Has it ever felt to you that God was far away? Sometimes this can be a result of our own straying from Him and other times it’s just not explainable. One night recently, I awoke with a real sense of terror. It was as if some malevolent force was pressing in on me. The Bible talks about this very thing in Psalm 91:5 when it says, “You will not be afraid of the terror by night”, well, let me tell you, I was afraid—but not for long, because the Holy Spirit brought this verse to mind, and the moment I prayed, asking the Father to shelter me under the shadow of His wing, and surround me with His angels, the sense of evil went away.
And yet, our feeling apart from God is not necessarily a bad thing—especially when it makes us run to Him for forgiveness or protection. It all seems to be part of our living as imperfect creatures in a fallen world. We may not like it but it is part of our condition. Not so, however, with Jesus.
Jesus lived in perfect agreement with his Father, an unbroken consciousness of His presence—absolute light and no darkness—until Passover, when he was about 33 years old. That day, he suffered the horror of being forsaken and abandoned by his Father. This is the one and only time in the gospels that Jesus doesn't call God "Father".
It is as if the entire mass of the darkness of the sins of the world had descended on Jesus and completely blotted out the light of his Father's love, support and presence. God has turned His back. Not because He was repulsed by His Son, but because at that time, His son was bearing the hideous weight of our sin and rebellion against God. Something God, in His holiness, cannot look upon. The Amplified Bible puts it this way, “And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani? Which means, My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me [deserting Me and leaving Me helpless and abandoned]?” Mark 15:34
Jesus suffered absolute separation from God. And he did it for us. He went through it so we wouldn't have to. If we ever think we don't need Christ’s grace and mercy, if we think we are good enough by our own efforts, then we scoff at His indescribable suffering.
Christ suffered all of this, so we can enjoy not only the pleasures of heaven, but also His presence for eternity.
6 comments:
Beautiful, Lynne. We will never be able to fully comprehend just how much Jesus paid in order to restore us to God's loving embrace. All the same, I love to go before the Cross and reflect on what He accomplished for us there. Never has there been such a display of love.
God bless :)
Beautiful! This line blessed me so much,
"Jesus suffered absolute separation from God. And he did it for us. He went through it so we wouldn't have to." Hugs, Rita
Amen! I got chills reading your first paragraph!!!
Praise the Lord for His comfort and protection when the enemy attacks us like you shared. Our battle is not against flesh and blood.
'Jesus suffered absolute separation from God...so we wouldn't have to.' Amen to that, Lynne! To spend eternity with Jesus is joy beyond my comprehension, yet something I am anticipating greatly :)
Lynne, such wonderful reminders of just how deep His sacrifice was, and of the indescribable gift He gives us. Such a sweet feeling of peace.
Thanks for your encouraging comments on my blog. They are a lovely blessing to me, and encourage me to continue forward!
I've had those nights when I wake up to a dark presence. You can be sure that if it ever happens again (and I hope it doesn't), that I will be quoting this verse and remembering this post.
Thanks for sharing the truth with your readers!
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