The Cross...Our way to get to God

[southernbelle47]

THE COLLISION OF GOD AND SIN

Who His own self bare our sins in His own body on the
tree.

1 Peter 2:24
http://www.SearchGodsWord.org/desk/?query=1pe+2:24&sr=1

The Cross of Jesus is the revelation of God's judgment on sin. Never
tolerate the idea of martyrdom about the Cross of Jesus Christ. The
Cross was a superb triumph in which the foundations of hell were
shaken. There is nothing more certain in Time or Eternity than what
Jesus Christ did on the Cross: He switched the whole of the human
race back into a right relationship with God. He made Redemption the
basis of human life, that is, He made a way for every son of man to
get into communion with God.

The Cross did not happen to Jesus: He came on purpose for it. He is
"the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." The whole meaning
of the Incarnation is the Cross. Beware of separating God manifest in
the flesh from the Son becoming sin. The Incarnation was for the
purpose of Redemption. God became incarnate for the purpose of
putting away sin; not for the purpose of Self-realization. The Cross
is the centre of Time and of Eternity, the answer to the enigmas of
both.

The Cross is not the cross of a man but the Cross of God, and the
Cross of God can never be realized in human experience. The Cross is
the exhibition of the nature of God, the gateway whereby any
individual of the human race can enter into union with God. When we
get to the Cross, we do not go through it; we abide in the life to
which the Cross is the gateway.

The centre of salvation is the Cross of Jesus, and the reason it is
so easy to obtain salvation is because it cost God so much. The Cross
is the point where God and sinful man merge with a crash and the way
to life is opened - but the crash is on the heart of God.

[southernbelle47]

The Cross...Our way to get to God

Forgiveness... It's yours

Father Forgive Them As Jesus hung on the cross he said; ??Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.?? (Luke 23:34) No one was asking for forgiveness nor was anyone even acknowledging that they were doing the smallest thing wrong. Jesus didn?t wait for any of that however; he just laid out the forgiveness up front.
This is a wonderful pattern for us and I think it?s one of the hardest to practice. Someone hurts or offends us and then they skip merrily on their way. Sure, if they would come back in a humbled condition and genuinely ask our forgiveness we feel we could accept that. ?Yes,? we would say, ?I forgive you.?
But how do we forgive when they aren?t asking for it? Let?s look at what Jesus actually said and did. It might help to follow his steps. Notice that Jesus addressed himself to the Father, not to the ones who were crucifying him. He didn?t yell down from the cross; ?I forgive all of you who put me up here.? No, instead, he asked God the Father to forgive them.
Forgiveness offered this way has some advantages. It acknowledges that all sin is ultimately an offense first against God ? not us. It does not overlook sin or minimize the pain and consequences it caused. It places the sin with God, removing it from the realm of any festering bitterness or desire for revenge on our part.
Are you struggling with forgiving someone, maybe someone who will never acknowledge how much they hurt you? Try it the way Jesus did it. Say, ?Father, forgive them.? Now walk forward in the freedom that Jesus secured for you when he asked the Father to forgive YOU.

Used by permission.
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Did God condone murder when he asked Abraham to kill Isaac? Did God Condone Murder?
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Barbara Lardinais
Hannah's Cupboard ? 2007
email: barbara@hannahscupboard.com
web: http://www.hannahscupboard.com