THE POWER OF HIS RESURRECTION
We have looked at the first part of PHI 3:10 which says "that I may come to know Him, (and then the verb to know is still in view, so we would say and come to know) the power of (or behind) His RESURRECTION."
The dynamics of occupation with Christ are given in the next phrase, "and the power of His RESURRECTION."
There were two categories of divine power used in the RESURRECTION of Christ.
1. The omnipotence of the Father which restored our Lord's human spirit in heaven to His body in the grave and thereby became an agent in the RESURRECTION, Act 2:24; ROM 6:4; EPH 1:20; COL 2:12; 1TH 1:10; 1PE 1:21. LUK 23:46.
2. The omnipotence of the Holy Spirit which restored our Lord's human soul in Hades to His body in the grave and thereby became an agent in the RESURRECTION, ROM 1:4; ROM 8:11 and 1PE 3:18-19 which says "For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit or by means of the Holy Spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits now in prison,"
The Lord JESUS Christ (TLJC) had a part in the RESURRECTION, as it was a part of the Father's plan for the dispensation of the Hypostatic Union. JESUS Christ said He could raise Himself from the dead in JOH 10:17-18 "No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father." (Also see JOH 2:15-22).
This same divine power that raised JESUS Christ from the dead is available to every Church Age believer to execute the Pre-designed Plan Of God (PPOG).
There are three categories of divine power.
1. The omnipotence of God the Father, related to our portfolio of invisible assets, through which, the believer fulfills the PPOG.
2. The omnipotence of God the Son, related to the preservation and perpetuation of human history. This means that JESUS Christ controls history COL 1:16-17, HEB 1:3 "And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power."
Through His power TLJC controls the universe, PSA 103:19, the physical world, MAT 5:45, the affairs of nations, PSA 66:7, man's birth and destiny, GAL 1:15, man's successes and failures, LUK 1:52, and provides protection for His people, PSA 4:8.
3. The omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit is related to residence, function, and momentum inside the PPOG.
The utilization of divine omnipotence during the Church Age is the basis for becoming an invisible hero, and for coming to have occupation with the person of Christ. God's perfect plan runs on God's perfect power for imperfect persons because God is perfect DEU 32:4 "The Rock! His work is perfect, for all His ways are just; A God of faithfulness and without injustice, Righteous and upright is He."
The power that raised JESUS Christ from the dead is the same power available to every believer in the Church Age to execute the plan of God. This is the same power that will resurrect every Church Age believer.
EPH 1:19-20, "And what is the surpassing greatness of His power to us who have believed for the working of His superior power, which He made operational by means of Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His own right hand in heavenly places."
That is the power of our Lord's RESURRECTION. This power creates its own solutions in the Christian life, the ten problem solving devices, something infinitely greater than human morality.
When PHI 3:10 says, "that I may come to know Him, and the power of [behind] His RESURRECTION," it means that we first begin to know this mighty power of His RESURRECTION and ascension when we see our scriptural position in our risen Lord. Since you cannot be resurrected unless you have something to be resurrected from, the foundation of all RESURRECTION life is death, ROM 6:5, EPH 2:5, PHI 2:6.
We are new creations in Christ JESUS by the power of His RESURRECTION. However, this is something that we have to believe and reckon. Our reckoning is to be based upon our position; we count ourselves alive unto God in Christ. Through our faith in this fact, the Holy Spirit makes this truth real in our condition resulting in our spiritual growth. We abide in Him above, and He manifests Himself in us below.
We are hopelessly taken up with the struggle for freedom, unless we are aware we have been cut off from the slavery of sin and self through our having died, with Him, on the cross. Until we know we are alive from the dead, we cannot yield to Him. We know the power of His RESURRECTION in our position. We are realizing that power in our spiritual growth; we will forever know His power in our RESURRECTION bodies.
Where is this power? 2CO 4:7 "But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing greatness of the power may be of God and not from ourselves;"
How is this power perfected in time? 2CO 12:9 "And He has said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me."
What does this power have to do with my life? 2CO 13:4 "For indeed He was crucified because of weakness, yet He lives because of the power of God. For we also are weak in Him, yet we shall live with Him because of the power of God directed toward you."
What is the power of our Lord's RESURRECTION? The direct power available to us is found in the filling of the Spirit and the indirect power available to us is in the metabolized doctrine that is circulating in our soul.
