Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When He was hung on the cross, He took upon Himself the curse for our wrongdoing… Through Christ, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing He promised to Abraham, so that we who are Jesus’ believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith. (Galatians 3:13-14 NLT)
This post builds on Christ’s Parade to Calvary (Part 1) and (Part 2) PLEASE FIX LINKS
An Actress Rejects Hell and God’s Judgment
In 2015, Vanity Fair wrote about the actress Jessica Alba. Her childhood was full of illness. She suffered from pneumonia four times in one year, her lungs partially collapsed twice, her appendix ruptured, and she had had asthma since she was a child. But Jessica also had a burning desire to leave a mark on the world. At age 12, she claimed to be a born-again Christian and joined a conservative Christian youth group. Alba said, “I was seeking a purpose and a reason to exist.” But at age 17, she was turned off by the church’s boundaries and labels. She couldn’t believe that God would condemn people for sexual sins outside of marriage between one man and one woman.1
Jessica Alba expressed what many Americans believe. But just because we feel something doesn’t mean it’s real. And just because we think something doesn’t mean it’s true.
God’s Loving Standards are Unbending
The Lord created human beings and designed marriage to be a lifelong, covenantal union between one man and one woman, portraying the sacrificial love between Christ and His Church. Marriage is designed for companionship, where husband and wife become one flesh, practicing mutual respect, care, and sacrificial love.2 Together they are to serve God, each other, and the world. In Scripture, God forbids all sexual acts outside of a heterosexual marriage.3
Jesus Comes to Save
The Bible says that Jesus’ atoning death demonstrates God’s righteous judgment against our wrongs of all kinds (not just sexual offenses) and His saving love simultaneously. Scripture says: “Christ Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.4 Jesus saves His believers from our old ways and transforms us to live His way, which is best for us.
What great news! Pastor Jack Miller says, “Cheer up! You’re a worse sinner than you ever dared imagine. And you’re more loved by God than you ever dared to hope.”
Jesus’ Palm Sunday parade takes Him to His crucifixion and death on the first Good Friday and His victorious resurrection on Easter Sunday. Here’s how Christ accomplishes our salvation. This historic “parade” is well-known, but let’s look at some more details and implications.
Jesus Voluntarily Offered Himself for Us
Christ’s triumphal entry showed that He was in complete control of His circumstances, not passive. He willingly gave Himself to save us. On different occasions, Jesus said:
- The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected. And He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
- No one takes My life from me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have the power to lay it down and the power to take it up again. I lay down My life for My friends.
- I can now pray to My Father, and He will send more than twelve legions of angels to rescue Me.5
Ray Overholt’s hymn builds on Scripture and reminds us, “Jesus could have called 10,000 angels to destroy the world and set Him free. He could have called 10,000 angels, but He died alone, for you and me.”
Christ said: Now the time has come for the Son of Man to enter into His glory. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death (Jesus’ death) will produce a plentiful harvest of new lives. (John 12:23-24)
Because the Son of God loved us, He volunteered to be our Savior. Jesus freely left heaven and came to earth. He willingly gave up His life, rose again, and ascended back to Heaven, where He lives now to help us. Christ made the ultimate sacrifice so we, His followers, could be freed from sin’s grip and gain abundant new life in Jesus. The Son of God freely left the comforts of a sinless heaven to bring everlasting comfort to people on a sin-saturated earth.
Here is another stanza from Henry Milman’s hymn:
Ride on! Ride on in majesty! In lowly pomp ride on to die.
O Christ, Your triumphs now begin over captive death and conquered sin.
When Christ Looked His Weakest…
The whole New Testament emphasizes that Jesus won a cosmic victory by His death and resurrection.
You (Christ’s followers) were dead because of your wrongs and your fallen nature. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, Jesus disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities by His victory over them on the cross. (Colossians 2:13-15)
When Christ looked His weakest, He was His strongest! Jesus was crucified in our place and raised from the grave to cast out and condemn Satan and his forces.6 Christ broke the devil’s power of death.7 Jesus has already rescued His believers (past tense) from the dominion of darkness and already brought us (past tense) into His kingdom. His atoning work is accomplished, completed, and finished! Now in Jesus, we are reunited with God (present reality), and forgiveness of sins is just the tip of the iceberg. We now have a restored relationship with God and everlasting peace.8
Prayer
Lord Jesus, watch over us with Your protecting care as we gather in Your house of prayer. We believe Your promise to be with us always. Cleanse our hearts, minds, and lives again and fill us with Your Holy Spirit again. Help us to live worthy of the high calling You have given us. Keep us from stumbling and bring us to Your glorious presence without fault and with great joy. Bring all Your believers (Jews and non-Jews), redeemed from sinful stain, home to You to praise and serve You in the new heaven and new earth, where Your perfect justice will rule. Amen.9
To be continued FIX LINK
Notes (various Bible translations and paraphrases): 1 Derek Blasberg, “How Jessica Alba Built a Billion-Dollar Business Empire,” Vanity Fair (12-1-15). 2 Eph 5:25-32; Gen 2:23-25; God’s Design For Marriage by Stephen J. Cole, bible.org. 3 God forbids all sexual acts outside of a heterosexual marriage. He forbids fornication (premarital sex), adultery, incest, homosexuality, rape, and prostitution. Jesus said, “Everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matt 5:28). For more on what God requires and forbids in the seventh commandment (You shall not commit adultery), see Westminster Larger Catechism in Modern English, #138-139, EPC Edition 2009. 4 1 Peter 2:24-25, quoting Isa 53:4-6. 5 Luke 9:22; John 10:18; Matt 26:53. 6 John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11. 7 Heb 2:14; 1 John 3:8. 8 Col 1:13-14 NLT. 9 This prayer builds on several hymns and Scriptures.