FORSAKEN BY HIS FATHER

 

All Bible verses are taken from the New King James Version 

          Most of us, who grew up in church, know the Easter story as well as we know the Christmas story. Even though we know the story, let us stop and review it for the sake of those who may not be as familiar with it.  But before I plunge into the Easter account, allow me to remind you of some doctrinal truths. God is from everlasting to everlasting. “Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” (Psalm 90:2). Isn’t it absolutely incredible to think that we serve a God who had no beginning and has no end? Yet, there is something even more incredible. God exists in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit. All three together are One Person. All three Persons of the Trinity existed together from eternity past and will exist into eternity future. Therefore, they have the most intimate relationship than any human being could ever come close to having or comprehending.

It all started in the Garden of Eden where God created man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, then Adam became a living being. God created Eve from one of Adam’s ribs. God gave man one simple commandment. “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17). But Eve was tempted by the serpent to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, telling her that she would be as God, knowing good and evil. Eve partook of the fruit and also offered the fruit to Adam and he ate. Adam and Eve’s actions not only affected their lives and fellowship with God, but it also brought God’s punishment for their sin, as well as affecting the whole human race, and nature for all time. “For the creation was subjected to futility; not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” (Romans 8:20-21).

God’s main purpose in creating man was to have fellowship with him. God would walk with Adam in the garden in the cool of the day. But when Adam and Eve sinned, their fellowship with God was severed. Adam and Eve’s sin did not just affect their relationship with God, but it affected man’s relationship with God down through the centuries. Yet God loved man so much, He knew He had to do something to draw man back to Himself.        

In John 3:16 it says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Jesus, the Son of God and the Second person of the Trinity, was willing to become a human being and dwell among us. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). During His earthly ministry, Jesus was continually seeking a solitary place where He could be alone with the Father. “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” (Mark 1:35). There were times when Jesus would spend all night in prayer. “Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” (Luke 6:12).

Jesus came to earth to redeem us to the Father by being obedient to death on a cross. “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8). Jesus knew the entire time He was on earth why He was here. As the time drew near for Jesus to face the cross, He tried to explain it to His disciples, but they did not understand what He was saying. “He (Jesus) said to them, But who do you say that I am? Peter answered and said, The Christ of God. And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” (Luke 9:20-22). Jesus was tortured, beaten and wiped, leaving stripes across His back. The elders and scribes twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head and mocked Him. All of this left Him physically weak. “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” (Isaiah 53:3). After all this, they led Jesus away to be crucified.  

As Jesus’ earthly ministry drew to a close, and the purpose for which He came was before Him, to bear the world’s sin upon Him, He felt the heaviness upon Him. “And He was withdrawn from them (the disciples) about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:41-42, 44).    

When Jesus was crucified and had been nailed to the cross, the weight of the world’s sin was bearing so heavily upon Him, that God, His Father had to turn His face away as He is a Holy God and cannot look upon sin. God the Father had to forsake His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Here Jesus was hanging on the cross without anyone around as His disciples had forsaken Him long before Jesus was led away to the cross. You and I have probably been forsaken by those close to us and have felt alone.  Can you imagine what Jesus must be feeling during these most intense hours on the cross. Jesus had never, throughout eternity, been separated from His Father. Yet, during the most intense time of His existence, when Jesus needed His Father the most, He is forsaken by His Father. This time was so extremely intense that darkness covered the land. “Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). How many times have we just casually read this verse without really giving it much thought? There is something different about the way Jesus cries out. Do you see it? Almost every other time when Jesus prays, He addresses God, His Father as, Abba Father or My Father. Yet, here Jesus addresses God as “My God.” Can you hear the anguish in Jesus’ voice? He cried with a loud voice. By this time, Jesus has been hanging on the cross for six long hours with the weight of the world’s sin upon Him. For the last three of those hours, darkness hung over the land. When the darkness started, it could have been the very moment when the Father turned His face away from His Son. Jesus hung on the cross for three hours being abandon and forsaken by everyone on earth, and His Father in heaven until He could no longer bear the burden of the world’s sin and feeling forsaken. It was at the ninth hour that Jesus cried these words from the cross. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me.” Sometime later, “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.” (Matthew 27:50).    

       The Easter account does not end there. On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead, and lives forever, seated on the Father’s right hand, to make intercession for us. “Therefore He (Jesus) is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25).                                 

        Have you received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and asked Him for the forgiveness of sin? Through Jesus, you will have a relationship with God the Father. If you would like to receive Jesus and the forgiveness of sin, pray something similar to this: “Jesus, I thank You for the price You paid to forgive me of my sin, and bring me into a relationship with my Heavenly Father. I ask that You will cleanse me of all my sin. I receive You into my life and I desire to live for You. In Jesus name, Amen.” If you have a Bible, begin reading the Gospel of John.