God has taken you and me, totally depraved individuals, and given us eternal life, 1JO 5:11-12; perfect righteousness, 2CO 5:21; made us His children, 2TI 2:1, sanctified us, 1CO 1:2; made us priests, HEB 10:10-14, and Royalty (Kingship), 2PE 1:11.
Once we know that we are alive from the dead, we can present the members of our physical body unto God. Our entire body can be presented unto God. Present yourselves to God, and if you're smart, you mind your own business and let God take care of His family! However, we do not present ourselves to God to become free, but to give meaning, purpose, and definition to our life ROM 6:4.
God gives us the ability to understand and utilize the power behind our Lord's RESURRECTION because He demands virtue and integrity on the part of the believer. This results in the ability to handle the details of life and ultimately, to handle spiritual warfare. This is the subject of Eph 6:10. We all need virtue and integrity if we are to be victorious in spiritual warfare. In the spiritual realm, this refers to the spiritual strength to be faithful to the principles of Bible doctrine and living in the PPOG.
PHI 3:10 which says "knowing the power behind His RESURRECTION, goes perfectly with EPH 6:10 which says "Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might."
Paul brings out the fact that the details of life are the training ground for future spiritual warfare. The word "finally" in EPH 6:10 should be translated "From now on." This phrase refers to some very important principles beginning in EPH 5:21 where Paul teaches the principles behind the Royal Family honor code. EPH 5:21, says "and be subject to one another in the fear or the respect of Christ." In EPH 5:22, the principles behind marriage, "Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord." The power of God will give the woman the ability to fulfill this command. EPH 5:25, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her;" The power of God will give the man the ability to fulfill this command. EPH 6:1, "Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right." The power of God will give them the ability to fulfill this command. EPH 6:4 "And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord." EPH 6:5 "Slaves, [Christian labor] be obedient to those who are your masters [management] according to the flesh, with respect and maximum effort [not trembling but maximum effort], in the integrity of your heart, as to Christ;" EPH 6:9 "And, masters, do the same things to them, and give up threatening, knowing that both their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him."
Then in EPH 6:10 the apostle Paul writes, "Finally (from now on), be strong in the Lord, and in the strength or in the power of His might."
This doesn't tell you "how" to be strong in the Lord. It is actually a conclusion of the previous paragraphs concerning the Christian way of life. This is "picking up the pieces" and going forward in the spiritual life. There are many convicting principles taught in these verses concerning the Royal family honor code. EPH 6:10 is where all of us can pull ourselves up from the dust we were lying in because of conviction.
The implication of Eph 5:21-6:10 is very important, it is that we are too unstable and unprepared to handle spiritual warfare if we can't handle the details of life. It is in the details of life, where Satan and the kingdom of darkness will try to hinder us from entering into spiritual warfare. If Satan can cause problems in our relationships in life, then he can break down and destroy the unity God demands.
To combat this we operate in virtue-love, which is personal love for God the Father, spiritual self-esteem resulting in love for self, impersonal unconditional love for all mankind, and occupation with the person of Christ. We need divine power because Satan, as the ruler of this world, has maximum power that he utilizes for his policy of evil. This evil power is deceptive because it is often disguised with the facade of good works or religion and is often concealed by sincerity, which is really a manifestation of evil.
The enemy we face desires to wear us out! Satan is an organizational genius with a great organization of demons, EPH 6:10-12. Satan has one goal regarding the life of every believer, to lead all believers astray. Any area that you do not practice sound doctrine in is an area open to his deception, dishonesty and lies.
However, Satan's power is not greater than God's and this reminds us of God's grace. God has made available to us His power. The omnipotence of the Father in providing our escrow blessings, the omnipotence of God the Son who preserves the universe and history daily, and the omnipotence of God the Holy Spirit who provides the power to execute the PPOG.
One of the functions of the devil as the ruler of this world is to express his antagonism, slander, and enmity, toward God and toward God's people. This is why we should not get our eyes on people because that is not where the true problems, lies EPH 6:12.
