Unity # 5: Looking Together For the Day of His Return

Unity # 5: Looking Together For the Day of His Return

Theme Song: This Kingdom Come

Dear Father,

The unfolding of Your Word brings Light; it brings understanding to the simple. Thank You that though the work of the cross and the work of the Spirit is incomprehensible, You chose to bring simple spirits to Life. Because You have awakened us, we are awakened to Your glory and Your Spirit teaches us Your Words. Who are we that You care to guard the deposit that we have entrusted to You? We are saved by Your purpose and grace. Thank You for all of Your people who have blessed me recently.

In Jesus Christ’s Name,

Amen

Dear Beloved,

Our Father has disciplined us and caused us to return. He has removed our hearts of stone and placed in us hearts of flesh. He has made an eternal Covenant with us by which He never stops showing us His goodness. He has inspired us to fear Him. He gives us singleness of heart and action so that we will never turn away from Him. He faithfully plants us in His Kingdom with all of His heart and soul. (Jer 32:29-31) Dear saint, do you love Him with all of your being? Has your desire for Him been increasing in the recent days? Has He brought your spirit to life? Last week’s letter was about the peace that we experience in the salvation boat of Christ in spite of our temporary differences.

This letter is about the unity that is present among us as we look for the Day of the Lord’s return. There are no other people in the world who are looking forward to the return of Christ except for the saints. And He has surely commanded His beloved to watch and pray so that we will not fall into temptation. He reminds us that the Day will come at an hour that we do not expect and when the worldly people are engrossed in their worldly affairs. The Day when the heavens and elements are destroyed in intense heat comes like a thief (2 Peter 3:10). Ever since Christ ascended, God’s purpose for us is to look forward to the Day of His return. This eager anticipation has an effect of purifying our hearts and causes us to number our days so that we may present to Him a heart of Christ’s granted wisdom (John 3:3, Ps 90:12).

¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. ¹⁴ For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. Matt 7

The people around us who do not fear God care nothing about His coming. They are busy like the people living in the time of Noah; their hearts are set on what they will do here on earth and on the earthly pleasures that they seek (Matt 24:28). The Day of His return will come upon them unexpectedly like a trap in the midst of drunkenness, dissipation, and the anxieties of life (Luke 21:34). Dear saint, will His coming fall on you unexpectedly like a trap? Yes, we can think of many times in the past week where we would have been ashamed before Him at His coming. But we have a great hope. Our hope is that He will remain faithful even when we are faithless (I Tim 4:13). Does this mean that we may remain faithless? No, He remains faithful to His Word and to His Covenant. His Covenant includes the aid of the Holy Spirit in our guarding of the deposit which we have entrusted to Him (2 Tim 1:14). He has promised to keep us firm until the end so that we will be blameless at His coming (1 Cor 1:18). His faithfulness to His people and to the glory of His Name causes us to stand firm until the end. Trust the One who is able to keep us from stumbling and to cause us to stand in the Presence of His glory blameless and with great joy (Jude 24). We cannot do it on our own! We would fail miserably in our prostitution, double-mindedness, and the idolatry of the sinful flesh, but He is able to do it!

He calls us to be on our guard so that our hearts are not weighed down by these types of earthly attachments. He tells us to keep on the alertat all times, praying that we may have strength to escape all the things that are about to take place and to stand before the Son of Man (Luke 21:35). Since everything will be burned up, He calls us to be a sort of people with a holy conduct and godliness as we look for and hasten the coming of this Day. We ought to look forward to His promise of a new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:11-13). He calls us to be diligent to be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless, and to regard His patience as salvation for those who have yet to believe (2 Peter 3:14-15). We know for sure that false prophets and teachers are in the world today and He tells us to be on our guard so that we are not carried away by the error of unprincipled men and fall from our own steadfastness. He tells us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:17-18). The hour has come for us to wake up because our salvation is nearer to us than when we first believed. We must lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of Light; we must PUT ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts (Rom 13:11-14)

