It’s hard for us to really embrace the idea that Jesus Christ was as much a man as he was God. But along with the miracles he performed as the Son of God, he also experienced humanity as deeply as we do...and one of the best examples we see is when he, while being crucified, was thirsty. Jesus was human after all, and if he was going save us, if he was going to die in our place, then he needed to be one of us to do it.
Every Last Word features the Bible teaching ministry of Dr. Philip Graham Ryken. The mission of this ministry is to broadcast clear Bible teaching that glorifies God and helps people grow by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. This weekly program helps Christians apply God's Word to everyday living.
Have you ever left a project unfinished? Our lives are filled with projects that we have never quite managed to complete. We have half-read books on our shelves and piles of junk left abandoned from hobbies we’ve started, but never finished. Thankfully Jesus Christ did not leave the great project of his life unfinished. He got the job done, He accomplished the mission.
Have you ever been at a place in your life where you felt forgotten or forsaken, totally alone? It’s a painful place to be, a place where you feel no one understands or feels your pain. But one person does understand, and has felt your pain and has conquered death for you so that you can have eternal life.
It’s hard for us to really embrace the idea that Jesus Christ was as much a man as he was God. But along with the miracles he performed as the Son of God, he also experienced humanity as deeply as we do. . . and one of the best examples we see is when he, while being crucified, was thirsty. Jesus was human after all, and if he was going save us, if he was going to die in our place, then he needed to be one of us to do it.
As Jesus was growing up, his unique identity as the Son of God and his unique ministry as the Savior of the world must have made for some very interesting family situations. Certainly these family ties were strained during the course of his life, and they were broken altogether at the cross.
The thief on the cross next to Jesus was a criminal in life, the lowest of the low. But he knew his Savior when he met him that day at the place of the Skull outside Jerusalem. Was he just lucky, to be dying next to Jesus? For just at the last possible moment in his earthly life he received the gift of eternal life.