To get pearls, one must dive deep!

Tag: God will not forsake

The Forsaken Fulfilling Christ :: Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?

Each of the seven sayings from the Cross gives us a glimpse into the nature of Jesus Christ. In the fourth saying, Jesus, diverts the attention of the hearer to a question, actually a cry of anguish, between him and God his Father. He cried out with a loud voice, saying Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which when interpreted means “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? This question reflects that Jesus is the forsaken Christ.

Not only is Jesus the forsaken Christ, but he is the fulfilling Christ as well. Centuries earlier, David, the king of Israel, had prophetically expressed this in a song, talking about the Messiah, who will be forsaken by God (Psalm 22:1-2), scorned and mocked (Psalm 22:7), who will be poured out as water (Psalm 22:14; John 19:34), whose hands and feet will be pierced (Psalm 22:16), who will thirst (Psalm 22; John 19:28), who will be stripped naked and his garments will be parted (Psalm 22:18), and who will not despise nor abhor the affliction of the afflicted (Psalm 22:24) accepting the will of God (Matthew 26:39, 42) and take on our affliction upon himself (1 Peter 2:24), who would cry out to the God (Psalm 22:24), who will bring about everlasting life (Psalm 22:26; John 3:16), and whose kingdom of righteousness will be established henceforth (Psalm 22:27-31). Jesus being forsaken and crying out his Father is a fulfillment of the messianic prophecy, sung by David. Jesus is the fulfilling Messiah.

The Savior, Jesus Christ, who had promised his disciples that he would never forsake them (Hebrews 13:5) was now forsaken. This question can be attributed to the fact that God the Father, the One and only Holy God (1 Samuel 2:2) can have no communion with unrighteousness as light cannot have any communion with darkness (2 Corinthians 6:14). When light shines darkness dispels – darkness cannot coexist with light – they are mutually exclusive. All unrighteousness is sin (1 John 5:17; 1 John 1:9). And Jesus, who knew no sin had become sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21) which severed the communion he had with God, his Holy Father (John 17:11), who hates sin (Proverbs 6:16-19). The wages and end result of sin is death (Romans 6:23; James 1:15) and God created man to be a living soul (Genesis 2:7), not a dead being. So Jesus’ emotion being forsaken is indeed a reflection of his and his Father’s love for us –  a love so great – that God felt justified to forsake his own son, so he would not have to forsake us (Romans 5:8). God forsook God so he would not have to forsake us. 

This further accentuates that God hates sin, but not the sinner. We are not sinners because we sin. Instead, we sin because we are sinners – having inherited the sinful nature, because of our forefather Adam’s willful disobedience and sin (Romans 5:14). In order to denature our sin nature and create in us a clean heart (Psalm 51:10), a heart that can live forever (Psalm 22:26), and make us a new righteous creation (2 Corinthians 5:17, 21), Jesus had to denature his Holiness and was made sin (2 Corinthians 5:21) and be forsaken from his Father.

Points to ponder:

Jesus is the forsaken and fulfilling Christ. He is the Messiah – the one and only Messiah.
Had Jesus not have the need to cry out, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? then the world today would be crying out that same question – “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?”
You and I are not forsaken by God! and Jesus has promised that he will never leave us not forsake us.

Mark 15:34 (KJV)
34 And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?

Psalm 22:1-2 (KJV)
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?
O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.

And God remembered Noah

After it started to rain for forty days and forty nights, during the time of Noah, the waters prevailed for a little less than half an year (hundred and fifty days) when Noah and his family were in the ark along with the creatures that Noah had taken into it. Genesis 8:1 says that “And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him [Noah] in the ark …” What does this mean?

Close scrutiny of this text bring to surface certain treasures hidden in it — about the very nature of God.

First and foremost, it tells us of the unforgetting nature of God. And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, does not imply that God had forgotten about Noah or any of the living residents in the ark, for God does not forget his people, let alone even a small bird like a sparrow (Luke 12:6).
Second, God’s righteous nature is demonstrated in this, for God not only cares for his people but also for his creation (all living creatures) as the Bible says that a righteous man (who is made in God’s image) regards the life of his beast (Proverbs 12:10).

Points to ponder:
Life may seem tumultuous and waves of despair and discouragement may buffet against our lives, but if you are feeling lonely and desolate, you can be assured of one thing … that you are not forgotten nor forsaken … for God remembers you. You may feel lonely, but you are not alone. Infact, even a mother can forget her child, but God will not forget you (Isaiah 49:15). God is righteous and kind toward his creatures and so we can be assured that he is righteous and is kind towards you and me. When we have to tide over the waves of life, as long as we are in Christ (The Ark), we can be assured that God will not forget us.  Just as it is written, “And God remembered Noah …”, since God’s people are engraved in the palms of his hands (Isaiah 49:16), you can be assured and say, “And God remembered [insert your name here].” The question that remains, which demands an answer is “Do you/I remember God?” (Deuteronomy 8:18; Ecclesiastes 12:1; Proverbs 3:5-6)

Genesis 8:1 (KJV)
1 And God remembered Noah, and every living thing, and all the cattle that was with him in the ark: and God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters assuaged;

Luke 12:6 (KJV)
6 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before God?

Isaiah 49:15-16 (KJV)
15 Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.
16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.

Not fail nor forsake until …

1 Chronicles 28:20 records the charge that king David tell his son Solomon. He counsels his son to be strong and of good courage and to build (do) the temple of God according to the pattern God had written (1 Chronicles 28:19). He tells his son not to be afraid or to lose courage because he avers that God will be with Solomon and that God will not fail nor forsake Solomon until the work of God in building His temple is finished.

Our commission is to reconcile man to God so that their minds are renewed to not conform to the patterns of this world but to the pattern of Jesus Christ, God’s son. We are commissioned to build the temple of God i.e., reconcile man to God so that their bodies (which is the temple of the Living God) are presented as living sacrifices. Unfortunately, many times we are timid and fearful when it comes to acting on this commission. We can however take heart from the words of a king who said that God will not fail nor forsake until the work of building His temple (the people who come to his saving grace) is finished. And more importantly, we can take heart from the words of THE KING of kings, Jesus Christ, who said, “I will never leave (fail) you nor forsake you and lo I am with you even unto the ends of the world” (Hebrews 13:5-6; Matthew 28:20)

1 Chronicles 28:20 (KJV)
20 And David said to Solomon his son, Be strong and of good courage, and do it: fear not, nor be dismayed: for the LORD God, even my God, will be with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee, until thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.

Philippians 1:6 (KJV)
6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Powered by WordPress & Theme by Anders Norén