Satan has a power system that he uses to control others. This is why we need to come to and understanding of the power behind our Lord's RESURRECTION. Satan has a strategy to control nations based on conspiracy and deceit. He is anti-military and pro welfare state, pro-communist and against free enterprise. He is against marriage and the family. Satan's power counterfeits of the plan of God in religion include a counterfeit:
1. Gospel, 2CO 4:3-4.
2. Ministers, 2CO 11:13-15.
3. Doctrine, 1TI 4:1.
4. Communion table, 1CO 10:19-21.
5. Spirituality, GAL 3:2-3.
6. Righteousness, MAT 19:16-28.
7. He has a counterfeit self-righteousness, MAT 23:13-36.
8. Counterfeit power and dynamics (miracles, healing, tongues), 2TH 2:8-10.
9. System of gods, 2TH 2:3-4.
When you are being deceived by the power of Satan you start to lose your spiritual senses and then your common sense. The devil holds believers captive by legalism, self-righteousness, arrogance, emotionalism, guilt, fear, condemnation, and manipulation. Satan's greatest strategy is the doctrinal attack on the cross and principle of salvation by faith alone, 2CO 4:4. Satan must obscure the fact that salvation is by faith alone. When we recognize the power of Satan, we see the reason we need the power of God and we appreciate that "greater is the power that is us than that which is in the world."
Saturday, April 3, 2010
THE LORD'S SAYING ON THE CROSS
In the dispensation of the Hypostatic union, we have been noting that the most dramatic exhibition of the character and nature of God is revealed by the divine love and divine omnipotence in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are going to focus on the end of the dispensation of the Hypostatic-union by noting the sayings or phrases of our Lord when He was on the Cross.
The first phrase:
And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. (LUK 23:33-34)
The Lord prayed for their forgiveness before He was judged for their sins. These are the same people that had slapped Him, beaten Him, spit upon Him, lied about Him, ridiculed Him and scourged Him! These were the very ones who cried out, "crucify Him, crucify Him." Yet the first thing Jesus said on the Cross was a prayer for His enemies. He opened His public ministry with a prayer (LUK 3:21), and He closed His public ministry with prayer.
Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, " You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased." (LUK 3:21-22)
The Father would remain well-pleased with His Son, and yet at the Cross He would have to forsake Him for our sake. At this point our Lord could no longer minister to the poor, needy, the sick, lame and blind, for He was now confined to a Cross. Our Lord could not come down from the Cross, and at the same time provide for our so great a salvation. This should be a great encouragement to you as a believer, as you meditate on these words, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." When our Lord cried, "Father, forgive them," He was praying for the lost, for those who were bound for hell. The first of the seven great cries on the Cross had no direct reference to Himself. It was, "Father, forgive them."
Though there is an implication to the cruelties He experienced, please notice that He does not say, "I forgive them." That is taken for granted. He didn't focus in on the fact that they were doing any wrong to Him, but rather to His Father. They were insulting the Father by not honoring the Son.
In order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. (JOH 5:23)
The cry, "Father, forgive them," is an unselfish cry as though He was not even suffering Himself. If there had ever been a time in the life of the Lord Jesus Chris when He might have confined His prayer to Himself, it would seem to be now, while on the Cross. However, the Lord began His prayer on the Cross by pleading for others. We see His soul of compassion as He was being crucified! This unselfishness is something we are told to have as well:
Do not merely be regarding your own personal interests, but also for the personal interests of others. Keep on thinking this [doctrine] within yourselves which was also resident in Christ Jesus," (PHI 2:4-5)
This prayer wasn't just for others, but it was for His cruelest enemies. It was a prayer for those who were murdering Him. It was a prayer which included the Scribes and Pharisees, Pilate and Herod, the Jews and Gentiles. If we knew nothing more of Him but this one prayer, we should honor and respect Him for it. The first major point which we see on the Cross in the character of His intercession is graciousness. Those for whom our Lord prayed did not deserve His prayer. They had done nothing which was worthy of being prayed for. They were undeserving individuals who had conspired to put Him to death. They had lied about Him, accused Him falsely, and were crucifying Him. They were utterly undeserving of a single good word from the Savior. They didn't ask Him to pray for them, it was the last thought in their minds to say, "Intercede for us!" He prays for those who reject His word, and therefore think how much more for those who love Him and His word.
Notice another principle in His prayer. In LUK 23:34, when He said "Father, forgive them; [notice what He said next] for they do not know what they are doing." He actually found something good to say about His enemies. "They do not know what they are doing" were His words. It's almost as if He recognized that they were all simply pawns of the devil. He has the same attitude today. He knows our precise condition at this moment, and the exact state of our heart with regard to the suffering, and the temptation that we may be facing. Even more than that, He foresees the trials, and the temptations which are awaiting us. In His intercession He prays for us. Our Lord's prayer also brings out another very important factor - the blindness of the human heart (mind): "They know not what they do." Those who crucified Him were ignorant of doctrine. They did not recognize the Savior of the world. They did not realize that here was the One who was being judged for their sins, taking their place, and providing their salvation. Yet our Lord Jesus Christ had made it clear many times. There was no excuse for their ignorance. The light of the glorious Gospel had shined upon them. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in His grace, was not willing that any should perish, and He prayed for them. However, the human heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2CO 4:3-4)
Man's greatest need is the need for forgiveness and cleansing of sin. The penalty of sin is death is spiritual death. He took our place, He was judged for our sins, and today His prayer on the Cross is still being answered, as many come to Jesus Christ and receive Him as Lord and Savior!
The second phrase.
And one of the criminals who were hanged {there} was hurling abuse at Him, saying, "Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!" (LUK 23:39)
Both of the thieves turned against the Lord Jesus. Both blasphemed against Him, but, one of the thieves repented, he completely changed his attitude, to use the word in its proper connotation. He had a complete reversal of mental attitude not in regard to sin, but in regard to the Person of Jesus Christ:
And one of the criminals who were hanged {there} was hurling abuse at Him, saying, "Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!" But the other answered, and rebuking him said, "Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!" And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise." (LUK 23:39-43)
He recognized that Jesus Christ was a perfect Man. He also recognized His deity, for he used the title for deity "kurios." There was nothing he could do for his salvation! He was nailed upon a cross. He could not join anyone's church or go through the rite of baptism! He could not weep in front of an altar, nor could he raise his hand or walk down an aisle! But he turned to the Lord Jesus Christ for help, and he went to exactly the right Person! He also recognized that Jesus had a kingdom. The Lord Jesus responded to this statement of faith by promising him a place in Paradise or Abraham's Bosom, the abode of all Old Testament saints. These two thieves on the cross picture the world today. One believed in Jesus Christ, and was eternally saved. The other rejected Him, and was eternally lost. "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (JOH 3:36). The world is divided by its attitude toward Jesus Christ. Your attitude toward Him determines your eternal future!
The third phrase.
Therefore the soldiers did these things. But there were standing by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the {wife} of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" (JOH 19:25-26
Imagine the anguish in a mother's heart, watching her Son slowly and painfully die. She must have been torn with terrible grief. The Lord Jesus Christ never called her "mother." He always addressed her as "woman." He sought to emphasize that she was the mother of His humanity, but she was not the mother of God! Anticipating some of the great dangers that would come in the future relative to her place in the Plan of God, He was always careful to avoid the title of "mother." Then He said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her into his own {household.} (JOH 19:27)
Here are the words of responsibility. (EXO 20:12). In His dying moment, when He was in the midst of terrible agony and pain, He took time to think of the one who was the mother of His humanity and to make provision for her. We see here a beautiful picture, even in the end, of how Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law in every detail. Every negative, as well as positive, aspect of the Law was met by the Lord Jesus Christ; "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished.” MAT 5:17-18)
Today we are not under the Law. Christianity begins where the Law stopped.
That does not mean we are to be lawless. Jesus, in fulfilling the Law, made provision for us to move on into the supergrace life. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance [self- control]: against such there is no law (GAL 5:22-23). The very character of Christ in His humanity can be produced in us by the Holy Spirit when He controls the life. We are no longer under the Law, but under grace. Grace is God's provision of the Holy Spirit, who indwells every believer. The Holy Spirit controls when the believer is filled with the Spirit through the use of 1JO 1:9.
The fourth phrase
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (MAR 15:34)
These words, found in Matthew and Mark, as well as in Psalm 22:1, were literally screamed. In this cry, Jesus Christ made it clear that the God the Father with whom He had eternal and unbroken fellowship had to break that fellowship at this moment. Thus we know immediately that this is the time when Jesus Christ "bore our sins in his own body on the tree" (1PE 2:24), this was the unspeakable agony of the Cross, the spiritual death prophesied in PSA 22:1. The fourth cry indicated that He was being judged for us. This is why the Father had to turn His back upon Him. Our sin separated Him from the His Father, even as we were separated from them. The wrath of God deals deadly blows. One was meant for your sins. Jesus Christ stepped in front of you and took the blow. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him (ROM 5:8-9). In the eternal state, there will be one resurrection body that has scars on it, it will be His.
Many misinterpret out Lord's sufferings as an appeasement to the wrath of the Father but this is totally wrong. Jesus Christ did not appease the wrath of an angry God, He satisfied the perfect justice of a holy and loving God. For God so loved the world (JOH 3:16). Everything in God's nature, every fiber of His justice and righteousness, rails against sin. God can have nothing to do with sin. All that God is is against sin, and Christ was made a sin offering. Why did Jesus have to die? Death is the wages of sin, and He had no sin. He had to die because Jesus is the only Savior, and His death is His only saving act. His death was necessary, and it was made so by the character of God. This was not an angry or vengeful God. In fact, just the opposite, for God the Father sent His beloved Son as the lamb without blemish to be poured out for us sinners. The resulting propitiation is the basis for God being merciful and gracious toward us.
The fifth phrase.
The fifth cry on the Cross can be identified by the word suffering, After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, *said, "I am thirsty" (JOH 19:28). The thirst of Jesus indicates His humanity, for deity does not thirst. Again it focuses our attention on the importance of the humanity of Christ, for if He were deity alone He could not suffer the penalty of sin. This saying of the Savior, "I thirst," followed the three hours of darkness, during which the light of God's countenance had been withdrawn from the Lord. This cry, then, tells of the intensity of what He had suffered, the awful severity of the conflict through which He had just passed. Even though His sufferings were like no other, great as was His thirst was, it was not desire for the relief of His body that now opened His lips. Far different, far higher, was the motive which prompted Him. The very fact that He did now "thirst" evidences His perfect submission. He that had caused water to flow from the smitten rock for the refreshment of Israel in the wilderness, had the same infinite resources at His disposal now that He was on the Cross. In the volume of that Book which expressed the will of God, it was written that He should thirst! Oh, that we might have the same attitude toward the Scripture! That we might have the joy and the realization and the reverence, the absorption and the interest that the Lord Jesus Christ had in the Scripture!
He simply says, "I thirst," the vinegar is extended and the prophecy is fulfilled. He had hung on that cross for six hours, and had passed through suffering unparalleled: nevertheless His mind was perfectly clear and His memory entirely unimpaired. He had before Him, with perfect distinctness, the whole truth of God. He knew the entire scope of the Messianic prophecies. He overlooked nothing.
The sixth phrase.
The sixth saying on the Cross can be described by the word victory.
When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit. (JOH 19:30).
When the Lord Jesus Christ said "it is finished" He evidenced the fact that salvation was complete. Nothing could be taken away from it and above all, nothing could be added to it. It was purely a matter of GRACE. No one has ever deserved this salvation, and there never will be any member of the human race who deserves something as wonderful and as marvelous and as precious as the blood of Jesus Christ, which, as a representative analogy of His spiritual death, cleanses from all sin. Consequently, when He said, "It is finished", He made it very clear that to add anything to the finished work of salvation is sheer blasphemy! That is why the Scripture reiterates over and over, "He that believes in the Son has eternal life." "It is finished" is a single word in the original Greek “tetelestai!” It was the shortest, and yet the fullest of His seven sayings on the Cross. Eternity will be needed to fully understand all that it contains. All things had been done which the law of God required; all things established which prophecy predicted; all things brought to pass which the types foreshadowed; all things accomplished which the Father had given Him to do; all things performed which were needed for our redemption. Nothing was left undone.
The seventh phrase.
The seventh saying on the Cross can be described by the word contentment.
LUK 23:46 And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit." And having said this, He breathed His last.
(LUK 23:46)
When the Lord Jesus Christ died on the Cross, it was voluntary.
"For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father." (JOH 10:17-18)
Upon His physical death, His human spirit went into the presence of the Father, His soul went into Hades to a compartment known as paradise and His body went into the grave to wait for that glorious moment some three days later when the body would be rejoined by the soul and the spirit, and Jesus Christ would rise from the dead - literally and bodily. The seventh cry was the beginning of the end; and yet the end was a new beginning, for Jesus Christ would arise from the grave in resurrection body, walk among men for a short time, then ascend into the presence of the Father to sit at His right hand as our great High Priest and make intercession for us forever. The Father has been propitiated by the spiritual death of His Son. Jesus, through spiritual death, fulfilled the analogy to the blood sacrifice of the Old Testament; He was then ready to dismiss His Spirit. All references to the blood of Christ refer to His spiritual rather than to His physical death.
So these are the seven sayings of Christ on the cross.
The first dealt with the word forgiveness for His enemies.
The second dealt with salvation (LUK 23:39-42).
The third dealt with the word compassion (JOH 19:26-27).
The fourth dealt with anguish (MAT 27:46).
The fifth can be identified by the word suffering, JOH 19:28 "I am thirsty."
The sixth can be described by the word victory, JOH 19:30 "It is finished!"
The seventh and final saying can be described by the word contentment, LUK 23:46 "Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit."
In the dispensation of the Hypostatic union, we have been noting that the most dramatic exhibition of the character and nature of God is revealed by the divine love and divine omnipotence in the person of our Lord Jesus Christ. We are going to focus on the end of the dispensation of the Hypostatic-union by noting the sayings or phrases of our Lord when He was on the Cross.
The first phrase:
And when they came to the place called The Skull, there they crucified Him and the criminals, one on the right and the other on the left. But Jesus was saying, "Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing." And they cast lots, dividing up His garments among themselves. (LUK 23:33-34)
The Lord prayed for their forgiveness before He was judged for their sins. These are the same people that had slapped Him, beaten Him, spit upon Him, lied about Him, ridiculed Him and scourged Him! These were the very ones who cried out, "crucify Him, crucify Him." Yet the first thing Jesus said on the Cross was a prayer for His enemies. He opened His public ministry with a prayer (LUK 3:21), and He closed His public ministry with prayer.
Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, " You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased." (LUK 3:21-22)
The Father would remain well-pleased with His Son, and yet at the Cross He would have to forsake Him for our sake. At this point our Lord could no longer minister to the poor, needy, the sick, lame and blind, for He was now confined to a Cross. Our Lord could not come down from the Cross, and at the same time provide for our so great a salvation. This should be a great encouragement to you as a believer, as you meditate on these words, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." When our Lord cried, "Father, forgive them," He was praying for the lost, for those who were bound for hell. The first of the seven great cries on the Cross had no direct reference to Himself. It was, "Father, forgive them."
Though there is an implication to the cruelties He experienced, please notice that He does not say, "I forgive them." That is taken for granted. He didn't focus in on the fact that they were doing any wrong to Him, but rather to His Father. They were insulting the Father by not honoring the Son.
In order that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. (JOH 5:23)
The cry, "Father, forgive them," is an unselfish cry as though He was not even suffering Himself. If there had ever been a time in the life of the Lord Jesus Chris when He might have confined His prayer to Himself, it would seem to be now, while on the Cross. However, the Lord began His prayer on the Cross by pleading for others. We see His soul of compassion as He was being crucified! This unselfishness is something we are told to have as well:
Do not merely be regarding your own personal interests, but also for the personal interests of others. Keep on thinking this [doctrine] within yourselves which was also resident in Christ Jesus," (PHI 2:4-5)
This prayer wasn't just for others, but it was for His cruelest enemies. It was a prayer for those who were murdering Him. It was a prayer which included the Scribes and Pharisees, Pilate and Herod, the Jews and Gentiles. If we knew nothing more of Him but this one prayer, we should honor and respect Him for it. The first major point which we see on the Cross in the character of His intercession is graciousness. Those for whom our Lord prayed did not deserve His prayer. They had done nothing which was worthy of being prayed for. They were undeserving individuals who had conspired to put Him to death. They had lied about Him, accused Him falsely, and were crucifying Him. They were utterly undeserving of a single good word from the Savior. They didn't ask Him to pray for them, it was the last thought in their minds to say, "Intercede for us!" He prays for those who reject His word, and therefore think how much more for those who love Him and His word.
Notice another principle in His prayer. In LUK 23:34, when He said "Father, forgive them; [notice what He said next] for they do not know what they are doing." He actually found something good to say about His enemies. "They do not know what they are doing" were His words. It's almost as if He recognized that they were all simply pawns of the devil. He has the same attitude today. He knows our precise condition at this moment, and the exact state of our heart with regard to the suffering, and the temptation that we may be facing. Even more than that, He foresees the trials, and the temptations which are awaiting us. In His intercession He prays for us. Our Lord's prayer also brings out another very important factor - the blindness of the human heart (mind): "They know not what they do." Those who crucified Him were ignorant of doctrine. They did not recognize the Savior of the world. They did not realize that here was the One who was being judged for their sins, taking their place, and providing their salvation. Yet our Lord Jesus Christ had made it clear many times. There was no excuse for their ignorance. The light of the glorious Gospel had shined upon them. Our Lord Jesus Christ, in His grace, was not willing that any should perish, and He prayed for them. However, the human heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.
And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, in whose case the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2CO 4:3-4)
Man's greatest need is the need for forgiveness and cleansing of sin. The penalty of sin is death is spiritual death. He took our place, He was judged for our sins, and today His prayer on the Cross is still being answered, as many come to Jesus Christ and receive Him as Lord and Savior!
