SUNDAY October 23, 2022
The Crucified Messiah
“Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it.”
Acts 2:23-24
Peter preached a powerful sermon to the Jews that was inspired by the Holy Spirit. He told them the truth––they were responsible for placing Jesus on the Cross. Why was Jesus’ method of death crucifixion? Jesus’ death was already determined hundreds of years beforehand. It was written in prophecy that He would die by crucifixion (Psalm 22).
The Jews had Jesus right before them, their Messiah, but they rejected and crucified Him. Interestingly, to the Jew, the Cross was accursed (Deuteronomy 21:23). Think about it. Jesus became a curse for us––to redeem us. Why? The Old Testament Law condemned us. None of us can keep the Commandments; we all have broken them. Think of our hopeless state and the only hope given to us through Christ:
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith (Galatians 3:1314).
Jesus suffered and died on the Cross, but death could not hold Him. He resurrected! If Jesus had not died and resurrected, He would have been no different than Buddha, Confucius, Plato or Socrates––all these earthly philosophers. How I thank God for the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. It means we have hope of redemption.
By Christ's purchasing redemption, two things are intended: his satisfaction and his merit; the one pays our debt, and so satisfies; the other procures our title, and so merits. The satisfaction of Christ is to free us from misery; the merit of Christ is to purchase happiness for us.
~Jonathan Edwards~
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