Are You, 'in the faith'? Tues/Thurs Weekly Series, 'In the Sanctuary', Post 11, August 29, 2019

Old Faithful is a cone geyser located in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, United States. It was named in 1870 during the Washburn-Langford-Doane Expedition and was the first geyser in the park to receive a name. It is a highly predictable geothermal feature, and has erupted every 44 to 125 minutes since 2000. ​

My friends. 

Continuing today, August 29, 2019, from August 27, 2019, and continuing on our Tuesday/Thursday bi-monthly posts until the 'subject' is finished, [as I promised August 8, 2019]; so that you will understand 'the fierce wrath' of God, let's develop this 'topic'.  [Acts 17:11 audio-bible.com/bible/bible.html] 
​
The best way to do this, is to understand it from the perspective of whether Jesus was God Incarnate; and then, Did God Die on the Cross?  We will see the concern of Jesus, and if He 'shuddered', I assure you, any mere human being should - take careful note of - 'the fierce wrath of God'. What did Jesus fear the most?

What Jesus dreaded when He said “Let this cup pass from Me” (Matthew 26:39) could not have been merely death by crucifixion. Other martyrs have faced equally horrible deaths with composure. Nor could it be a premature death in Gethsemane at the hands of the devil. Our Lord said that 'this cup' came from God—“Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?” (John 18:11).

Moreover, Jesus expressly declared that He wouldn’t die until He voluntarily laid down His life. He said, “I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (John 10:17-18). audio-bible.com/bible/bible.html

Scripture makes it clear that the Son of God suffered most when He was experiencing separation from the Father.

This “cup” is the agony of hell Jesus had to endure on the cross. It was the experience of God’s wrath, as in Psalm 75:8, “For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup, and the wine is red; it is fully mixed, and He pours it out; surely its dregs shall all the wicked of the earth drain and drink down.” audio-bible.com/bible/bible.html

On the cross, God made His Son “who knew no sin to be sin for us” (2 Corinthians 5:21). He poured upon Jesus Christ His wrath against all sin, causing Him to endure the desolation of hell. This sense of abandonment began to sweep over Jesus in Gethsemane. On the cross, it finally caused Him to cry out, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46).audio-bible.com/bible/bible.html

“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46, KJV). This cry is a fulfillment of Psalm 22:1, one of many parallels between that psalm and the specific events of the crucifixion.
audio-bible.com/bible/bible.html

It is difficult to understand in what sense Jesus was “forsaken” by God. It is certain that God approved His work. It is certain that Jesus was innocent. He had done nothing to forfeit the favor of God. As God’s own Son—holy, harmless, undefiled, and obedient—God still loved Him. In none of these senses could God have forsaken Him.

The cup that Jesus dreaded, therefore, was the abandonment by God, which makes hell, hell.  And, this abandonment should cause any to fear it, for it is part and parcel of - 'the fierce wrath of God'.

​The prophet Isaiah says this about the Messiah: “Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:4–5). audio-bible.com/bible/bible.html

Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us (Galatians 3:13). He was made a sin-offering, and He died in our place, on our account, that He might bring us near to God, not 'abandoned'. It was this, doubtless, that intensified His sufferings and part of why Jesus said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” It was the manifestation of God’s hatred of sin, in some unexplained way, that Jesus experienced in that terrible hour. The suffering He endured was due to us, and it is that suffering by which we can be saved from eternal death. audio-bible.com/bible/bible.html

In those awful moments, as evil men were allowed to do whatever they wanted to Jesus, our Lord expressed His feelings of abandonment. God through His 'fierce wrath', placed the sins of the world on His Son, and Jesus for a time felt the desolation of being unconscious of His Father’s presence. It was at this time that “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).audio-bible.com/bible/bible.html

Consider ever  so carefully what is written this week.  Return, my friends for Scriptures for your further edification on Tuesday/Thursday, September 10, 12, 2019,  as the Lord wills.  Amen.  Amen. ​

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