Transcript: Jesus' Love Went to the Cross for Your Personal Salvation

Music Music I have loved to share the story, or should I say a testimony, which happened about 15 years ago when my husband Lee and I were in a luncheon meeting with a man named John and his son Colby. John was doing some videography work for us at the time. He had brought his little 8-year-old son Colby along with him, who was a very bright and precocious little boy. John and his son Colby sat across the table from Lee and myself. Somewhere in our mealtime, Colby looked at me directly in the eyes, and with this serious tone, he said, Miss Patricia, what is the most important thing in the Bible? Well, I was surprised and amazed with this little boy's question for his age, and also it was like he absolutely wanted to know the reality, or I like to say the bottom line of this truth for his own spiritual satisfaction. I said, Colby, the Lord spoke and said, You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, and with all of your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. Then I added, in the New Testament, Jesus, when asked by the Pharisees which was the greatest commandment, he answered by saying, You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind. and this is the first and greatest commandment. Well, Colby listened intently as I spoke this truth to him. I do not know where this young man is today, but I am hopeful that he has a very vibrant and strong relationship with his Lord Jesus Christ. Well, looking at this commandment, we see that the first and most preeminent word that carries the bottom line emphasis or importance are the words Jesus is speaking which are concerned with love and the heart. Now love in the Greek dictionary number 25, agapo, is to love in a social or moral sense, to be loved. And number 26 in the Greek is agape, which is associated as well with number 25. and it is love, affection or benevolence, a feast of charity someone dearly loved. We have to know that agape love is the highest form of love because it is of a God kind of love. The high esteem which God has for his redeemed children and the high regard which they should have for him and other people is again called agape love. The Bible has hundreds of references to love in the Bible, and it is an outstanding book of the highest form of love in the world. 1 John 4, verses 7-9 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Verse 8 Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love. And this is how God showed his love among us. He sent his only begotten son into the world that we might live through him. It tells of the greatest love story as well ever written about unconditional love that God has for his own redeemed children that he sent his son to die upon the cross for. This kind of love is the highest form of love, and it is the personification of perfect love. God's love surpasses our intellectual ability of understanding. This love is pure, holy, and righteous. Still, we must now look at the Greek meaning for heart. In the Greek, number 2588. The word cardia, which of course means heart in English, and is used figuratively of thoughts or feelings which represent the mind. The command that Jesus gave us, You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, with all of your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. Now, this is a demonstration of the love, Christ's love, that he had for his Father and that they have for one another. Jesus loves God with his whole heart. He is blameless in his allegiance and devotion to his heavenly father. He loved God with his whole heart and soul and was willing without reserve and prepared to completely surrender his life as his father willed it to be so. Jesus confirming that he and his father are one said in prayer to his heavenly father before his death in John chapter 17 verse 11. And Father, I am now no more in the world, but these are still in the world. I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep in your name and the knowledge of yourself those whom you have given me, that they may be one as we are one. Our beloved Savior was willing to lay down his life for all people because of his love for his Father. Let us remember as well. It was Jesus Christ who called all things into existence at the beginning of time when the world was created. And this included man and woman. He was called the Word of God in John chapter 1 verses 1 through 4. In the beginning before all time was the Word Christ and the Word was with God. And the Word was God himself. He was present originally with God. All things were made and came into existence through him, and without him was not even one thing made that is come into being. Verse 4, And in him was life, and the life was the light of men. Prophet Isaiah declared the word of the Lord in Isaiah chapter 9, verses 6 and 7, regarding the coming of our Savior Messiah, beginning in verse 6. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace. of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end upon the throne of David and over his kingdom to establish it and uphold it with justice and righteousness from the latter time forth even forevermore the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this Hallelujah so indeed even before our mighty God our Prince of Peace was born into this earth and even before the Word who was called Jesus Christ in the New Testament, he created and spoke life and commanded Adam and Eve, our first parents, into existence. And as a result of his mighty power and authority as the everlasting father of eternity, by his sovereign rule, he did this all. As was briefly mentioned, Jesus, who was the word of God, brought the universe into existence. And this is made known in Hebrews 11.3 as we read, By faith we understand that the worlds during the consecutive ages were framed and fashioned and put in order and equipped for their intended purpose by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible. So therefore, all beings, even angels, are his created creatures. How great is our God! Man was the crown, the pinnacle, and the masterpiece of