That is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” Fallen human mortal minds cannot enter that (3) three hours of darkness which Jesus, the Son of Man endured, so as to fully understand what was happening as He was cast into that deep chasm of loneliness, separation, and desertion from His Father, while He hung “A DYING” on Golgotha’s cross, ON THAT DAY when He was crucified for a world of fallen sinners. But I want you to try entering with me, (with God’s help) to look into that darkness, and into HIS lonely CRY for His Father! We can read about the sufferings and death of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Words of the Holy Scripture, BUT INTO that divine transaction between God the Father and God the Son, which satisfied the demands of God’s JUSTICE against a world of ungodly sinners we can only go so far! And then I ask myself, DO I REALLY WANT TO enter the deep miseries and sufferings of my Lord’s death, (which was my sins being laid upon Him) which was that which terrified Him? Hebrews 5:7: “Who in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save Him from death, and was heard I that He feared” The wrath of Almighty God was poured out without mixture/without mercy upon the Lord Jesus for a world and multitude of sinners; (I will say this a few more times, and I want to say it again, repetitively so that it will sink in and settle in your minds WELL PAST this January 2nd Lord’s Day service). OF ALL the sins for which He suffered and died, NOT ONE of those sins, offences, and transgressions were His own, BUT MINE, MINE was the transgression, but thine the deadly pain! My SINS were the sins that were laid on Jesus, and if you’re in Christ, so were yours. BUT in the deepest and worst of all His agony, miseries, sufferings, and death, HIS LOVE for His own people who were His enemies was FIXED, UNTOUCHED, AND UNMOVED! In fact, it was His love for every sinner for whom He died that fixed and hardened Him in His determination to embrace His cross. Romans 5:6-11, Ephesians 2:1-5, 2 Corinthians 5:14-21 Jesus the innocent victim was MADE TO BE SIN FOR US, Jesus suffered and died in the place of (NOT ONE SINNER) but as a Sacrifice and Substitute for a world of sinners and enemies of God! We commemorate Jesus’ sufferings and death on the cross this morning in remembering His broken body and shed blood for our sins! There’s so much to consider in the atonement of Christ, but (THIS MORNING) this is what I would like you to remember; that Jesus was MADE TO BE SIN FOR US, who knew no sin! What does that mean? How can that be, that the Perfect, Holy, Righteousness, and Impeccable Son of God COULD BE MADE SIN! One sinner dying (condemned) in his/her own sins drops into hell and suffers eternal damnation for THEIR OWN sins against God…but when Jesus suffered and died for sinners, He tasted thousands of hells, thousands of deaths, the penalty for a multitude of sinners, at the cross, WHEN the LORD hath laid on Him, the iniquities of US ALL. This morning, I want you to understand the VASTNESS of the death of Christ; but also, that you and your sins (Christian) were included in that mass of sin and wickedness put upon His Holy Person! THIS was profoundly more than walking through the valley of the shadow of death. For the Lord Jesus Christ, this was suffering ten thousand times ten thousand deaths…in the place of and for the penalties and guilt of so many sinners! You’ve heard people speak of the death of a loved one, when they say, O, he passed away in peace, there was no pain, he just went on to sleep. Brethren, the Son of Man didn’t pass away peacefully, but writhing in pain, misery, and sorrow, BUT worst of all, His Father had forsaken Him. But He HAD TO BE forsaken and deserted to suffer the penalty and guilt of my sins! He MUST be forsaken by His Father, so that I could be loved by His Father and now, MY FATHER and MY GOD! Do you remember the woman who broke the alabaster box of precious ointment, and anointed Jesus as He sat and dined at Simon’s house, and she was criticized for doing so by them that sat by? Jesus answered them: “Wherefore, I say unto thee, Her sins, WHICH ARE MANY, are forgiven; for SHE LOVED MUCH: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little” NONE of us, Christians, are forgiven for a LITTLE, our sins are MANY! I hope THIS helps you to LOVE the Lord Jesus MUCH, as we remember His broken body and shed blood!
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