IN CONTROL WHEN THINGS SEEM OUT OF CONTROL

Like most of you pastors, the wheels of my mind have been turning as I have been meditating upon the finished work of Christ. Next week, I will turn to the greatest event of history, the resurrection. However, this week, I have walked with Jesus from the judgment hall to the "place of the skull," where the "Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world," was crucified.

Our minds cannot conceive the pain, agony, and torment endured by the One who was fully God, yet fully man. In his book, "The Life of Christ," Fredrick Farrar said, "A death by crucifixion seems to include all that pain and death have to offer...horrible and ghastly. Dizziness, cramps, thirst, starvation, sleeplessness, traumatic fever, shame, publicity of shame, long continuance of torment, horror of anticipation, mortification of intended wounds. All intensified just up unto the point they can be endured at all. All stopping short of the point that would give the sufferer relief of unconsciousness."

Our blessed Lord has been mocked, beaten, stripped, and scourged with a 'cat-of-nine-tails,' which was a wooden handle with 9 leather strips on it, each strip embedded with glass, or razor sharp pieces of metal. He would be tied to a pole, with his arms pulled up in the air; and, as the whip came down on His back, it would rip hunks of flesh with every lash. The whip would even wrap around His body, cutting open His stomach area, causing His insides to be exposed.

Most victims bled to death at this point, but not Jesus! His work was not yet complete. They must lay Him on a cross and lift Him up, just as Moses had "lifted up the serpent in the wilderness." As He hang between 2 thieves, the final hours of His earthly life were about to come to an end. In one final burst of human strength, He cried, "IT IS FINISHED!"

And, then I saw what I had never seen before..."HE BOWED HIS HEAD and gave up the ghost." Do you see that? He BOWED His head! His head did not just fall down or flop over; He BOWED it! His head did not fall in defeat; rather, His head was bowed in victory. His head was not bowed in sorrow, but in submission.

Even in His dying hour, He was in full control even when things seemed out of control. He bowed His head as if to remind them, "You didn't take my life from Me. I gave it of Myself. I could have saved myself; but, had I saved myself, I could not have saved you."

Oh blessed thought that if in His dying hour He was Sovereign, how much more Sovereign would He be now that He is "alive forevermore" and seated upon His Heavenly throne? I can't speak for you, but that thrills my heart to know that the Cross not only revealed His submission, but His sovereignty.

Perhaps your life seems out of control; but, I remind you that the Christ of the Cross is never out of control. We look at a world that is out of control and wonder, "If God is in control, why doesn't He do something about all of this?"

HE DID!!

With the BOWING of His head...

God the Father said, "PAID IN FULL!"
God the Son said, "IT IS FINISHED!"
God the Holy Ghost said, "I'M ON THE WAY!"

Thanks be to God for the Christ of Calvary who is still in control when things seem out of control!

Unworthy but not Ungrateful,

Pastor Steve