Him excruciating in its experience, and it is excruciating to us to think upon. It becomes an occasion for praise to Him at the deepest level of our hearts however, when we realize that He planned it; as horrible and shameful as it was for Him to endure at the time, it was His plan. He knew that we could not be reinstated to the way He originally created us to be if He did not execute the Plan He, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, had planned long before any human being existed. He chose to become a man, a person of human flesh, just like us, so that He could suffer the just penalty that should have been ours. That stirs praise in us at the deepest level of our souls. Jesus referred to Himself as "Son of Man" more frequently than by other names. He wanted us to identify with Him, and He with us. As they chained Him and led Him through the streets, as they spat upon Him and kicked Him and bruised His body, and tore open His flesh with whips, He could have stopped it, but His love for us, who had fallen from our perfect created position, kept Him going through with the Plan. His accusers were incensed by the things He did and said; so they were enjoying the opportunity to cruelly punish Him; and the devil was enjoying the action as well, but little did any of them understand that they were players in the Plan of their own defeat. If the Jews had really known Who Jesus was, many of them would have not crucified Him; but some would have done so because some of them knew Who He was, but He was disrupting their "religious practice." The Roman authorities did not endorse even the rumor that Jesus was a King, in protection of their political positions. The devil did not know Jesus would rise again. It was planned. The whole thing was staged. But the staging of it did not make it less painful nor less horrible for Jesus to endure. Thank You Jesus. The intensely beautiful part of the occurrence is that Jesus chose to do it for you and for me, and for all human beings throughout all time, and for the rest of His Creation that fell under the curse of man's disobedience. This horrible and cruel rage perpetrated upon Jesus was an act of hatred; but, His endurance of it is the highest form of Love ever shown. When we remember that He is God, Who is without limitations, but compelled by His Love for us He chose to suffer in our place so that He could offer to us a free and completed salvation, who is it then that cannot or will not respond to such expressed Love, and to such a God as He is? He provided Himself as the sacrificial lamb, as He had said to Abraham many years before. He continues to love us and to invite us to accept His precious gift of salvation, and eternal life with Him because His love remains the same, and is totally Who He is. He knows that without us possessing Him in our lives, and His possessing of us, by His Holy Spirit, we have no hope of Heaven or of restoration. He thought all of it was important enough that He, by design, went through horrendous torture and death by hanging on a cross, so that we could be "saved" from the wrath to come. He does not want wrath for us, and if we agree with Him and receive His gift of life, we will never experience the wrath consigned to the devil and his associates. God, as The Man Jesus, willingly gave His human life under terrific torture so that we may willingly accept the sacrifice He made in our behalf. "For God SO loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should NOT perish BUT have everlasting life." John 3:16 "Whosoever shall call upon the Name of the Lord, shall be saved." Acts 2:11 & Romans 10:13 "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved." Acts: 16:31 Why don't you call out to Him right now? Tell Him you need Him and want Him to be your Savior. Invite Him into your heart and life. "...he who comes to Me, I will in no wise cast out." John 6:37b Ramona: 09/15/2013 Ramona, Master in Ministry Arts, BA in Biblical Studies, I am an Ordained Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. By copies retained and legal rights, I claim ownership of this article, but requiring only that my name is published as the author. R Cook, and that the message content is not changed. Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |