Jesus accomplished innumerable things for us through His suffering on the Cross of Calvary…so many that we could never list them all! But for today, we will focus on a few that grab me to the very core of my soul…

He bore our rejection so that we would never be forsaken.

It was on the cross that Jesus, for the very first time, addressed His Father as God rather than Father. At that moment, He knew He had no right, no access to the face and presence of His Father because He bore the sin of the whole world. He knew His Holy Father could not, would not look on sin. His question, “Why have you forsaken me?” has always puzzled me because surely He knew the answer. I have to wonder if just maybe it was for us. When we sin, don’t we often feel alone and forsaken? And it is when we sincerely ask God “why” that He reveals our sin to us. It is through our confession, admitting that we are wrong and changing our direction (repenting), that our fellowship with our Heavenly Father is restored.

“About three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (which means, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?)” —Matthew 27:46 NIV

He bore our sin so that we could share in His righteousness.

Jesus took our sin upon His body, so that we do not have to bear it. If we knew the true depth of our own sin, we would crumble under the weight, but Jesus knew because He did bear it. And the price was high. It cost Him everything. His beard was plucked out, He was persecuted, deceived, stripped, mocked, slapped, beaten, spit upon, crowned with thorns, nailed to a cross, bled and died the cruelest death ever for our sin. He took our beating, our humiliation, our punishment in every possible way. In retrospect, we could say that we were lying down, ready to be nailed to that cross, and Jesus held His hand out to us, pulled us up and willingly laid Himself down in our place…because, dear friends, that is what He did! He exchanged our cross for His robe, He bore our whooping so that we could share in His righteousness!

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” —2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

He bore our weakness so that we could have His strength.

Have you ever noticed that the Lord Jesus takes us further and higher, expands our avenues, or leads us to new ventures…or adventures? We don’t grow in strength or character without a challenge and He, it seems to me, is in the growth business…mostly growing our character. I, for one, never thought I would be a Christian Women’s Speaker… never! I avoided speeches and speech classes at all cost! I loved drama because of the simple fact that I could hide behind a costume and a character. The day the Lord called me to a speaking ministry is the day He called me to my knees in full dependence on Him. After nine years and many tears, He gave me the idea for my first character. Thus, He combined my fear and my love, but that did not happen until I found His strength in and through my weakness.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” —Philippians 4:13 NKJV

He bore our sickness so that we could die to our sin, live for righteousness and be healed.

I’m not going to promise that every illness we ever have will be healed because of the simple fact that “it is appointed unto man once to die.” (Hebrews 9:27 KJV). We know that at some point in time, each of us will be taken into glory where we will, once and for all, find perfect healing. In the meantime, it is important to recognize that our own thoughts, words and actions can condemn us and make us physically ill. Sickness is a part of this fallen world we live in, and most of us deal with the common cold, flu, etc. And God allows sickness to cross our paths for different reasons…to humble us, force us to rest, soften our hearts, only He knows. Sin sickness is also a part of us as fallen man, and Jesus bore that on the cross. When our sin makes us sick, spiritually and/or physically, we can take it to Him, and trust that by HIS wounds we ARE healed, from the sin itself and its affects.

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” —1 Peter 2:24 NIV

He bore our loneliness so that we could know He was with us always.

We live in a time when Social Media is on the rise, but so is loneliness. We are talking more and connecting less. We can post what we want others to see and hear but we are not face-to-face where they can actually perceive the real us, the issues of our lives. God sees it all and He knows our hearts, our thoughts, our weaknesses, our feelings, our everything. He founded the first FaceBook…He sees our ‘face’ and our names are written in His ‘Book.’ And lo and behold, He sees us through the eyes of mercy and grace…eyes of deep, everlasting love that stays with us to the very end of the age. So whether we are in a crowd feeling all alone, or at home all by ourselves, we can know that HE is with us.

“And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” —Matthew 28:20 NIV

Bottom line, Jesus paid it all and carried it all to the cross for you and me…. And to this day, His Living Word still encourages us to cast our cares upon Him, the One who bore it all for us. And why? Because my dear blogging friend, He truly cares for you!

NIV – The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by BIBLICA Inc.® All rights reserved.
NKJV – The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
KJV – King James Version (KJV) © Crown Copyright in UK.
All other © Celebrate His Love, 2018.