DEVOTIONAL SERIES ON LOVE (part-09)

THE LOVE OF JESUS!

BIBLE PASSAGE:
In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the
law mocked Him among themselves. “He saved others,”
they said, “but He can’t save himself! Let this Christ, this
King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we
may see and believe.” Those crucified with Him also
heaped insults on Him.
(Mark 15:31-32)

MEDITATION:
Have you ever noticed that sometimes people say one thing, but
mean something else? There are also times when a person says
one thing, and without realizing it, their words say something
that is true, but it was not their intent.

For example, when the religious leaders mocked Jesus and
challenged Him to save Himself from the cross, they said
    “He could not save Himself”
They knew He had healed others, but since He was staying
on the cross, they said that he couldn’t save Himself. In
their minds, He was powerless to save Himself.

These were the right words, but with the wrong meaning. What
they said was correct, but it was not what they intended it to mean.
It’s true that Jesus could not save Himself if He was to fulfill His
purpose as Savior of the world. His death was a requirement for
man’s redemption.

However, Jesus was absolutely not ‘powerless’ to save Himself,
but He ‘chose’ not to save Himself. If He had saved Himself from
death, then He could not have saved others, including you and me.
In these scriptures, we can see that it was His choice, and not a lack
of His power:
    Jesus went out as usual to the Mount of Olives, and his
    disciples followed him. On reaching the place, he said to
    them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.” He
    withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down
    and prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from
    me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from
    heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. And being
    in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like
    drops of blood falling to the ground.
    (Luke 22:39-44)

In these words from the bible, we can see the emotional anguish
Jesus was experiencing the night before He was to be crucified.
An all-knowing Jesus, knew the magnitude of physical suffering
He would have to endure the next day. He also felt the emotional
pain of the rejection of those He tried to lead to salvation.

But, in the midst of His entire emotional trauma, He said these
words,
   “yet not My will, but Yours be done.”
Jesus did not ‘want’ to suffer, and asked His (and our) heavenly
Father if there was another way for lost souls to be saved.
    “Father, if You are willing, take this cup from Me”

Did God hear His Son’s prayer? Yes He did, and He responded by
sending an angel to give Him the strength He needed at the time.
    An angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him.
We see the love of Jesus for mankind when He chose to become the
sacrifice for our sins, and we can see the love of the Father and His
desire to comfort His Son in His time of need.

The scriptures clearly show us the sincerity of the love of Jesus for
mankind, and for His Father. However, we can also see the kind of
love the Father has for mankind in these words:
    For God so loved the world that He gave His one and
    only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish
    but have eternal life.
    (John 3:16)

Providing salvation for every individual (including you and me) was
God’s plan from the time Adam and Eve brought sin into the world,
until now (and continuing on).
    For God did not send His Son into the world to
    condemn the world, but to save the world through
    Him.
    (John 3:17)

God isn’t saying to the world, that when we sin He will send us to
an eternal punishment. He is saying that we are already destined
for hell, but if we will believe in His Son, then He will rescue us
from our impending doom.
    Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but
    whoever does not believe stands condemned already
    because they have not believed in the name of God’s
    one and only Son.
    (John 3:18)

What does it mean to ‘believe in Him’? Does it mean we have an
intellectual belief that Jesus is God’s Son, and He was a sacrifice
for our sins? Yes it does, but it means much more than that. It
also means we are so fully convinced of His existence that we are
willing to make a ‘choice’ to surrender our lives to His will for us.

That may sound like a daunting task, and it is – because as God’s
adversary, Satan is continually at work in his efforts to prevent
us from becoming an adopted child of God. He uses everything
at his disposal to lure us away from making the most important
decision we will ever make.

Satan wants us to believe that the ‘world’ has much more to offer
us than we could ever imagine. His goal is to convince us that the
world is full of pleasure and does not impose restrictions on our
behavior like God does. He wants us to think of God as a kind of
‘cosmic killjoy’ who wants us to miss out on the things that are
pleasurable.

However, nothing could be farther from the truth. God is the Creator
of the pleasures of life, and He has guidelines for us to follow in order
to fully enjoy them. Satan, on the other hand, wants us to exceed the
boundaries established by God, and pervert everything good He has
given us.

Unfortunately, many will continue on their destination of eternal
punishment because they have chosen to listen to the lies of Satan,
rather than the truth of God’s Word. As a result, they have become
‘slaves’ to the pleasures of this world who are unwilling to surrender
their lives to the Lord and His boundaries for living a righteous life.

It was the love of Jesus that held Him to the cross (and not the
nails). Through His suffering, death, and resurrection, He taught
us to ‘take up the cross’ and follow Him; and to not come down
from the cross we have ‘taken up’. We should never forget that
Jesus loved us so much that He ‘chose’ to stay on the cross for
us.

How much more could He have done to prove His love for us,
and His obedience to God? How much more could God have
done to prove His love for us? Many people say the right words
about Jesus, but fail to grasp the real meaning of their words.
Do you do that? Do you fully understand that Jesus ‘had’ to
stay on the cross in order for us to become God’s adopted children?

ACTION:
If you have never received Jesus as your Savior, pray to do so
now. If you have received Him as your Savior, thank Him often
for staying on the cross until His work on our behalf was finished!
And, in addition, ask Him to show you the spiritual gift you were
given when He saved you, and look for how you can use His gift as
a way of serving Him out of your heart of love and gratitude.

If you have received salvation from God, but have gravitated back
to some sinful habits, don’t you think it’s time for you to return to
Him now, and continue to ‘take up your cross’ for Him, in the same
way He ‘took up His cross’ for you?

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus,
to become the One and only sacrifice for my sins. Thank
You, Jesus for willingly absorbing the punishment I deserve.
No one else could ever express the kind of love You have
shown for me. Help me to change my life so that I will
become more like You in all I do and say. God, remind
me that after You saved me, You began a sanctification
process that will purge me of unrighteousness and infuse
me with more righteousness, so I can become more like
the one I am following, namely Jesus.”

BLOG: utvolwoody.com