God's creation. He was created for the purpose to love God and to have dominion in the world. But he sinned and revolted against God by rebelling and exchanging the truth of God for a lie. He chose to worship and serve the created creature rather than the Almighty Creator. Since man failed, God's plan for man to rule his creation is now being fulfilled by his Son Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians chapter 15, beginning in verse 20, the Word tells us, The fact is that the Messiah has been raised from the dead, and he has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep in death. For since it was through a man that death came into the world, it is also through a man that the resurrection of the dead has come. Verse 22. For just as because of their union of nature in Adam all people die, so also by virtue of their union of nature shall all in Christ be made alive. But each in his own rank in turn. Christ the Messiah is the first fruits. Then those who are Christ's own will be resurrected at his coming. Verse 24. When he delivers over the kingdom to God, the Father, after rendering inoperative and abolishing every other rule and every authority and power. For Christ must be king and reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be subdued and abolished is death. Verse 27. For he, the Father, has put all things in subjection under Christ's feet. But when it says all things are put in a subjection under him, it is evident that he himself is accepted who does the subjecting of all things to him. Verse 28, however, when everything is subjected to him, then the Son himself will also subject himself to the Father, who put all things under him, so that God may be all and all in everything to everyone supreme, the indwelling and controlling factor of life. Oh, hallelujah! That Jesus is establishing the kingdom of God in the hearts and lives and souls of the redeemed new creatures in Christ who love him with all of their hearts and souls and minds and whole beings. 2 Corinthians 5.16 declares, Therefore, if any person is engrafted in Christ, the Messiah, he is a new creation, a new creature altogether. the old previous moral and spiritual condition has passed away. Behold, the fresh and the new has come. You see, by Jesus' death, he was demonstrating the first and greatest commandment, which is to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, your soul, your whole being. And dear listener, Jesus also fulfilled the second greatest commandment, and that was love for humankind, whom he had created from the beginning of time. On the day that one of the sly Pharisees came forth to test Jesus in Matthew chapter 22, we see what Jesus said in regards to their question. Let's pick this account up in verse 34. Now when the Pharisees heard that he had silence muzzled the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of their number, a lawyer, asked him this question to test him. Teacher, which kind of commandment is great and important, the principal kind in the law? Some commandments are light and some are heavy. Verse 37, and Jesus replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your mind and your intellect. This is the great and most important principle in first commandment. 39, and the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as you do yourself. These two commandments, summed up, depend all on the law and the prophets. You see, our Savior shows that it is impossible to yield oneself to God if they do not love him first. In John's Gospel, it's made known and clear when he said in John 14, verse 6, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. so if people do not love Jesus Christ first who is the son of God there is no entrance into the eternal realm of bliss called heaven at the end of one's life in this world and not only that they cannot truly love themselves or their fellow man this is the second greatest commandment and without these two great commandments ruling in one's heart there will be an unyielded and unhealed heart who just pretends to belong to the kingdom of God. In the Gospel of Mark 12, verse 33, we see something important in the summary of what Jesus said regarding to love the Lord with our whole being, but Mark, who was under the influence of the Holy Spirit, adds another aspect of understanding to this commandment. Mark 12, 33, And to love him out of with all the heart and with all understanding, with the faculty of quick apprehension and intelligence and keenness of discernment, and with all the strength and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. So the point made at the end of this scripture is very important in our day too, just as it was in the day the Holy Spirit inspired Mark to speak this truth. In Hosea chapter 6, verse 6, God spoke through the prophet saying, For I desire and delight in dutiful, steadfast love and goodness, not sacrifice and the knowledge of and acquaintance with God more than burnt offerings. You see, God's priority or preference has always been that his people willingly love him faithfully without wavering more than they sacrifice things to him or do things for him that they think will make him pleased with them. Nothing pleases God more than complete obedience to his commands. We need to understand that if a perfect human being could be found, he would not be able to be a fit atoning sacrifice capable of producing the desired results and effectiveness for reconciling anyone back to God the Father. Psalms 49 verses 8 and 9 declares, no man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him. The ransom for a life is costly. No payment is ever enough. Well, the truth of the matter here is that everyone must answer for his or her own soul and not for another. Sacrifices in both the Old and the New Testaments were meaningless and even offensive to God unless they were offered out of a heart of sincere love that demonstrated obedience to God's word. Jesus Christ is our supreme and perfect sacrifice. He was sent to this earth by a creative act of the Holy Spirit when he was born to a Virgin Mary and became the Son of God. He came to do his Father's