The second phrase.
And one of the criminals who were hanged {there} was hurling abuse at Him, saying, "Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!" (LUK 23:39)
Both of the thieves turned against the Lord Jesus. Both blasphemed against Him, but, one of the thieves repented, he completely changed his attitude, to use the word in its proper connotation. He had a complete reversal of mental attitude not in regard to sin, but in regard to the Person of Jesus Christ:
And one of the criminals who were hanged {there} was hurling abuse at Him, saying, "Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!" But the other answered, and rebuking him said, "Do you not even fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong." And he was saying, "Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!" And He said to him, "Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise." (LUK 23:39-43)
He recognized that Jesus Christ was a perfect Man. He also recognized His deity, for he used the title for deity "kurios." There was nothing he could do for his salvation! He was nailed upon a cross. He could not join anyone's church or go through the rite of baptism! He could not weep in front of an altar, nor could he raise his hand or walk down an aisle! But he turned to the Lord Jesus Christ for help, and he went to exactly the right Person! He also recognized that Jesus had a kingdom. The Lord Jesus responded to this statement of faith by promising him a place in Paradise or Abraham's Bosom, the abode of all Old Testament saints. These two thieves on the cross picture the world today. One believed in Jesus Christ, and was eternally saved. The other rejected Him, and was eternally lost. "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him" (JOH 3:36). The world is divided by its attitude toward Jesus Christ. Your attitude toward Him determines your eternal future!
The third phrase.
Therefore the soldiers did these things. But there were standing by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the {wife} of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" (JOH 19:25-26
Imagine the anguish in a mother's heart, watching her Son slowly and painfully die. She must have been torn with terrible grief. The Lord Jesus Christ never called her "mother." He always addressed her as "woman." He sought to emphasize that she was the mother of His humanity, but she was not the mother of God! Anticipating some of the great dangers that would come in the future relative to her place in the Plan of God, He was always careful to avoid the title of "mother." Then He said to the disciple, "Behold, your mother!" And from that hour the disciple took her into his own {household.} (JOH 19:27)
Here are the words of responsibility. (EXO 20:12). In His dying moment, when He was in the midst of terrible agony and pain, He took time to think of the one who was the mother of His humanity and to make provision for her. We see here a beautiful picture, even in the end, of how Jesus Christ fulfilled the Law in every detail. Every negative, as well as positive, aspect of the Law was met by the Lord Jesus Christ; "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass away from the Law, until all is accomplished.” MAT 5:17-18)
Today we are not under the Law. Christianity begins where the Law stopped.
That does not mean we are to be lawless. Jesus, in fulfilling the Law, made provision for us to move on into the supergrace life. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance [self- control]: against such there is no law (GAL 5:22-23). The very character of Christ in His humanity can be produced in us by the Holy Spirit when He controls the life. We are no longer under the Law, but under grace. Grace is God's provision of the Holy Spirit, who indwells every believer. The Holy Spirit controls when the believer is filled with the Spirit through the use of 1JO 1:9.
The fourth phrase
And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (MAR 15:34)
These words, found in Matthew and Mark, as well as in Psalm 22:1, were literally screamed. In this cry, Jesus Christ made it clear that the God the Father with whom He had eternal and unbroken fellowship had to break that fellowship at this moment. Thus we know immediately that this is the time when Jesus Christ "bore our sins in his own body on the tree" (1PE 2:24), this was the unspeakable agony of the Cross, the spiritual death prophesied in PSA 22:1. The fourth cry indicated that He was being judged for us. This is why the Father had to turn His back upon Him. Our sin separated Him from the His Father, even as we were separated from them. The wrath of God deals deadly blows. One was meant for your sins. Jesus Christ stepped in front of you and took the blow. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him (ROM 5:8-9). In the eternal state, there will be one resurrection body that has scars on it, it will be His.
Many misinterpret out Lord's sufferings as an appeasement to the wrath of the Father but this is totally wrong. Jesus Christ did not appease the wrath of an angry God, He satisfied the perfect justice of a holy and loving God. For God so loved the world (JOH 3:16). Everything in God's nature, every fiber of His justice and righteousness, rails against sin. God can have nothing to do with sin. All that God is is against sin, and Christ was made a sin offering. Why did Jesus have to die? Death is the wages of sin, and He had no sin. He had to die because Jesus is the only Savior, and His death is His only saving act. His death was necessary, and it was made so by the character of God. This was not an angry or vengeful God. In fact, just the opposite, for God the Father sent His beloved Son as the lamb without blemish to be poured out for us sinners. The resulting propitiation is the basis for God being merciful and gracious toward us.