Persecution is ahead of us. We will be delivered to tribulation, some of us will be killed, and we will be hated by all the nations because of the Name of our Lord Jesus. Many are going to fall away because they never belonged to us. Many will betray and hate one another. False prophets are arising and misleading many. Because the Law of God is trampled daily around us, most of the people’s love has already grown cold. Can we stand firm in the midst of physical torture? As Corrie Ten Boom’s father told her, “Just as I do not give you your train ticket until the train arrives, when the time of persecution comes, though you feel that you could not bear such suffering now, God will provide”. When the persecution comes, the true sheep will be kept from denying Him by His strength. Together we will endure to the end and be saved. The Gospel will be preached to the whole world as a testimony to all the nations and then the end will come. (Matt 24:9-14)

What are we looking forward to? God tells us that He is jealous for His people. He will return to her and dwell in her midst. The New Jersusalem will be called the City of Truth, and the mountain of the Lord of host will be called the Holy Mountain. Old men and women will sit in the streets and each man will have his staff in his hand because of age. The streets will be filled with boys and girls playing. This is not too difficult for God to bring about. He is saving all of His people throughout the world, from the east and the west, He is bringing His people to Himself. He will live in their midst and they shall be His people; He will be our God in Truth and Righteousness (Zech 8:1-8). To have God in our midst with His full glory on display, to be united perfectly as His Bride, to worship Him forever, to have Him be our everlasting Light, to have been set free from the presence of the sinful flesh, and the consequences of sin…what more do we long for? Nothing! Dear saints may we be united in our longing for His Day when the sovereignty, the dominion and the greatness of all the kingdoms under the whole heaven will be given to the people of the saints of the Highest One; His Kingdom will be an everlasting Kingdom, and all the dominions will serve and obey Him (Dan 7:27).

Much tribulation, persecution, testing of our faith, and Spiritual warfare must occur before that Day. The strength of the evil one will wage war against the saints and overpower them until the Ancient of Days comes and judgment is passed in favor of the saints of the Highest One, and the times arrive when the saints take possession of the Kingdom (Dan 7:21-22). He will display wonders in the sky and on the earth, blood, fire, and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness and the moon into blood before great and awesome Day of the Lord comes. It will come about that whoever calls on the Name of the Lord will be delivered; For on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as the Lord has said, even among the survivors whom the Lord calls (Joel 2:30-32).

He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars, says this: ‘I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. ² Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. ³ So remember what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. Therefore if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come to you. ⁴ But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.  Rev 3

            Oh Father, there is a depth and intensity of Spiritual passion, love, fervor, devotion, and single-mindedness that you have intended for us.  We cannot conform to the complacency, shallowness, hypocrisy, and the infinite SOPs. You have removed these hearts of STONE and given us hearts of FLESH which can feel the hidden recesses of Your glorious heart poured out in Your Words. There is a Spiritual intensity of love and a depth of fellowship that we long for with You and with Your people. I do not want to die without seeing it. I do not want to die before I know what it is to share in the sufferings of Christ, becoming like Him in His death, and so somehow to attain to the resurrection of Your Son. I am trusting You to fulfill my dream. I have asked and imagined unspeakable fellowship with You and Your people in Your love. You said that You are able to do IMMEASURABLY more than all we ask or think according to Your power that works in us. I feel You giving me a single-mindedness for Your glory that I have never experienced. My eyes are on You. And I see You working in the sheep. I see You removing the shroud of death from over their heads. I feel You calling dead bones to Life by the breath of Your Spirit through the Word. I feel Your Spirit being poured out among us. I sense You instituting the purpose of Your great Commission in our hearts. I do not want to die without experiencing everything I have dreamed. Maybe this requires your slayings. But when we are judged, we are disciplined by the Lord so that we will not be condemned along with the world. I Cor 11:32

Excellent Messages:

Sanctification and Discipleship: Christian Options?Article by Bob Dewaay

Sometimes the Lord Slays His Loved Ones Article by John Piper

The Truth Video by Al Martin (deep Agape may appear harsh like Martin’s voice here)

Desiring God 2012 Conference Messages on Sanctification Audio by John Piper

Everything A song that hits the heart chords right where it burns

Love in Christ,

Preethi

Praise God for Anand and Prasanna’s baby girl.

