"So That They...Might No Longer Live For Themselves"

"They took Jesus, therefore, and He went out, bearing His own cross, to the place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha."  (John 19:17)

Today the sign says, "Skull Hill."

From the third hour to the ninth hour Jesus hanged upon a Roman Cross.  Whatever pain and suffering a human being may experience, it will never come close to the suffering of Jesus on that cross.  The reason is quite simple.  He was not only suffering for my sin and your sin.  In His Body and Blood, Jesus bore the sin of humanity, past, present, and future.  He experienced, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"  Though some theologians argue with this, the creed says, "He descended into Hell."  I can show that from Scripture, but this is not the time.  Regardless, in some mysterious way, Jesus was separated from Father on that cross.  One could ask, "Is there a more explicit definition of Hell?!?"  When did this "forsaken" occur?  Was it the whole six hours or just, "about the sixth hour, and darkness fell over the whole land until the ninth hour?"  Was it when the earthquake hit?  We don't know.  We just bow in reverence.

Hebrews 2 says, "Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives."  Now we can say what Paul said to the Corinthian Church, "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf."

Father, in Jesus' Name, my desire is that I "live...for Him who died and rose again on [my] behalf."  Amen.
********************************
www.antipasprayerforce.blogspot.com






"Looking Unto Jesus"
Hebrews 12:2



**************
Worried about job security? Check out the 5 safest jobs in a recession. (http://jobs.aol.com/gallery/growing-job-industries?ncid=emlcntuscare00000003)