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Preparing for Good Friday: The Seven Last Words of Christ on the Cross |
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One of the most powerful practices you can participate in to prepare your heart for Good Friday is reflecting on the Seven Last Words of Christ on the cross.
I’ve arranged them below for you chronologically, as Jesus spoke them.
Allow each word, each sentence, spoken by our Savior to pierce your heart with awareness of your sin and of God’s amazing forgiving grace.
The First Words
“Then said Jesus, ‘Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.’ And they parted his raiment, and cast lots” (Luke 23:34).
The Second Words
“And Jesus said unto him, ‘I say unto thee, Today thou shalt be with me in paradise’” (Luke 23:43).
The Third Words
“When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, ‘Woman, behold thy son!’” (John 19:26).
The Fourth Words
“And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?’ which is, being interpreted, ‘My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?’” (Mark 15:34).
The Fifth Words
‘After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, ‘I thirst’” (John 19:28).
The Sixth Words
“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, ‘It is finished’”: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost” (John 19:30).
The Seventh Words
“And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, ‘Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit’” (Luke 23:46).
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The Bible reminds us that our justification is grounded in the love of God. The answer to the question "For whom did Christ die?" hints at the answer to the question "Why did Christ die?" but it does not fully explain it. Why did Christ die for us? Yes, He died because we needed to be saved. But even more glorious is that He died to demonstrate God's love in saving us. Our salvation is not a disinterested, detached act of God. On the contrary, it is an act of compassionate, saving love. Christ died to show the all-surpassing, incomparable height, depth, width, and length of God's love for us.
At the heart of our salvation is the love of God. —Anthony Carter
Tina Turner once asked the question, "What's love got to do with it?" Again, Paul would answer by saying, "Everything!" At the heart of our salvation is the love of God. We are not redeemed without it. This redeeming love is threefold. It is the love the Son shows for the Father in submitting to the will of God in the redemption of His people. It is the love the Father shows for the Son in redeeming a people who will ultimately be conformed to the image of the Son. It is the love the Father and the Son show for God's people in redeeming us at all cost (John 3:16; Gal. 2:20). It's a love triangle. But unlike the love triangles we know, this one works, bringing joy and delight to all. The songwriter captured it well:
The love of God is greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell.
It goes beyond the highest star, and reaches to the lowest hell.
The guilty pair, bowed down with care, God gave His son to win.
His erring child He reconciled, and pardoned from his sin.
The Puritans would say, "God's love is an ocean without floor and without shore." This is the height, depth, width, and length of God's love: Christ died for us.
This post is an excerpt from Anthony Carter's new book, Blood Work.
HT: Ligonier Ministries Blog
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Goal #1: Worshiping
Because corporate, unified worship is commanded by Scripture and fulfills our core values, we want the entire Body at Hampton Park Baptist Church to consistently worship together in 10:30 AM Sunday Morning worship service in 2013.
Update:
- Nearly everyone serving in these ministries have listened to the goal sermons.
- We have been and will continue to gather feedback.
- We’ve had really helpful meetings with the leadership of both the Inner-City Ministry and of the Spanish Ministry.
- Evelyn Lugo and Gustavo Nieves are helping us to create a strategic plan for connecting with the Hispanic Community.
- What is emerging is the need for a strategic approach to evangelizing not only the Hispanic community but all communities around us.
- The adjustment will not be only on their part – but our part too. Our attitudes and our awareness of their cultures must grow!
Action Steps:
- Pray for the pastors and deacons as we work together with our cross- cultural leadership to formulate a strategic plan of action that will enable us to better fulfill the Great Commission.
- Pray that God will help us to see that Missions exists because worship doesn’t.
- Pray that God will help us understand that Goal One necessistates commitment to worship and witnessing.
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Living by faith in the risen Christ |
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The resurrection sharply defines what it must mean to have faith in Christ. Because Christ has been raised from the dead, we are not putting our faith in merely a historical event but in a living, death conquering, and reigning Savior. Our faith is based on something in the past, but it is placed in One who is very much alive today.
Notice how the apostle Paul speaks of faith in terms of a living Christ: ‘I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me’ (Galatians 2:20). Paul is living by faith in the living Christ. And he prays that this would be our normative Christian experience: ‘that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith’ (Ephesians 3:16–17).
— John Ensor
The Great Work of the Gospel
HT: Of First Importance |
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