Unity # 4: Peace in the Salvation Boat

Unity # 4: Peace in the

Salvation Boat

Sunday 9/23/12

THEME SONG: Jesus Friend of Sinners

Dear Father,

     Thank You that You never revoke Your Covenant of love with us. You never stop doing good to us and You plant the fear of Yourself within us. Thank You for making us uncomfortable so that we may say, “The Lord is my stronghold, whom shall I fear?” You break down gates of iron. May our hearts align with Your Truth.

In Jesus Christ’s Name,

Amen

Dear Beloved,

There is no trial or temptation that He brings to us that He does not use to increase our knowledge of Him. In our acts of repentance, we must have faith that He uses even the consequences of our sin for our good allowing us to share in His holiness. He has used my worst unholiness to build inner strength and He has used prolonged wounding of the heart to plant my desires in the Living Water. This mercy does not justify my evil, but only reveals His incomprehensible promise of love for all of His children. Last week’s letter was about our unity as heirs of the worth of Christ.

This letter is about our unity through His keeping of us together in the boat of salvation until the Day of redemption. Our weaknesses and differences would make it impossible for us to be unified, but as our Savior stands in our midst and says “Peace be with you”, and as we continually encourage one another to stand firm in faith until the end, our unity grows to perfection.

            We often do not scratch the surface of true fellowship with one another. We have a sheer layer of politeness with one another, but we have not been confronted with our differences and our weaknesses. Rather we try to avoid bringing them to the forefront. In fact, if our differences and weaknesses were known in more detail to one another, we may be utterly appalled if we are not walking with the Spirit at the time. We are hopeless in our relationships within one another…starting right from our own families extending to our community spheres. On our own we are too selfish, too judgmental, too irritated, too afraid, and too idolatrous to be able to love sacrificially: to lay down our lives for one another as we are called to do. We are prone to declare that our own slew of weaknesses is less harmful or gruesome than that of our neighbor, but our neighbor would beg to differ. From the eyes of our Father, no one is good apart from Him. There is none righteous, not even one. No one understands the Truth. No one seeks God. We have all turned aside and together we have become useless. Our throats were open graves, and with our tongues we kept deceiving. The poison of asps was under our lips. Our mouths were full of cursing and bitterness. Our feet were quick to shed blood. Destruction and misery were in our path. We did not know the path of peace and the fear of God was not set before our eyes. (Rom 3:11-18)

            Sometimes the nature of our wickedness allowed us to form and maintain some fickle relationships, but there was no true unity, not true heart-satisfying Agape fellowship. There was no sacrificial love among us. Through the Law, God brought to us the knowledge of our sin. And now, the righteousness of God has become evident to us. This righteousness of God comes to all of us who believe through our faith in Christ. THERE IS NO DISTINCTION. For all have sinned and fall short of His glory and are justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption in Christ. (Rom 3:19-24)

            We were all dead in our trespasses against His Law. For in our old self we walked according to the course of this world and the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. This is why it was impossible for us to get along: we all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, being by nature children of wrath, just like the rest of the people in the world. But God being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even while we were dead in sin, made us alive together with Christ, raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places so that in the coming ages He will show us the surpassing riches of His GRACE in KINDNESS toward us in Christ. We are together His workmanship! (Eph 2:1-9).

Now, as the people of God, we are like Noah and his family who are saved together in the boat from God’s wrath against the wicked of the world reserved for judgment. Yes, our differences are great and we still each possess many weaknesses of the flesh, but we are all in the boat of salvation. God is bringing His wrath against the world and He places us where we are as preachers of righteousness. In our righteous souls, we may feel torment day after day by the lawless deeds of those around us. But God knows how to rescue all of us from temptation. In this sense, we are saved together in spite of our temporary hostilities. The day is coming when God will cast the wicked into the pit of darkness, and He will bring the unity of His saved people to completion. (2 Peter 2:4-10). He calls us to not forsake assembling together, as many do, but to encourage one another more and more as we see the day drawing near (Heb 10:25). He tells us to encourage one another DAY AFTER DAY, as long as it is still called “today” so that none of us will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Heb 3:13). Jesus made it clear that only if we stand firm in our faith until the end we will be saved (Matt 24:13). Our frequent times spent together in the Lord are a vital part in this firm standing. There is a type of hardening of the heart that occurs through the deceitfulness of sin that can be avoided through our frequent fellowship. We stand firm in one Spirit, with one Mind [i.e. the Mind of Christ] striving together for the faith of the Gospel. (Phil 1:27)

