Friday: Further Thought – The Hour of Glory: The Cross and Resurrection
Daily Lesson for Friday 20th of December 2024
Read Ellen G. White, “ ‘It Is Finished,’ ” Pages 758–764; “ ‘The Lord Is Risen,’ ” Pages 779–787; and “ ‘Why Weepest Thou? ” Pages 788–794, in The Desire of Ages. See also, Clifford Goldstein, Risen: Finding Hope in the Empty Tomb (Nampa, ID: Pacific Press, 2020).
Image © Stan Myers from GoodSalt.com
“Pilate longed to deliver Jesus. But he saw that he could not do this, and yet retain his own position and honor. Rather than lose his worldly power, he chose to sacrifice an innocent life. How many, to escape loss or suffering, in like manner sacrifice principle. Conscience and duty point one way, and self-interest points another. The current sets strongly in the wrong direction, and he who compromises with evil is swept away into the thick darkness of guilt.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 738.
“Christ did not yield up His life till He had accomplished the work which He came to do, and with His parting breath He exclaimed, ‘It is finished.’ John 19:30. The battle had been won. His right hand and His holy arm had gotten Him the victory. As a Conqueror He planted His banner on the eternal heights. Was there not joy among the angels? All heaven triumphed in the Saviour’s victory. Satan was defeated, and knew that his kingdom was lost.
“To the angels and the unfallen worlds the cry, ‘It is finished,’ had a deep significance. It was for them as well as for us that the great work of redemption had been accomplished. They with us share the fruits of Christ’s victory.”—The Desire of Ages, p. 758.
Discussion Questions
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Michael Leunig, a famous Australian cartoonist known for his brilliant insights into our society, died this week. The news feeds have been running articles reminding us of some of the impact of his satire on us. One cartoon commented that Australians knew when to fight, when not to fight, and how to fight but didn't have a clue why they were fighting.
Sometimes, when I look at Christian history, I feel much the same. We argue at length about issues such as the nature of the Godhead, the timing of origins, the shape and sound of our liturgy, and the gender of our ministry. We fight with those who do not believe, but we are non-selective - we fight with those who believe too. Some of our own historians have carefully documented some of those fights, and to be honest, I don't believe we have learned much from our history.
Are we Christians because we like a good fight? Do we want to win the argument at all costs?
Jesus won the war by losing the battle. if there is one thing we should learn from the crucifixion and resurrection is that Jesus won by losing. That concept is something that is very hard to explain, so I will give an example that means a lot to Australians.
We Australians and New Zealanders entered a battle in Gallipoli, Turkiye on April 15, 1915. Essentially it was not our war and the Turks were not really our enemies. It was a war between Britain and Germany and we and the Turks had been dragged into it because of our histories and alliances. The war went badly for us and we lost. But during that battle a national spirit was formed among the Australians and New Zealanders, where the soldiers looked after one another. Australians and New Zealanders developed a national sense of caring for one another. One of the most poignant reminders of that battle is the story of Simpson and his donkey who served tirelessly bringing the wounded back from the trenches. He was an adopted Australian but his care and compassion has etched itself deeply in our national history. We lost the battle but in doing so we gained something that has been part of our nation ever since - compassion.
Jesus lost the battle but won the war. If we think the main argument for winning the Christian war is proving the historicity of the resurrection, the nature of the Godhead, or any of the other "Christian" battles, we have limited our view of Christianity.
Jesus lives when we yield to him and live a life of compassionate practical understanding.
By this shall all men know ...
The time for glory people celebrate , same applies to a resurrection its a win against death however much we have never seen anyone resurrect, Christ is a real assurance for believers that theres resurrection and it shall be our hour of glory, as believers we need to believe unto celebrating with christ once we finish his work in the 🌍
The Savior’s victory was the triumph of life over death for mankind. Through His sacrifice, salvation became possible in the Name of Jesus Christ. Yes, all of heaven rejoiced in this victory, for His love conquered man's sin and its inevitable consequence - death.
The Father’s love for humanity is evident in His outpouring of Grace and Mercy, covering our sins through His beloved Son, Jesus Christ - Acts 4:12. This Love was fully revealed in the Son’s willingness to embrace His Father’s Will, trusting in His justice and the promise to bring His earthly children home.
This promise is extended to all who call Him "Abba—Father." As we reach out to Him, believing in the completed work of salvation through Jesus Christ, we rest in the loving-kindness of our heavenly Father. Our calling is to have faith in His Justice, honoring and loving Him with all our hearts. By aligning our will with His and trusting in His righteousness, we receive the promise of life everlasting - John 3:16.
The cross as triumphant exaltation. "And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men to myself. He said this to show by what death he was to die." (John 12:32-33)
John sees the cross as exaltation regarding victory over sin. The lamb of God takes away the sin of the world. (John 1:29) His last word, it is finished - just one word: tetelstai, is an exclamation of victory over sin up to the total elimination of sin at his second coming, when sin and sinners are no more.
The second phase of exaltation is recorded in the book of Acts, when Christ was exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise, Christ poured out the Holy Spirit on his disciples creating his Church on earth in great numbers. (Acts 2:32-33) This second phase of exaltation is marked by that outpouring of the Holy Spirit.
The third phase of exaltation has to do with the endpoint of time when Christ at the right hand of God is waiting that his enemies are all put under his footstool. (Psalm 110:1) The last enemy of Christ and mankind is death. (1 Corinthians 15:25-26)
As to the present time, we do not see, that all is put under his feet unto subjection, inasmuch as this endpoint of time has not yet come. But we see Jesus, crowned with glory and honour at the cross, in his cross exaltaltion tasting death for all of us. (Hebrews 2:9) His crown of thorns is in reality the crown of glory and honour, which leads us back to the first phase of Christ`s exaltation on the cross.
The proclamation of the cross is the very foundation of the gospel, followed by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and climaxing in the total eradication and elimination of all sin in this world.
The world presently is calling for peace. There will only be peace when sin as the cause of war and strife will be eliminated from this world. The great day of atonement as the great at-one-ment of God and mankind is climaxing with the Azazel-Goat who is to carry sin out of the community into the wilderness. (Leviticus 16:20-22) This local sanctuary-ritus is pointing forward into the point of endtime, when sin will be eradicated from the earth as a world wide ultimate salvation event.
These thought came to my mind in studying the lesson on the cross for this week, which I wanted to share with you.
Winfried Stolpmann