The fifth phrase.
The fifth cry on the Cross can be identified by the word suffering, After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished, in order that the Scripture might be fulfilled, *said, "I am thirsty" (JOH 19:28). The thirst of Jesus indicates His humanity, for deity does not thirst. Again it focuses our attention on the importance of the humanity of Christ, for if He were deity alone He could not suffer the penalty of sin. This saying of the Savior, "I thirst," followed the three hours of darkness, during which the light of God's countenance had been withdrawn from the Lord. This cry, then, tells of the intensity of what He had suffered, the awful severity of the conflict through which He had just passed. Even though His sufferings were like no other, great as was His thirst was, it was not desire for the relief of His body that now opened His lips. Far different, far higher, was the motive which prompted Him. The very fact that He did now "thirst" evidences His perfect submission. He that had caused water to flow from the smitten rock for the refreshment of Israel in the wilderness, had the same infinite resources at His disposal now that He was on the Cross. In the volume of that Book which expressed the will of God, it was written that He should thirst! Oh, that we might have the same attitude toward the Scripture! That we might have the joy and the realization and the reverence, the absorption and the interest that the Lord Jesus Christ had in the Scripture!
He simply says, "I thirst," the vinegar is extended and the prophecy is fulfilled. He had hung on that cross for six hours, and had passed through suffering unparalleled: nevertheless His mind was perfectly clear and His memory entirely unimpaired. He had before Him, with perfect distinctness, the whole truth of God. He knew the entire scope of the Messianic prophecies. He overlooked nothing.
The sixth phrase.
The sixth saying on the Cross can be described by the word victory.
When Jesus therefore had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head, and gave up His spirit. (JOH 19:30).
When the Lord Jesus Christ said "it is finished" He evidenced the fact that salvation was complete. Nothing could be taken away from it and above all, nothing could be added to it. It was purely a matter of GRACE. No one has ever deserved this salvation, and there never will be any member of the human race who deserves something as wonderful and as marvelous and as precious as the blood of Jesus Christ, which, as a representative analogy of His spiritual death, cleanses from all sin. Consequently, when He said, "It is finished", He made it very clear that to add anything to the finished work of salvation is sheer blasphemy! That is why the Scripture reiterates over and over, "He that believes in the Son has eternal life." "It is finished" is a single word in the original Greek “tetelestai!” It was the shortest, and yet the fullest of His seven sayings on the Cross. Eternity will be needed to fully understand all that it contains. All things had been done which the law of God required; all things established which prophecy predicted; all things brought to pass which the types foreshadowed; all things accomplished which the Father had given Him to do; all things performed which were needed for our redemption. Nothing was left undone.
The seventh phrase.
The seventh saying on the Cross can be described by the word contentment.
LUK 23:46 And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit." And having said this, He breathed His last.
(LUK 23:46)
When the Lord Jesus Christ died on the Cross, it was voluntary.
"For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father." (JOH 10:17-18)
Upon His physical death, His human spirit went into the presence of the Father, His soul went into Hades to a compartment known as paradise and His body went into the grave to wait for that glorious moment some three days later when the body would be rejoined by the soul and the spirit, and Jesus Christ would rise from the dead - literally and bodily. The seventh cry was the beginning of the end; and yet the end was a new beginning, for Jesus Christ would arise from the grave in resurrection body, walk among men for a short time, then ascend into the presence of the Father to sit at His right hand as our great High Priest and make intercession for us forever. The Father has been propitiated by the spiritual death of His Son. Jesus, through spiritual death, fulfilled the analogy to the blood sacrifice of the Old Testament; He was then ready to dismiss His Spirit. All references to the blood of Christ refer to His spiritual rather than to His physical death.
So these are the seven sayings of Christ on the cross.
The first dealt with the word forgiveness for His enemies.
The second dealt with salvation (LUK 23:39-42).
The third dealt with the word compassion (JOH 19:26-27).
The fourth dealt with anguish (MAT 27:46).
The fifth can be identified by the word suffering, JOH 19:28 "I am thirsty."
The sixth can be described by the word victory, JOH 19:30 "It is finished!"
The seventh and final saying can be described by the word contentment, LUK 23:46 "Father, into Thy hands I commit My spirit."
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