Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Psalm 22:21 Save Me from the lion's mouth And from the horns of the wild oxen! You have answered Me.
THE FATHER ANSWERED
With these few simple words the weight of all the suffering, the agony of mind and body and soul, was shed from Jesus. The suffering was for a little while, the glory forever. With all sins paid for, Jesus stands victorious. Never again to bear the sins of the world. Never again to be crucified or sacrificed for sin. For this He did once, and having accomplished this work He rose and sat down at the right hand of the Father in and with glory thus declaring to us that everlasting salvation is won, nothing more to be done.
With the raising of Jesus from the dead on that third day, our gracious heavenly Father shows us that He is to be trusted and our faith in Him is not empty, not a sometimes thing. Pick any trial or difficult time in your life. Did it not end? Did not the suffering and misery of that trial come to its close? One might say, "Well, right now I am suffering this or that." Has not the Father shown you in times past and most certainly with the suffering of Jesus that what you now endure will also come its conclusion in due time? The fact that the end may not come in *our* due time does not take away from the graciousness of our Father in heaven. The problem there is with our impatience, not with Him.
Should it be that we are called upon to bear trials throughout our lives, great or small, will they not also come to an end? Life here on earth comes to a close doesn't it? When the Father eventually takes us from this vale of tears, that too is an ending of troubles. "For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God" (1 John 5:4-5). The Father will answer us for Jesus' sake and deliver us also from every evil. In Christ Jesus we have this very victory, even eternal life.
In pondering the passion of our Lord Jesus we dare never end it when He was laid in the tomb, but return to see that tomb empty of the crucified body of our Lord Jesus Christ and see that we too shall rise from the grave to eternal life through faith in Jesus. His suffering was brought to a glorious end, so will ours be. Trust in God. He answers always.