will in taking on a human body, and he took on the form of a servant, and he offered himself as a supreme sacrifice on the cross as one who had the power to do so. And he did this out of love for the glory and the love of God, dear ones. Love went to the cross for you and me personally. He did this for you personally. He did this for me and all others who choose him by faith for their hope of glory. Romans chapter 10, beginning in verse 11, the scripture says, No man who believes in him, who adheres to and relies and trusts in him, will ever be put to shame or disappointed. No one, for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek. The same Lord is Lord over all of us, and he generously bestows his riches upon all who call upon him in faith. For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord, invoking him as Lord, will be saved. But how are people to call upon him, who they have not believed, in whom they have no faith, and on whom they have no reliance? And how are they to believe in him, adhere to, trust, and rely on him, of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher? And how can men be expected to preach unless they are sent? As it's written, How beautiful are the feet of those who bring glad tidings! How welcome is the coming of those who preach good news of his good tidings. But they have not all heeded the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has believed, had faith in what he has heard from us. Verse 17. So faith comes by hearing what is told. And what is heard comes by the preaching of the message that comes from the lips of Christ the Messiah himself. Praise the Lord. The offer of salvation is an offer of agape love and is offered worldwide to all who believe by faith that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that his atonement for the sins of mankind has been satisfied by his death on the cross. John 3.18 Very clear. Jesus undertook of his own free will the absolute accomplishment of all the will of God in order to accomplish the eternal will of God. Isaiah in chapter 50 verses 6 through 8 we see the summation of his suffering on the cross through the prophet. I gave my back to the smiters, my cheeks to those who plucked off the hair. I hid not my face from the shame and spitting. For the Lord God helps me, therefore I have not been ashamed or confused. therefore I have set my face like flint I know that I shall not be put to shame he is near who declares me in right who will contend with me Let us stand forth together Who is my adversary Let him come near to me Jesus Christ lived a life of obedience as he suffered at the hands of man whom he created out of love for his heavenly father. He was perfect in every way. He became sin for us even though he was completely innocent of sin. Dear listener, our innocent Lamb of God willingly went to the cross and suffered intense and indescribable pain and agony out of love for the salvation and regeneration of those who would choose him as Lord and Savior by repenting of their sins and living within the confines of Holy Scripture. Psalms is another graphic picture of death by crucifixion. In the bones, the hands, the arms, the shoulder and pelvis that were out of joint. In the opening of this psalm we see where our Lord Jesus Christ felt forsaken by God. He is in his last hours of death and feels it is very close. Beginning in Psalms chapter 22 verse 1 and 2 we read, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me and from the words of my groaning? Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but you will not answer. And by night I am not silent and find no rest. Dear listener, for me personally, when I read and share this account, it breaks my heart and what my Savior sacrificed for me personally on the cross. And yet I am full of holy gratitude because I know it is a demonstration of the highest form of godly love for all who have deep revelation by the eyes of their spirit to see in part what Jesus sacrificed on our behalf. Only the Holy Spirit can open up our spiritual eyes to comprehend the depths of his love, precious church. We can only know in part, but what is revealed is to be treasured and held in the highest regard. Jesus describes his condition on the cross as one facing execution. And no true believer in Jesus can read this without being vividly touched and confronted with the crucifixion that our precious Lamb of God went through on our behalf. it not only describes the horrible suffering and burden of a spiritual separation of our lord being cut off from his heavenly father when he cried out oh my god my god why have you forsaken me remember jesus took all the sins of mankind upon himself and this is why he was crying out the burden of his displeasure in the weight of the sins were upon him when he cried out And some translations tell us that he roared under the weight of it as one overwhelmed with grief and alarm. Remember that Jesus was fully man and God. And he felt the pain and suffering just like any human body would feel the weight of it. Jesus carried the weight of sin, the curse of God upon his body, dear ones. And he said in verse 2, Oh my God, I cry in the daytime, but you answer not. And by night I am not silent and find no rest. In his crying by night, Jesus said he was not silent, found no rest. Remember, dear ones, that God the Father had to turn his back on his son because he carried sin and the curse upon him. His crying was strong, prolonged, deep crying out to God. and is described in the Greek as a roar, as one in distress and agony. Hebrews chapter 5, 7 declares, In the days of his flesh Jesus offered up definite special petitions for that which he not only wanted but needed, and supplications with strong crying and tears to him who was always able to save him out of from death. And he was heard because of his reverence towards God, his godly fear and piety, in that he shrank from the horror of separation from the bright presence of his Father. The moment Jesus dreaded the most was upon him. He would be spiritually separated from his heavenly Father because of the sins of mankind which he willingly carried