Surely Not This

In the eons of time and space, when God first thought about creating our world and us, there must have been a pause. Surely, God paused when He thought of creating man because God also knew that man would fall from grace. God must have paused knowing that to redeem man God would need to send His Son into the world. What must God have thought at that instant of creative thought?

If we go back to the moments of creation would God have had the following thoughts? "Surely not this! Surely, not this way! Surely, there must be another way than sacrificing my child, my only Son! Maybe I could create a special mountain that brings people to confrontation of their sins. Maybe I could create a special river that cleanses people of their sin. Maybe I could create a special fountain that cleanses men and women from their unrighteousness. Perhaps I could send some special power from heaven in a beam of light that would redeem human beings. Maybe a special angel could be sent down to earth. Perhaps I can send or inspire in people a special holy book with transforming words and thoughts. Maybe I could inspire someone to create a special invention of some kind to bring people to the realization of their sin and bring them redemption. Surely, there has to be another way than sending my only begotten Son to die a sacrificial death. Surely there must be a clean way. There must surely be a more sterile way to give human beings eternal life. There must surely be a way that does not involve the pain, suffering, and death of my Son. I cannot bear this thought. I cannot bear the idea of what I must do to offer men and women salvation. I cannot fathom this idea of sending the innocent of innocents into this torture, into this maiming, into this horrible suffering."

In the background of this remorse…in the background of the Lord's grieving…in the background of the Lord's grief at having to do this horrible thing to His Son, was you. The only way God could get you to be a new person, to be the person God always wanted you to be was to kill off your sin. The only way God could get you to be the person He created you to be was to get you to voluntarily, with all your free will working, to voluntarily surrender all you are to Him. Your sin is like a virus or germ that must die. Surely God must have paused at the thought of Christ dying…but the pause was only momentary, if there was a pause. If there was a pause it was only momentary because of you. Perhaps there was no pause at all, for you were the focus of God's decision to send Christ into the world.

What would you have done? Would you have sacrificed your only child? Would you sacrifice a friend? Would sacrifice your parent? Would you sacrifice your spouse? Would you even sacrifice a total stranger for a person who might never even give a second thought to the sacrificial act? Would you sacrifice anyone for another person who would cuss and swear profaning the name of the person you chose to sacrifice? Would you decide to make anyone suffer for millions who would turn away in scorn and derision?

God sent His son to die. We cannot know or fully understand what this God's act of love or Christ's act of love means. We cannot fathom God's love or compassion. God made these decisions for each of us even when He knew we would reject Christ and never accept Him.

Christ died on the Cross, so a part of you would also die. Christ loved you and died for you not knowing whether you would accept Him or love Him back. Christ died for you but Christ did not know whether you would ever come to Him. In the moments of Creation, when God was assembling all that is, surely there was a pause. Surely, there was a time when He said to Himself, "No, I cannot do this." But no, there was no pause, there was no moment of hesitation. For God saw you. God saw you living and alive today. God saw your life from the eons of time before today, and God decided to have His Son tortured and crucified for you.

How repulsive the crucifixion was! How terrible the suffering was that day! God must have been so grieved. God's heart must have broken at just the thought of Christ's suffering, yet there was you in God's heart.

Why didn't God stop it? Why didn't God stop the terrible suffering of Christ on the Cross? God did not stop the suffering of Christ…because of you. God did not figure out another way, a better way, an easier way…because of you. Christ did not say "No, I am not going to the Cross." because of you. Christ could have said "No" but He suffered and died, because you are where you are in life at this moment. Christ died to save you and your life.

Surely we can spread this act of Christ out and dilute this act a bit can't we?. Surely, we can try and make this sacrificial act not to be so dramatic by saying that Christ died for others too. By saying Christ died for someone else as well as you, we can try to sort of make His death not so targeted. After all, to say Christ died for you, makes you the object or target of Christ's life and death. We don't want to be a target, so we can dilute this act of Christ, can't we? No, we cannot dilute this act. You were the object of Christ's death on the Cross. You were the objective. You were the object of His love, care, and compassion two thousand years ago. For Christ knew you from the beginning of time and His death on the Cross was done with you in His heart. Christ died on the Cross because it was the only way to get your sinful self to die. Christ's sacrifice for you on the Cross was the only way to get you to give up your mortal sin so you could then become immortal. Dying on the Cross was the only way to get you to surrender your life. Dying on the Cross was the only way to get you to admit your faults, mistakes, and sins. Christ's death on the Cross was the only way to get you to do something about yourself. All the other ways of redemption mentioned in this message would have been totally ineffective. All the other ways to bring you to redemption would not have worked, for Christ's blood that was shed for you cannot be erased from your memory. Christ's blood cannot be washed off. The blood of Christ flowed down out of his hands, his feet, and from his side because you were born and because Christ loved you then and loves you still. And God never paused during the Creation time…because you were in God's heart.

Have your ever seen someone dance or run away from Christ? Surely you have. Their eyes look back and forth searching for a way out of your conversation. Perhaps their eyes flit up and down as you talk to them about Christ, or you bring up a religious matter. Have you ever noticed that a lot of people get nervous and they get scared when Christ is mentioned. These people are running scared. They are running scared because they know what the Cross means. These people are running scared because they know that a part of them will die if they accept Christ into their life. People who have heard the gospel message instinctively know that a part of them is going to have to die when they accept Christ.

For many people, the sacrifice of Christ for them, and the sacrifice they must make in return for Christ is rejected outright. What must Christ think when He sees people running away? What must Christ think when He sees people rejecting Him, cursing Him, mocking Him, and saying all kinds of false things about Him? Christ thinks that He needs to keep loving them. Christ thinks that you need to keep loving them. Until the very last second of their life, Christ will keep loving them and seeking their heart. When Ted Turner calls people Jesus Freaks, Christ still loves Ted Turner and will keep loving Ted Turner until Mr. Turner breathes his last breath. Then, after Ted Turner dies, Christ and Ted will have a meeting to see how things went on earth while Ted was alive.

If Christ had it all to do over again...if He had to go back 2000 years, and Christ had the choice of dying on the Cross for a person who would turn away from Him and never come to Him…Christ would do it all over again. Christ would go through the hell of the flogging, torture, and suffering all over again for every person who has ever turned away from Him. Christ would suffer again for every person who has turned Him down, rebelled against Him, run away from Him, or rejected Him. Christ would die for all these people again, because He loved them then, and He loves them now. Christ would go through all this suffering again because He wants them and you to have the chance to live in eternal peace and joy in Heaven. To Christ, life is the most precious part of creation. To Christ, you are the most precious part of all creation and He would do everything the same way, just for you, because He loves you so.

If you do not have Jesus alive in your heart, if you have not accepted Him into your life, then pray to Him right now. Tell Christ you are sorry about turning away from Him, rebelling against Him, and going your own way in life. Tell Christ that you are sorry for living a life dominated by sin. Tell Christ that you want Him in your heart and life. Tell Christ that you surrender all you are and all you own to Him and you accept Him into your life..