Today I was once again at a Gospel performance
featuring Michael and his father Ed Cullipher. Ed sang a song that likely touched
even the hardest heart, “Go Close the
Windows.”
As
Jesus hung on the cross “Angels cried Father please stop them" and God
answered "Go close the Windows."
What anguish God must have felt, nevertheless, as the Suffering Messiah Jesus
was to serve as the propitiation for sin. Ephesians 2:8-9, “8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works,
lest any man should boast.” This is the one time Jesus called His father God as He, Jesus, was the
conciliation that permitted us to stand before our righteous God.
Once more as I listened to Mr.
Cullipher I thought back several years to when Pastor
Bruce talked about “The Seven Sayings of Jesus on the Cross.” All those many years ago Pastor
Bruce inspired me to
look into some of the Old Testament prophecies
that were fulfilled while Jesus hung on that cross. Sadly Pastor Bruce went home to
be with the Lord, a victim of Covid-19.
The following is from my earlier blog
postings:
# 1. Forgiveness: Luke
23:34, “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
And they parted his raiment, and cast lots.”
Numbers 15:26, “And it shall be forgiven all the
congregation of the children of Israel, and the stranger that sojourneth among
them; seeing all the people were in ignorance.”
Psalm 22:18, “They part my garments among them,
and cast lots upon my vesture.”
#2. Salvation: Luke
23:43, “And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be
with me in paradise.”
Isaiah 40:3, “The voice of him that crieth in
the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a
highway for our God.”
John 1:29, “The next day John seeth Jesus coming
unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the
world.” John the Baptist is often referred to as the end of The Old Testament.
#3. Relationship: John
19:26-27, “When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by,
whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he
to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her
unto his own home.
Psalm 69:8 “I am become a stranger unto my
brethren, and an alien unto my mother's children.”
#4 Abandonment: Matthew 27:46,
“And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama
sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”
Psalm 22:1, “My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my
roaring?”
#5 Distress: John 19:28,
“After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the
scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.”
Psaml 69:20, “Reproach hath broken my heart; and
I am full of heaviness: and I looked for some to take pity, but there was none;
and for comforters, but I found none.”
#6 Reunion John
19:30, “When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished:
and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost."
Psalm 69:21 They gave me also gall for my meat;
and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
#7 Triumph: Luke 23:46, “And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said,
Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up
the ghost.”
Psalm 31:5, “Into thine hand I commit my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O
Lord God of truth.”
Tetelestai
means, “It is finished.” Jesus paid the price, it is up to each of us to choose
to accept or reject the gift of Grace.
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