were upon him in his last hours. Yet God forsook him and was far from helping him and did not hear him. And this, dear church, is when he was alone with no one to give him comfort. God delivered him into the hands of his enemies, and it was determined by special counsel that he would be crucified and slain and be given no comforts, even in spite of having made himself sin for us. Jesus' conformity to his Father's will he deliberately chose and allowed himself to carry the weight of God's wrath his curse and displeasure against sin in and upon his body and not only did our precious Savior experience the pain and suffering in his body from the torture of mere man but he also experienced the wrath the torment of the evil spiritual realm from Satan and his hordes of hell Scripture in Isaiah 53.10 tells us that it pleased God to bruise him. Look at that in verse 10. Yet it was the will of God to bruise him, and he's put himself to grief and has made him sick. When you and he make his life an offering for sin, and he has risen from the dead in time to come, he shall see his spiritual offspring, he shall prolong his days, and will and pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Let us understand here, please. The will of God to bruise his son and put him to grief was not that it gave God pleasure or something enjoyable to see in the sufferings and death of his son. But these pleased and satisfied him because they fulfilled his great pleasure and purpose in providing redemption for humankind. It was for you and me and all others who choose him as Lord and Savior, that love went to the cross. We see that even through Jesus' pain and suffering, he held fast to his relationship to his Father as God. Psalms 22 and verse 14, he declares, I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax, softened with anguish and melted down within me. These all describe profuse perspiration as being poured out like water, which is caused by intense suffering, described in Psalms 22, verse 14, which we just read. Jesus' heart is affected in verse 14 as well. He says his heart is like wax. In verse 15, he describes that his strength is exhausted and he has extreme thirst. He says, My strength is dried up like a fragment of clay pottery with thirst. My tongue cleaves to my jaws, and you brought me into the dust of death. His hands and feet are pierced. In verse 16, And he has partial nudity with a herd of shame to his modesty. All of these painful inflictions are endured by the Lord Jesus Christ for the sake of mankind. and whosoever would choose him as their Lord and Savior. I say again, dear listener, love went to the cross for you and me personally. It is good for us to remember what now Jesus suffered for us personally. It is good to pray that our Heavenly Father will give us deeper understanding and the depth of what he suffered for us. One cannot help to have a personal and greater love and appreciation for his sacrifice on the cross. Do you know that even though our beloved Savior suffered unimaginable pain and torment on our behalf, he went to the cross with joy in his heart? Can we know this is seeing spiritually what lies beyond the present with its suffering and trials and discomfort? Hebrews chapter 12 verse 2 declares, Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. The joy and the prospect of Jesus' reward is namely his victory over death for the redeemed souls of men, but also his glorification, his inheritance of many sons and daughters, and his reign was the joy that he saw beyond the cross. What we look forward to beyond this earth life is very similar to what Jesus anticipated for us as his beloved redeemed children. He made it possible for us to have hope in enduring our momentary present sufferings and trials and persecutions and character assassinations by unbelieving critics and see beyond them and hold fast in living faith to our precious way maker who will bring us through it all until we are safely in his loving arms forevermore. we should be able to recall and cherish the fact that Jesus said I will never leave you nor forsake you he was forsaken on the cross but he will not forsake us dear ones This is a promise Reiterating what we read at the beginning of this word today in the New Testament, when asked of Jesus, which was the greatest commandment, Jesus answered, The first and principle one of all commands is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one. Verse 30. And you shall love the Lord your God out of and with your whole heart, and out of and with your whole soul, your life, and out of and with your mind, your whole faculty of thought and your moral understanding, and out of with all of your strength. This is the principal commandment. Verse 31 is an emphasis for us today. The second is like it, and is this. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these. And dropping down to verse 33, And to love him out of with all your heart, with all understanding, with all faculties of quick apprehension and intelligence, and keenness of discernment, and with all the strength, and to love one's neighbor as oneself, is much more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifice. So we see and understand that the first and greatest, most important thing for every true follower of Jesus Christ is to love the Lord with all of our strength, our mind, with our heart, with all of our soul. And nothing is left out in our whole being that is not included in what God demands of our love for him as first priority in worshiping him and giving him the highest honor in this commandment. And the second greatest commandment is to love our neighbor as ourself. How many of us have had what we call a neighbor nasty? Was it easy to love that rude and cruel neighbor? I have to say personally the answer, frankly, is no. But I clarify that. When the transformation of God began to enter into the fabric of my being, something miraculous happened. I could begin to tolerate those individuals, and from toleration I began to feel a compassion for them, and thereafter I began to pray for their souls, because I did not want to see anyone go to hell and