" I have come to do your will, O God"
The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews
quotes from the Psalms and uses it for the words of our Lord Jesus Christ at
the moment of his Incarnation, Jesus says:
Even there, in the garden, shortly before
being arrested and the crucifixion, Jesus prays to the Father, saying:
"not my will, but your will be
done" Luk:22:42
Surrendered His Will
Jesus did not, nor does, exert his own will, rather,
Jesus laid down his life in accordance the will of the Father. Jesus surrendered
his will to the will of Father out of Love for his Father and each and all
us before Jesus went to the bloody cross.
Therefore, the Cross stands for all time and
eternity and declares that Jesus would rather die than be outside of the will
of God.
From humanities' fall in Garden of Eden,
which Eden speaks to us as to what life within the will of God could have been.
Yet, from that choice made by our first parents Adam and Eve, humanity all
has lived out their own self will by exerting our own wills above that of
God with has brought on painful results.
It was for this self-will that Jesus went to
the cross. The cross was and is the logical conclusion of a life lived
in perfect surrender to the will of God, a life of perfect complete
sacrifice.
Some see the sacrifice of Jesus as being just
one day there upon Golgotha, but Jesus' sacrifice was His whole life, His whole life. All His life, All His life to the
will of the Father.
Jesus' life was about the will of the Father,
not just his death.
"My will is to do the will of Him Who
sent Me and Finnish His work" Jhn: 4:34
Take Up the Cross
Jesus invites and His followers to put away
our own self will and "if anyone would come
after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me" Mk:8:34
This is not just self-sacrifice, but rather
sacrifice of the self. That is, surrender our will of self to the will
of God.
The Slain Lamb
When the Apostle St. John sees in vision
the heights of Heaven he sees "a Lamb looking as if it
had been slain" Rev: 5:6.
This Lamb stands in a place of honor at
the very center of all the Holy Worship and activities in Heaven. This Lamb
still bearing the wounds of slaughter, that is the crucifixion, yet,
lives. This wounded Lamb that lives is identified as our Lord Jesus by the
Baptist John there at the banks of that Jordan.
"The next day John saw Jesus
coming toward him and said, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin
of the world!" Jhn: 1:29
Here is Jesus, bearing these wounds of cross
before the Throne of God for all to witness. These wounds speak for all
eternity of Jesus' perfect surrender to the will of God. These displayed wounds
of surrender are the very wounds Jesus showed his disciples to assuage their
fears after the death and resurrection of their Lord.
"Jesus Showed them His hands and
feet" Lk: 24:4
These wounds forever identify Jesus as the One
who came and did the will of the Father. There can never be any question that
God's will has been perfectly surrendered to.
Jesus, even now displays his wounds before the
Thorne of God for to behold declaring for all time and eternity that the will
of God has been accomplished.
“Then I saw a
Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne,
encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns
and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.” Rev:5-6
These wounds also reflect to us all that God
would go even to the point of death just to have us included in His love. That
there is no excuse for any to be left out, that is what the cross has done, it
takes away all of humanities excuses from being left out.
The cross of Jesus is not directed toward God,
but rather toward us to show us his perfect love for us.
With Christ
St. Paul speaks of his own surrender into the
will of God through our Lord and his reliance on the perfect sacrifice of
Jesus.
"I have been crucified with Christ" Gal: 2:20
St. Paul knew that through the sacrifice of Jesus,
he and we all have been included in the cross all that we might be found
gathered together with the Lord rejoicing and praising Jesus for his
perfect surrender to the will of the Father, this is what the cross speaks to
all for all time and eternity.
“Then Jesus said,
“Here I am, I have come to do your will.” Heb: 10:9a
At times, Christians can view the cross of
Jesus as if it is directed toward God, as a kind-of judicial necessity in order
to “pacify” God’s anger, but the truth is, that the cross is not directed God, but
to us in order that we might see God’s love for us. Through Jesus, the eternal Son
of God, our Father is saying “this is how far I will go to have you with me for
all eternity”. God is saying that He “loves us to death”. That he would rather
die than be without us. God loves us more than he loves himself. The Cross is not an act of Law but rather Love.
"For Christ's love compels us,
because we have considered that one died for all, and therefore all died. And
he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but
for him who died for them and was raised again." 2Cor:5:15-16
Benediction: May we each and all give all glory to
Jesus, who through his Cross has done the Will of God, today, tomorrow and
forevermore. Amen!
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Rev. Todd Crouch, Norman, Oklahoma.
"If It Is Not About Jesus, It Is Not
About Anything"
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