kingdom

“Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30). How many times in the Gospel of John does Jesus talk about His hour? He regularly said, “My hour has not yet come,” or, “The hour is coming.” It was as if Jesus was hearing the chimes of a clock that nobody else could. The life of the Lord Jesus Christ—the sum total of His ministry and mission—was leading to this one, final cry, “Tetelestai,” or, “It is finished.” From His birth through His boyhood, manhood, and public ministry, Jesus’ focus was to finish the work His Father had given to Him—the work of redemption. From the very beginning, God’s plan for our redemption required Jesus’ death and resurrection. If you have never experienced the finished work of the cross of Christ, you can today. Right now you can say, “It is finished. Lord God, I come surrendering my life to You. […]

“Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God” (Psalm 31:5). As Jesus nears the end of His agony, we meditate on the sixth statement from the cross: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). This cry was not the cry of defeat, but the cry of victory. It was not the cry of one conquered by death, but of one conquering death. It was not the cry of a victim of circumstances, but of one in control of His circumstances. As a commander would dismiss a servant from his presence, Jesus dismissed His own Spirit and went to be with God the Father, speaking the words of Psalm 31:5: “Into your hands I commit my spirit; deliver me, Lord, my faithful God.” When the centurion at the cross witnessed Jesus’ victorious cry, the officer recognized the difference between Jesus and every other dying man he had seen. It was in this moment […]

“Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity” (Joel 2:13). When John showed up at the cross, Jesus did not say to him, “John, where were you? I was looking for you. I thought that, of all the disciples, you would be the one who would have stood by me during the trial. Where were you, John?” There was no rebuke. There was no “I told you so.” Rather, He looked at him, and He gave him the highest responsibility that our dying Savior could give anyone. He said, “Son, here is your mother.” The Lord was saying that He wanted John to substitute for Him. He wanted John to stand in His place to speak for Him—to care for His mother. Some of us have made promises to the Lord, promises that we are going […]

“Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise'” (Luke 23:43). As we continue looking at the statements of Jesus on the cross, today we look at His second: “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” (Luke 23:43). In one of His final interactions before His death, Jesus compassionately extended eternal life. As He openly prayed for the forgiveness of His killers, Jesus sparked an internal transformation in the criminal next to Him. In humility, the criminal said to Jesus, “[R]emember me when you come into your kingdom” (v. 42). In the midst of great suffering and torment, our Savior did not allow His own pain and circumstances to distract Him from the cries of faith from a repentant sinner. Jesus knew that this was the very reason He was hanging on that cross. Just as He was not too preoccupied to minister to this criminal, He is never […]

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). Read 1 Corinthians 15:3-8, 20-26. Think about what it must have been like to arrive at Jesus’ tomb Easter morning, full of sorrow, only to discover the large stone in front of the tomb had been rolled away. Imagine being greeted by an angel with the incredible news that your Lord was no longer dead but alive! To witness the resurrection and experience it as a close friend of Jesus must have been something. But here’s the amazing thing: The Bible says we haven’t missed out. Though we are two thousand years late to the party, we can still experience the resurrection of Jesus Christ and bear witness to its power. How? you might ask. In his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul says that when Christ comes into your life, when you truly surrender to Him, […]

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you” (Isaiah 41:10). Scientists and psychologists alike have researched different ways to overcome fear. Some believe they can develop drugs to combat phobias, while others believe we should just fake it until we make it. But there is a secret to courage that God reveals over and over again in Scripture. It is the same thing He told Moses after asking him to lead the Israelites out of slavery, and it is the same thing Jesus told us after giving the disciples the Great Commission (see Exodus 3:12; Matthew 28:19-20). In Haggai 1:13, God reveals the secret to courage once again. Once the Israelites recommitted themselves to the Lord, He responded, “I am with you.” The Lord knew they would need courage to continue His work and rebuild their faith. He knew they would need His […]

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). When God wanted to show us His love, He gave. And He gave everything. Only in heaven will we come close to grasping the unity of the Godhead and what it means that the Father “did not spare his own Son” (Romans 8:32). But because God desires a relationship with us, because He wants us to know Him, He graciously helps us understand the wonder of the Gospel by communicating to our limited, finite minds with a relationship familiar to us. He chose to communicate the depth of His love for us through the image of the father-son relationship. In the Hebrew culture into which Christ was born, the father-son relationship was precious—the two persons were inseparable. So when God revealed Jesus to the world, He revealed Him as Son, and […]