As Christians, we
have heard time and time and time again, the story of the Crucifixion and the Resurrection,
perhaps so many times that Holy Week and Easter have become times of fasting
and feasting without the awe and mystery of the events, which occurred two
thousand years ago. To truly appreciate the magnitude of these events, we must contemplate
the person of Jesus Christ. We must comprehend who He is? Jesus is called the
Word by John: “In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…All things were made by him; and without him was not any
thing made that was made…He was in the world, and the world was made by him,
and the world knew him not…And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,
(and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,)
full of grace and truth…No man hath seen God at any time, the only begotten
Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him (made him known)” (John
1:1-18 KLV). Jesus of Nazareth is a mystery to us because we cannot fully comprehend
God, yet, as Christians, we know Jesus is God. We cannot fully know God, but we
can know God through Christ.
As best as you can, take a moment and envision God in three
persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, together as one in eternity.
Paint a picture for yourself of the three as one, planning to create our
universe, knowing that the pinnacle of their creation would be man who would
reject God’s love and choose evil. It was at a time when there was no time that
God chose to sacrifice Himself to save us, long before we even existed. Christ,
the Son of God, seated on His throne of glory, immeasurably loved by His Father
and worshipped by angels, would choose to take on flesh and become a human
being, knowing that He would suffer betrayal, rejection, and crucifixion. Have
you ever been betrayed or rejected by someone you loved deeply? Knowing this,
would you choose the horrifically painful death on the cross for that person?
When we stop and
contemplate our all-powerful God, who willingly took on flesh for us, so He
could die on the cross and save us, we are in awe! Reverence and wonder fill
our spirits! We drop down to our knees in humility and gratitude and fear! “For God so loved
the world (each and every one us) that he gave his only Son, so that everyone
who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life” (John 3:16). Amazingly,
God offers us an invitation to live eternally in His love. “But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners
Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Incredibly, He chose to die for us, even
though we are not worthy of His love. We are not able to love Him perfectly as
He loves us, for each time we sin, we reject His divine love and choose evil. When
we come to realize this, we are stirred by a profound repentance for our sins.
Our flesh may be weak, but our spirit loves our Lord. “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called
children of God” (1 John 3:1). Even as sinners, God desires a relationship
with us, not just a friendship, but rather, He wishes to call us His sons and
daughters! “He destined
us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good
pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he
freely bestowed on us in the Beloved” (Ephesians
1:5-6). What a good and loving God He is!
The
cross, an inhumane means of suffering a painful, shameful, public death, was meant
to produce fear. God transformed this instrument of execution into a symbol of
hope, life and salvation. Through the Resurrection, God confounds evil by recreating
the cross into a glorious banner of our faith. Thus, Isaiah’s prophecy is
fulfilled, “he will
swallow up death forever” (Isaiah 25:8). Consequently in 1 Corinthians 15:54-55,
Paul triumphantly declares:
“Death
has been swallowed up in victory.”
“Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?”
“But,
as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the human heart conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him.”
nor the human heart conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him.”
As Easter approaches,
ask the Holy Spirit to reintroduce you to those feelings of childlike wonder in
the awesome mysteries of the crucifixion and resurrection. Allow yourself to experience
God’s infinite love revealed to us through the cross of Christ. Ask the Holy Spirit
to reveal Christ to you in all His humility, meekness, and mercy, for this is
the kind of love He offers us. God humbled Himself and offered to wash our feet
as He washed the feet of the disciples. He offers Himself to us each time we
participate in Holy Communion. We receive the blood and body of Christ to spark
that mystical union we have through the Holy Spirit who lives within us as
Christians. When you go forward to receive the Eucharist, know with all your
being that Christ lives in you!
If you have not
known Christ, ask God to reveal Him to you! God knows what it takes to make
Himself real to you. Open your heart! He will create a miracle within you, and
you will rejoice in experiencing His overwhelmingly, infinite, divine love
firsthand. There is nothing else like it!
© 2017 Helen Kamenos All rights reserved
http://www.helenkamenos.com/
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