© 2023 Don Pinson | [Download]
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Ladies and Gentlemen, we continue to see the crucifixion of Jesus as written in the book, Why God Birthed America:

“By now it was noon, and a strange thing begins to happen. The sky begins to darken with an eerie blackness. For a few brief moments, the air was so still it seemed to choke you as the darkness deepened. Then the earth began to tremble. Lightning bolts were exploding against the ground.

“Then, unexpectedly, the voice of Jesus pierces the darkness. In a loud, wrenching voice Jesus cries out, ‘My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?’ (Matthew 27:45-46)

“The level of emotional pain expressed by this outcry was incomprehensible. All who heard it were arrested by its intensity. While the light produced by the lightning bolts was short-lived, the pain in His face that they exposed was unforgettable. His brow was deeply wrinkled. The blood on his battered face was streaked with the trails of tears. One felt as if He was experiencing loneliness on a level never before known by man.

“As the minutes crawled by, it felt like the rejection of all the ages was pouring into Jesus. Indeed, later it would be revealed that the punishment for every man’s rebellion against God was being absorbed into Jesus’ being in those hours. He was taking, in our place, the wrath of His Father, the Righteous Judge (see Luke 23:39-43). That afternoon on the cross, He became, in every sense of the word, our Substitute.

“At one point He moaned, ‘I thirst!’ (John 19:28) One of the soldiers who had gambled for His robe stuck a sponge on the end of his spear, soaked it with sour wine, and held it up against the lips of Jesus. Refused the last act of kindness He ever requested from those He had created, Jesus weakly turned His face away.

“Now the end was near. His breathing was so labored that those watching expected death to come at any moment. But then, in an unmistakable voice of triumph, Jesus cried out, “It…is…finished!” (John 19:30) The words rang with victory, with accomplishment! It was as if His perspective on this whole ordeal was that a work was being done. The tone of His voice spoke of completing something that had been planned from eternity past. The books were now balanced! He had paid man’s debt to God: That debt of one perfect life which man had incurred in Eden when he used, for selfish purposes, the perfect life God had loaned him—that debt was now paid. The work was now accomplished!

“A few moments later, Jesus uttered His last words from the cross. Focused on the Father, He was heard to say, ‘Father, into Your hands, I commit My spirit.’ (Luke 23:46) Though His body was weakened beyond exhaustion, the words rung distinctly with inexhaustible faith! He was entering death, but He was believing the promise recorded in Psalm 22 that God would not leave Him in death. The vision of God concerning Him would be accomplished!

“With these last words, Jesus bowed His head and released Himself into the realm of death.

“Now it was in the Father’s hands. What faith is here expressed by the Son of God! He would face all that death had to offer with only the naked faith in what God had written through prophets hundreds of years before. When all is said and done, the ultimate question is always: ‘Do I believe what is written in the Scripture?’ Jesus did.”

Think about it; because if you don’t, someone else will do your thinking for you—and for your children! And you won’t like what that brings to you. I’m Don Pinson; this has been Think About It.