tgandy

Jesus took my sins to the cross. Sins I have not yet committed. He died in my place. He was the lamb that was sacrificed instead of me. He became sin and was separated from his Father for a short time because he loved me. That was my punishment he took on Calvary. That was love.

In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus prayed, "Father if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." The cup was destiny. His cup is the requirement that the holy Jesus bare our unholy sins and receive the judgment and punishment of God for our sins. Jesus took all our sins, even those we have yet to commit and died as the sacrificial lamb. He died for us. He substituted himself for me. I have repented of my sins, but Jesus paid the price for me.

Isaiah 53 is fulfilled in this quote; "Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many". Jesus' destiny to me is clearly spelled out here. He came to serve and teach us the way to eternal life.

God removes sins from many nations, which means all peoples. Jesus' sacrifice was for all who believed and repented of their sins. Sadly however, many do not repent. They say they will when they are ready. For some their time comes before they repent. Jesus died for the forgiveness of sins for all of us. Many just do not believe.

Repentance is central to the Kingdom of God because a rebirth into the Kingdom occurs when you repent. Baptism is important because it is an outward sign of an inner commitment. I do not believe Christ can reign in an unrepentant heart because you must chose to serve him or the evil one. You cannot sit on the fence. You must decide!

John baptized with water. Jesus baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire. The Spirit is "poured out" on believers. In the water baptism the water is poured over the person from above symbolizing the pouring out of the Holy Spirit. I long to be overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit. I am right with my Lord and serve Him only. I live the way He would want me to live and be his representative here on earth. I mess up, but not on purpose and I ask for forgiveness. I try to live so he would be proud of me.

Going on the premise that John's baptism was comparable to proselyte baptism simply immersing them in water compared them to the Gentiles and required a lot of humility to be publically baptized and repent of their sins. Jews were God's chosen people. Jesus welcomed John's baptism. The Jewish leaders refused to admit they were inners in this way.

When people "adopt" the Christian faith without repenting of their known sins they may as well not repent . They are not repentant in the heart. They follow their own desires and vices not the teachings of Jesus. I think people avoid repentance because they feel the Christian faith is one of the Do Nots. Do not do this and do not do that. The percentage of Christians today who are unrepentant and unprepared in heart I could not tell you. I know what I see but I do not know their hearts.

I believe God, through the animal sacrifices for sin was trying to teach us the seriousness of sin and all its implications. God is holy. It is to Him we ask forgiveness. Our God is a loving forgiving God . He does anger but he loves us.

God does not owe us forgiveness. He loves us and will forgive us but we need to admit or confess before Him. Animal sacrifices were not adequate atonement for human sins. However the seriousness of sin hit home with the confessor. The animal sacrificed cost them financially and economically and being apart of the slaying showed them the seriousness of the sin.

The basic elements involved in a sin sacrifice are confession, bringing an animal with not defect, lay his hands on the head of the animal (symbolic of sin transfer) and slaying the animal. The blood is collected b y the priest and poured on the base of the altar. For forgiveness of sins today first we confess we have sinned and ask for forgiveness. Then we try not to commit his or any other sin again. We do not need to make a sacrifice Jesus was the sacrifice for our sins. We are not perfect we will sin. But we try and we do know right from wrong.

The animal sacrifice is repulsive to us today because we are not used to it. Also we think everything has feelings as we do. We tend to make pets of animals. I know I did with some cows my husband bought to raise for our freezer. I named them and played with them. I had trouble with their slaughter. I am sure a lot of these feelings have something to do with city/farm life. The farmers accept this because they are used to it. We close our eyes in the cities and "pretend" we do not know where the meat comes from.

Anger is an appropriate response to sin in that sin is opposite of everything of God. He wants us to worship Him and we are his representatives. Sin goes against everything He stands for. Acting out of anger is sinful. Being angry about an injustice that brings about a corrective change is positive.

Lambs were used for a sin sacrifice and also used at Passover. The sin of the world would appear to be a radical concept in that the people did not fully take in the scope of the world or why one person would be able to accomplish taking away the sins of the world. One man do all of this? To them it seemed impossible, but we have the rest of the story.

When Jesus called out in a loud voice "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit" he is saying several things. One by Father he is intimate with his father and trusts him. His Father is with Him no matter what. When he commits he is trusting the human life to his father. His spirit the human Jesus he has turned over to God. We are his from the beginning and if we are believers full of faith we know it is to God we will return. Jesus by his dying for our sins gave us this promise. He has conquered death and so will we. Faith, believe and works..

Jesus last words on the cross "It is finished" tells us the mission he came to earth to do is finished. It is done. In our own lives we should firstly begin something and see it through to the end so we too can say it is finished. We must live and be obedient to God. God has a plan for us. Although we have free choice the plan is there. We must figure out what He wants us to do and start the journey and then when the end comes for us we can say "It is finished."

Jesus' fifth word tells me he WAS both human and divine. The human required fluids to drink. Jesus had to fulfill the scriptures and was very conscious of this. The 6 hours on the cross had taken its toll. In order to fulfill the scriptures he needed a drink to wet his lips and throat. This enabled him to cry out the final words.

Jesus' fourth word teaches us about love. Jesus loves the Father and they "both" love us. Jesus through his love teaches us commitment and faith. His faith was so strong as was his love for us that he died for us. No one could ever love us this much.

I feel Jesus made John responsible for his mother because Jesus was one of the 3 disciples who was the closest to him. Jesus loved his mother and took the responsibility of her care seriously. We should honor our Mother and Father and that means love them. In most cases they are doing their best and they love us unconditionally.

The thief and Jesus are suffering the same fate. somehow the thief realizes Jesus is innocent. "Don't you fear God?" He knows Jesus is the Messiah and he wants the paradise Jesus has offered. He has faith. The thief received God's salvation. I think this encouraged Jesus. If only one believes you feel as if your "passing" and footprints have touched another to honestly have learned and believed.

I believe we are the most responsible for killing Jesus. Although, we did not actually hold the hammer we are responsible for the spikes and his blood. Our sins, those we have not yet committed is why he died. He loves us and for forgiveness of those sins he died. We sin everyday and sometimes knowingly and other times we sin and do not even realize it. Father, please forgive us.

I believe we are the most responsible for killing Jesus. Although, we did not actually hold the hammer we are responsible for the spikes and his blood. Our sins, those we have not yet committed is why he died. He loves us and for forgiveness of those sins he died. We sin everyday and sometimes knowingly and other times we sin and do not even realize it. Father, please forgive us.

I believe we are the most responsible for killing Jesus. Although, we did not actually hold the hammer we are responsible for the spikes and his blood. Our sins, those we have not yet committed is why he died. He loves us and for forgiveness of those sins he died. We sin everyday and sometimes knowingly and other times we sin and do not even realize it. Father, please forgive us.

Confession and repentance are absolutely necessary to grow in the Christian life. You can confess to another person or God and ask for forgiveness. If we do not confess and repent we do not grow, and are subject to God's discipline. When we confess and ask for forgiveness it is a wiping the slate clean, a breath of fresh air, the load is gone from your shoulders. This frees us to grow in God's love.

I believe one can conduct a self-examination and self-judgement so that it is healthy. First of all you are not comparing yourself with another. You are looking inward at yourself discerning if you are following the scriptures and fulfilling the commandments. Are you living and loving your neighbor as yourself? Do you love the Lord you God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength? Do you observe of Sabbath Day and keep it holy. Do you come to His Table with a pure heart. One does not need to compare with any other. These can be ask of oneself.