Friday, December 2, 2022
What’s Insulting to God
“Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.” (Hebrews 12:2 NLT)
It is insulting to God to say that all religions are true and that Jesus is only one of many ways to Him. If that were the case, do you think God the Father would have let His Son go through the agony of the cross?
Jesus, who is God, is omniscient. He knew what would happen. He was fully aware of the horrors of the crucifixion waiting just around the bend. He knew His disciples would abandon Him and that Judas Iscariot would betray Him. And He knew that Simon Peter would deny him.
Jesus knew they would rip open His back with scourging, press a crown of thorns onto His head, beat Him, spit on His face, and then crucify Him. Worst of all, He knew that He would bear all the sins of the world. And He recoiled from it.
The Bible says that Jesus was “a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief” (Isaiah 53:3 NLT). But the sorrow Jesus experienced in Gethsemane on the night before His crucifixion seemed to be a culmination of all the sorrow He had ever known. I don’t think we can even begin to fathom what He was going through. And He did it all for us.
Hebrews 12 reveals what kept Him going: “Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne” (verse 2 NLT). The joy before Him, friend, was the knowledge that we would come into a relationship with God.
Jesus refused diversion. He refused distraction. And He would not leave His path because He had to taste death for everyone. Jesus had to drink the cup. He had to go to the cross and die for our sins.
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