Musings – February 13, 2025
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Jesus Christ declared, “I have the power to lay down my life, and I have the power to take it up again.”
It’s very interesting to note that the very central theme of the Bible is the gospel of Jesus Christ. All the way back to the book of Genesis, where it states that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. That seed is Jesus, and we recognize that the heel of the seed would be bruised but Satan‘s head would be crushed.
This is a clear reference to the cross of Christ where His heel would be bruised as He died for the sins of the world. All through the Old Testament, we see picture after picture of Jesus Christ and His death, burial, and resurrection.
Jesus said, “Search the scripture, for in them, you think you have eternal life, but they testify of Me.”
Jesus is letting us know that all of the Old Testament scriptures were pointing to Him.
“It is written of me,” He said. So that means to understand the purpose of the scripture is to understand The One the scripture points to.
Jesus Christ is the central theme of the Bible. If you miss Jesus, you have missed the purpose of the Word.
No wonder He could boldly proclaim, “I am the Truth, I am the Life, and I am the Way, no man comes to the Father but by Me.”
This means that the way to Heaven is narrow, and that way is Jesus. He had the authority not only to lay down His life, but also, to take it back up again. There weren’t enough Roman soldiers or demons in Hell to kill Jesus if He did not willingly lay His life down. Jesus Christ did not die as a martyr, but as a substitute for us. He became what we were, that we might become what He is. He became sin, that we might become righteous. He became the curse, that we might be blessed.
Truly, by His stripes, we are healed. Religion could not stop Him; death could not hold Him. The grave was not powerful enough to keep Him down. He not only had the power to lay down His life, but the power to take it up again, as well. Jesus Christ was declared to be the Son of God by the resurrection from the dead. Pilate said, “Don’t you know I’ve got power to crucify You or power to let you go?”
Pilate was under the illusion that he was in charge that day. Jesus made it very clear that He was the one in charge when He said, “You would have no power over Me unless it were given to you from above.”
Jesus could have called legions of angels at any moment to stop the crucifixion, but He died on the cross for us. Thank God the just died for the unjust, that through faith, the unjust may become just. We have truly been justified by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. We are saved by grace through faith, not of works.
As the song writer wrote, “Nothing in my hands I bring solely to the cross I cling.” Our eyes are taken off of the work of our hands and put squarely on the nail scars in His hands.
It is by faith alone in Christ alone. Thank God He not only laid down His life for us, but took it up again for us. Jesus was delivered over to death for our trespasses, and was raised to life for our justification.
Reprinted courtesy of McCreary Journal.