80th Post Prophecy and the Cross Discussed - Con't.

Why does the Cross hold the power that it does. I have been trying to explain what the "Cross" and the "Cup" are and why they are important. How could Jesus use a "Cross" a symbol of his death, into a symbol of triumph. When God gave us free choice, it set in motion a situation where God could not fail. For God to be God, He had to be over everything. If God failed just one time, He would cease to be God. This means He could not fail, not now, not ever! If God is not perfect, He is not God! Jesus being the Son of God, has to have these same attributes, or He is not God! Man not being God, brought sin into the world because he disobeyed the Laws of God. Man was tricked by Satan into disobeying God. In order to reestablish man's position to what it was before sin was introduced, God would have to restore man. This required paying the sin debt that was owed; and conquering the trickster that caused man to fail. That meant Satan had to be brought down. The cross is the vehicle God used to accomplish both these things. Jesus died for all man's sins. He raised Himself on Easter to prove that He had conquered death! When Jesus rose, He conquered death. The wages of sin is death, because Jesus had no sin, death could not keep Him. When He rose on Easter, He conquered death and Satan. This is why Jesus can say "I am the Way the Truth and the Life; No one comes to the Father except through Me." There is no other God, but this God!!

79th Post Full Power of the Cross Investegated.

We learned from our study of the "CUP" that there was more to this than just a cup filled with wine. The same is true for the "CROSS". The cross was the vehicle used to grant us forgiveness of sins, this is True. But there is another part of forgiving of sins that we forget to include. This has to do with the getting rid of the sins once they are forgiven. To better understand this, we have to go to Leviticus Chapter 16, Hebrews Chapters 9 & 10, and 13:12. Hebrews 13:12, is the one that says that Jesus had to die outside the camp. If you look at the Temple, the Altar of Burned Sacrifice was inside the Temple walls but outside in the courtyard. So why is it so important that Jesus was to die outside the camp (city walls)? The sin had to get outside the city walls. In the Old Testament, this was accomplished through the use of a scapegoat. Lambs were used to cover the sins of the people, Bulls (priests) and Goats were used to cover the sins of the people as a nation. This was done as part of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). In the Old Testament, it required two days to try to accomplish what Jesus actually did in one. The Old Testament sacrifices, only covered the sins they did not atone for them. This is the reason, they had to be performed every year. Jesus' sacrifice, was complete, He only had to do it once and Jesus got rid of the sin, not just covered it. I will go into more detail concerning the scapegoat in next post.

78th Post Jesus and the "CUP" Discussion Continued.

In the previous posts concerning the "CUP". We have looked at the complex mixture the "CUP" contained. Now we will be looking at the complex way the Lord used that "CUP" as a way to reconcile us back to God. By us, I mean all humanity; to be reconciled you must believe that Jesus died and rose again for your sins. We will be looking at the resurrection and what that all entailed. A clue is found in the last part of Jesus' prayer in the upper room on Maundy Thursday night, before He was to be betrayed. The prayer is found in John Chapter 17, but we are concentrating on the last verses of this prayer. Jesus uses the word "sanctify" twice, and consecrate once. Remember that Jesus is perfect, without sin. Jesus was not guilty to die for our sins, so why was it necessary for Him to be consecrated? When Jesus died, He not only satisfied God's Sin requirement, but He also satisfied the Right to be called our High Priest. Just like Jesus was baptized before He could teach the people, Jesus also had to be consecrated to become eligible to be Our High Priest. Remember Jesus is not of the line of Aaron, so He was establishing a new form of Priesthood, along the lines of King Melchizedek (Genesis 14:17-20). Like King Melchizedek, Jesus holds the title of King & High Priest. Jesus not only paid the sin debt, but He also became the One who has the authority to forgive sin. When Jesus forgives, you are completely forgiven! I hope this post has helped you to understand more of what the "Cup" did for you and why it was important for Jesus to drink all of it. Praise God!