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Home My WebLink AboutThe Citizen, 1987-04-22, Page 17From the Minister's Study THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 1987. PAGE 17. Remembering when God abandoned Jesus GARY SHUTTLEWORTH KNOX UNITED CHURCH, AUBURN When the enemies of Jesus seized Him and took Him to trial, He made no complaint. When they made a crown of thoms and pressed it down upon His head, He said not a word. When the Roman soldiers scourged Him, when He was mocked and spit upon, He remain ed silent. Even when they nailed Him to the cross He made no plea for mercy. His bodily sufferings seemed to make no great im- pressionon Him ... but when God abandoned Jesus on the cross, the suffering of His soul reached its climax and caused Him to cry out! We must try to understand that when Christ was abandoned by God, He was left without that holy communion which He was used to from the very beginning of time. God the Father and God the Son were always ONE in love, in nature, and in purpose; but on Calvary, God the Father out of necessity turned His back on His only begotten Son. What an awful hour that was! Christ’s communion with heaven was interrupted; He was suffering death at the hands of His enemies; His earthly friends had abandoned Him; and because of the nature of His sacrifice the “twelve legions of angels” were powerless to help Him (Matt. 26:53). He was suffer ing the sins of all the world, and God cannot look upon sin (Habak- kuk 1: 13). Therefore He turned away, leaving the Son of His love... not only in the agony of His suffer ings, but also in the pains of a loneliness such as no mortal has ever known...nor ever will know! We are appalled by the awful ness of the scene that has just been presented, but it was necessary in order that Christ’s death might a- tone for your sins and mine. His atoning death meant that God’s law and justice were satisfied, thereby making it possible for God to be just and yet justify the sinner (Rom. 3:23-26). God declared in Ezekiel 18:4, “...the soul that sins shall die”; and if He were to break His Word He would not be a holy God. The sinner must die ... not only physically, but spiritually ... and face eternity separated from God. Jesus would not have met the full penalty of the law if He had not died in both senses ... that is. He died physically, and when God abandoned Him He suffered every pain the sinner would suffer in eternal separation from God. He took the sinner’s place and became sin for us (2 Cor. 5:21). He died in our place, for He alone could satisfy the demands of a righteous God (Heb. 10:12); and if God had not accepted Christ as our sub stitute, there could be no atone ment (Heb. 9:22). When God abandoned Jesus, He showed His mighty hatred for sin. The Word contains many proofs that God hates sin. Begin with the account of Lucifer being castoutof heaven (Isa. 14:12-150, and the chaining of the fallen angels “...in the nether (Hell) gloom until the judgment of the great day” (Jude 6). Read on ... from Genesis 3 where God drove Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, through the last battle in Revelation ... and you will see God’s hatred of sin revealed. But the greatest evidence of that hatred was shown when He turned His back on His only begotten Son while the Saviour “... bore our sins in his body on the tree” (1 Peter 2:24). If God could not look on His own Son while He bore the sins of the world, “...where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? ” (1 Peter 4: 18). Because God loved sinners. He gave Jesus. Because Jesus loved so much. He became a sin- offering. And because of His sacri ficial death we are “...brought near in the blood of Christ” (Eph. 2:13). Regardless of who we are all of us have our ups and downs in life. Some of us feel that we have more downs than ups. And in those “downs”, if you feel that God has abandoned you, do not worry ! His Son was abandoned for you, and it is an eternal fact that God will never abandon any of us! (Heb - 13:5b). Blyth Christian Reformed Church HIGHWAY 4, BLYTH Rev. Roger Gelwicks Worship Services 10:00 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. SundaySchool 11:00 a.m. The Church of the “Back to God Hour” and “Faith 20” Back to God Hour 10:30a.m. CKNX, Sunday Faith20 5:00a.m. weekdays, GlobalT.V. ALL VISITORS WELCOME | Business Directory Advertising helps good things happen. CANADIAN ADVERTISING FOUNDATION This space is reserved I for you! Only $8 per week Rammeloo Rest Home • Room available •24 hour care [nurse on staff] •Home cooked meals •$22.00 per day WHERECANYOU DO BETTER? Bus. 523-9478-Res. 523-4533 TURN YOUR SCRAP INTO CASH!! 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