            Even among our individual journeys of faith, we come across numerous divisive ideologies and practices. There are common pulls between legalism and wantonness, between Calvinism and Arminianism, between obedience through grace versus obedience through concerted mindful effort, between those who emphasize gifts of Spirit and those who do not, between command-and-control leadership and a more dissolved leadership style (more on this later Lord willing), between emphasis on the physical realm and exclusivity of the directing of efforts towards the heavenly realms, between moderate secularism and monasteric restriction, between sensationalism and “level-headedness”, standards of marriage and purity, gender roles… there would be no way for us to be unified. Furthermore, we were set up for endless argument and discussion. We would be like the friends of Job, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, who spoke many correct truths about God, yet their verbiage was tainted with the selfish judgmental mind that was not subjected to the Living Word. So what is our remedy? How can we escape our miserable plight and future disaster of division? The answer lies in our awareness that we are together in the boat of salvation. What is the boat or rather WHO is the boat? Jesus! Jesus is our boat of salvation and we are contained in Him for salvation in spite of these differences. What we need, dear saints, is for Jesus to come and stand in our midst and say “Peace be with you” as He spoke to His disciples after His resurrection when He appeared in their midst (John 20:26). As we see His glory, our voices of dispute will be silenced and our love for one another will grow as we comprehend His great love.

Even in our personal prayer life, as we comprehend that our Savior died for us WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS and maintains His Covenant in spite of our frequent faithlessness, we can only show a fraction of this grace and love to the people of God. Yes, we may feel apathetic towards some of them, some of them may irritate us or agonize us to the core, but when we understand that God demonstrated and demonstrates His love to us while we were sinners and even now when we commit sins of the flesh, He enables us to show the same towards others. I feel helpless in my unity with some believers, even those whom I love dearly, because of my quietness and sometimes fear and awkwardness. But I am looking to my Good Shepherd, my Good Shepherd, for aid. He is going to help me to crucify my flesh in the time ahead. And He is going to help you too, dear saint, with whatever hinders your unity with the people of God. Let us wait and pray for Him to reveal to us that He stands in our midst saying “”Peace be with you”. We are together in His boat. He alone must be exalted among us as Lord and Savior.

¹¹ Therefore remember that formerly you, the Gentiles in the flesh, who are called “Uncircumcision” by the so-called “Circumcision,” which is performed in the flesh by human hands— ¹² remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. ¹³ But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. ¹⁴ For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, ¹⁵ by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, ¹⁶ and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. ¹⁷ And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near; ¹⁸ for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. ¹⁹ So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, ²⁰ having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, ²¹ in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, ²² in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.

“When all is said and done, the life of faith is nothing if not an unending struggle of the spirit with every available weapon against the flesh.” 
― Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost Of Discipleship

Please read the other attachment, “If It is Possible, Let this Cup Pass: Who Killed Jesus”

Love in Christ,

Preethi

If it is Possible, Let This Cup Pass… Who Killed Jesus?

If it is Possible, Let This Cup Pass…

Who Killed Jesus?

Dear Father,

     All judgment is in Your Hands. You are the righteous and just Judge. You leave nothing unaccounted for in the end. Help me to write in a clear way, because as Your children, our anointing should allow us all to understand this without doubt.