spend eternity there. Loving our neighbor involves God's transformation in our souls first. Our prayers can bring transformation to their souls too. God brings change in them spiritually just as he does in our souls. This spiritual experience illustrates what happens to every sinner who trusts in the Lord. And we see this living in Ezekiel chapter 36, beginning in verse 24. I will take you from among the nations and gather you out of all the countries and bring you into your own land. And I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean from all your uncleanness, from all your idols. I will cleanse you. Verse 26. A new heart I will give you and a new spirit I will put within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. And you shall heed my ordinances and do them. The first thing we see here is that God cleanses his people from their sins. And forgives because they have confessed their sins. They are cleansed because of Christ's blood that was spilled for them. Ephesians 1.7 declares, In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the richness of his grace. And the second thing we see happening in our scripture here in Ezekiel 36 is that God gives his redeemed a new heart. I will give you a new heart. And this is a supernatural miracle, dear listener. This is what happens and is a direct result because of what Jesus did for us on the cross. This is not a new physical heart that beats in your chest. This is a spiritual heart to see with the eyes of your new spirit, the will of God for your life, your new life in his son Jesus Christ. This new heart brings inward change. This kind of change is what God longed for, for his people in Israel to experience before they entered the promised land. When he said, oh, that they would have such a heart in them that they would fear me and keep all of my commands. And the third thing that we see here is the Lord gives you his Holy Spirit. The Spirit of the living God comes to live within you. It is only through the Holy Spirit that the divine miracles in the heart begin to work out salvation in every redeemed heart because of faith and trust and love for the Lord their God. And this brings change and is the new clothing of righteousness that identifies the true believer in Jesus Christ. Our Heavenly Father gives a new heart, a new spirit, and also a new desire to love the Lord and obey Him. The witness of the Holy Spirit produces fruit, His fruit, in the true believer. This fruit is described in Galatians 5, verse 22 through 23, which is love, joy, peace, perseverance, and so on. Because true believers in Jesus Christ have God's spirit within them, they share the divine nature of God, and therefore they want to obey the divine will of God. In 2 Peter 1, verses 3 and 4, we read this, For his divine power has bestowed upon us all things that are requisite and suited to life and godliness through the full personal knowledge of him who called us by and to his own glory and excellent virtue. By means of these he has bestowed upon us his precious and exceeding great promises, so that through them you may escape by flight from the moral decay, rottenness, and corruption that is in the world because of the covetousness, the lust, and greed, and become shared partakers of the divine nature. This tells us that this new divine nature determines and dictates our conduct now. Dogs act like dogs because they have a nature of dogs. And God's people act like they belong to God because they have God's divine nature living in them now. We see this truth in 1 John 3, verse 9. No one born of God, begotten of God, deliberately knowing and habitually practices sin, for God's nature abides in his principle of life. The divine sperm remains permanently within them, and he cannot practice sinning because he is born begotten of God. Verse 10, this is made clear to those who take their nature from God and are his children and who take their nature from the devil and are his children. No one who does not practice righteousness does not conform to God's will and purpose, thought and action is of God. Neither is anyone who does not love his brother, a fellow believer in Christ. Well, can I tell you that God will cause the land of your heart to flourish under the new covenant of love, and you will no longer want to rebel against his commandments? You will hate your sins and desire to remember them no more? There are people who remember their sins, and they enjoy them all over again in the filthy depths of their imaginations. In fact, in Ezekiel 36, verse 29 declares, then you shall earnestly remember your own evil ways and your doings that were not good and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight for your iniquities and your abominable deeds. This is evidence that these people haven't really judged their own sins and repented. When true children of God remember their past disobedience, they are ashamed of themselves and they hate these sins because of what they've done. Scripture commands us, you who love the Lord, hate evil. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good. One of the many promises of God is that he would bless us and meet every need of ours if we would obey him. And lastly, dear listener, God tells us that we will have deep, intimate fellowship with him. And you know this happens because his spirit comes to live within you. To have fellowship with Jesus Christ is to live as him, as the branches connected to the vine. Jesus provided the model and the new motive for love. And the greatest of all is love. This is love. Not that we love God first, but he loved us. And he sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Let us always remember, just as God loves us, we ought to love one another. His seal is upon your soul by faith. True love to Jesus Christ in every case is the work of the Holy Spirit in your soul. All glory must be attributed to Jesus for what he did for the redeemed of the Lord. Never forget, please, your heart ought to be filled with a sense of awe because of what he did for you personally as his child. It is here that we can truly say, he is altogether lovely in every way.