In Jesus Christ’s Name,

Amen

            The night before Jesus was crucified He fell on His Face and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” Matt 26:39 Because we have found our salvation through Him and His Spirit lives in us, it is greatly important that we understand what Jesus was asking in His request. This writing stems from the “A False Doctrine to be Aware of” paragraph in Unity # 3. I feel that a better explanation is required. Here the purpose is to confirm our understanding of the Gospel by explaining who killed Jesus. To summarize what is next, the Words of God convey to us that in God’s sovereign plan, He allowed the workings of Satanic forces and wicked men to bring about the physical crucifixion of Christ. However, the cup that Jesus spoke of refers neither to this physical pain and physical death, nor the torment of Satanic accusation and oppression, but rather to the outpouring of God’s judgment. In order to remove our guilt, the judgment of God had to be carried out. The judgment of God, the cup of God’s wrath, is Spiritual death, or complete separation from God. To satisfy His own justice, God has placed our sins onto Jesus, who became sin for us, and God has poured out the cup of His wrath on His own Son. Surely, in our wicked state apart from the Spirit’s intervention we would have desired His death. The cup of wrath in God’s Hands could only be as terrible as the spiritual death that we all deserved. If Christ had not experienced this judgment, then spiritual death would be our destiny. But He surely has drunk down the cup down to its dregs. And if it were not for our wickedness and His perfect love, He would not have had to drink the cup.

Did Humans Kill Jesus?

            In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians he explains that the unbelieving Jews killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets (2 Thess 2:15). Peter tells the Jewish people that Jesus was delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, nailed to the cross by the hands of godless men and that they had put Him to death (Acts 2:23). Similarly in Jesus’s parable of the wicked vine-growers, He says, “³⁸ But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ ³⁹ They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. Matt 21” Jesus speaks to the Jews saying “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up” Paul mentions that the none of the rulers of this age have understood God’s wisdom, for it they had understood it they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (I Cor 2:8). So from these Scriptures it is exceedingly clear that human beings were involved in the physical death of Jesus. God has allowed His Son to be handed over to sinful men to be put to death physically on the cross. We know that before we came to know the Gospel and apart from the Spirit’s intervention, our wickedness was so great that we would also have desired for Christ’s physical death. We likely cannot comprehend this wickedness in our former sinful selves, but we must believe that this was a picture of the extent of our wickedness. The wickedness of the old man is so great that he would have killed the pure and spotless Lamb of God. This God-Man who walked in humility, who healed the sick, raised the dead, casted out the terrible spirits, and who spoke the Words of Spirit and Life to us…we wanted to rid the earth of Him. The motives and desires in our hearts were in such perfect opposition to everything that Jesus was and did. We could not stand to be in His Light because it exposed our evil deeds (John 3:20). We intensely desired to destroy the Light. Men just like us who contained such wickedness of heart brought about the physical death of Christ. But as we will discuss more now, this physical death was not the cup that Jesus referred to in His prayer. He suffered great physical pain during the physical experience of His crucifixion, but this suffering was miniscule compared to the suffering of the cup.

Did Satan Kill Jesus?

            It is clear that Satan is the striker of the heel of Jesus (Gen 3:15). After Jesus was born Satan worked in Herod to try to kill the young Son of God. Thus, Jeremiah’s prophecy: A voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; And she refused to be comforted, Because they were no more. (Matt 2:18) was fulfilled with the execution of the young boys. Satan entered into Judas to bring about the betrayal of Jesus for 30 pieces of silver (John 13:37). Had Satan known the resurrection power of Christ, would he have worked to bring about His death? It is likely that Satan did not expect the resurrection power which raised Christ from the dead. He did not belief that Jesus IS the resurrection and the Life. He did not know that Jesus would soon crush his head and crush him under the feet of the people of God (Rom 16:20). So, we understand that the lies and workings of Satan and his demonic alliances were involved in the sinful acts of sinful men that brought about the physical crucifixion of Jesus. But the scheming of Satan to crucify Jesus was not the cup that Jesus referred to in His prayer either.

Was the Cup the Oppression of Satanic Forces?

            Jesus told His disciples, “³⁰ I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me [no condemnation in]; ³¹ but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here.” (John 14:30). Satan who is called the accuser stands day and night to accuse men for the sins of their flesh (Rev 12:10). But because Jesus is sinless, Satan had no bait of sin to latch onto with his commonplace accusations though he tempted Jesus. However when Jesus was on the cross, He became sin in our place. Our heavenly Father has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf (2 Cor 5:21). Because Jesus became the gruesome sin that we possessed, He is symbolized by the fearsome fiery bronze serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness to be the source of healing for all who looked to it (Num 21:9). He bore our sins in His own body on the cross (2 Peter 2:24). The ugliness of our sin, grief, and sorrows were carried by Jesus on the cross. So, when Jesus was on the cross, was His major suffering the accusations of the devil since perhaps now the devil had free reign to accuse Jesus for all of our sin that He was bearing? Perhaps Satan viciously accused Jesus while He was on the cross bearing our sin, but this was not the cup that Jesus referred to in His prayer. The full outpouring of the devil’s accusations did not come close to delivering the torment of this cup.

Was Jesus forced into the Crucifixion by Satan Working through Sinful Men?

No, because Jesus said, “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.” (John 10:18). Our Savior has laid down His own Life of His own free accord. At any point during the crucifixion He could have left the work unfinished and escaped the incomprehensible torment. But out of the power of His own love and the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, despising the shame, and is now seated at the right Hand of God in heaven (Heb 12:2).

What was the Cup?

            The cup that Jesus referred to is the cup of the Father’s wrath. In God’s perfect justice, there was only one due judgment for workers of iniquity. They were to experience the fullness of His fierce anger and to be separated from Him completely and eternally. This cup of the wine of wrath is not in our hands and it is not in the devil’s hands. The cup of wrath is in the Hands of the Just Judge (Jer 25:25). For a cup is in the hand of the Lord, and the wine foams; It is well mixed, and He pours out of this; Surely all the wicked of the earth must drain and drink down its dregs. Ps 75:8 This cup was our due lot for our wickedness and still is for those who eternally reject this great salvation. It cannot be drunk to its dregs in a finite amount of time, that is, its torment is eternal for the wicked. This torment was exceeding in its intensity, far greater in its inflicting power than any physical pain or death or any burden of accusation or oppression from Satanic forces. King David prophecies the experience of Christ as He suffered under this wrath: He was a worm and not a man, He was poured out like wax, all His bones were out of joint, His heart was like wax and melted within Him, His strength was dried up like a potsherd, His tongue cleaved to His jaws, He was laid in the dust of death… MY GOD, MY GOD, WHY HAVE YOU FORSAKEN ME? FAR FROM MY DELIVERANCE ARE THE WORDS OF MY GROANING. OH MY GOD, I CRY BY DAY, BUT YOU DO NOT ANSWER; AND BY NIGHT, BUT I HAVE NO REST. (Ps 22). This cup was the true judgment of God. This cup is the Spiritual death that alone is the payment for our sin. If the Father had not crushed His Son under His own wrath, then this cup of wrath would still remain over our heads. For our sin is so terrible (remember that in it we wanted nothing but the death of Christ) that it deserves only the fierce justice of the righteous Judge. It is a good justice. It is a right justice. It is true justice. HIS JUSTICE IS PERFECT. The cup of wrath is the infinite perfectly righteous payment towards sinners. Oh dear saint, our Savior and Lord has drank it to the dregs for us!

⁴ Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten [i.e. struck down] of God, and afflicted.
⁵ But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
⁶ All of us like sheep have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all
To fall on Him. Is 53:4-6

Did We Necessitate the Outpouring of the Cup on Jesus?

            Yes, it was our sin that demanded a payment. Because of the Father’s great love, He did not spare His own Son but graciously gave Him up for us all (Rom 8:32). The drinking of this cup of wrath by Jesus allowed for our salvation. He who was delivered over because of our transgressions, and was raised because of [for] our justification. Rom 4:25  God demonstrated His love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). And strikingly, the Father was pleased to crush Him for our sakes. God knew that as Christ was rendered as a guilt offering, He would see His offspring (us, His children), He would prolong His days and all His people would be granted eternal Life in knowing Him, the risen Christ!

But the Lord was pleased
To crush Him, putting Him to grief;
If He would render Himself as a guilt offering,
He will see His offspring,
He will prolong His days,
And the good pleasure of the Lord will prosper in His hand. Is 53:10

Oh Spirit, this writing cannot portray even a glimpse of the glory of Your Gospel. Please work in us to grant us the full comprehension of the Trinity’s love shown at the cross in the time ahead of us.