Everyone must die and be judged for his or her sins. If you die and bring sin into eternity, you will perish for eternity in hell. Your sin has separated you from the Holy God who alone can give you abundant life. Without this abundant life, you are experiencing in your inmost being emptiness, fear and turmoil. Even your recreation and enjoyment is hollow. There is no real peace. Because of sin, Satan declares you his slave so that you obey the biddings of sin and refuse and are unable to live a holy life.   God’s word declares you an enemy of God. You are perishing and will perish in hell. But thanks be to God, these consequences have passed away because Jesus took the punishment of sin for you.

Jesus Suffered Physically

Jesus is fully man and fully God. But when our Lord walked on earth 2000 years ago, he voluntarily put aside some of his divine powers and chose not to use them that he might live just like one of us. He could thus get tired, feel hungry, thirsty and pain. The only difference was that He did not sin (Heb 4:15). Jesus died a horrible death, even death on the cross. He felt pain as He was fully man.

Jesus Suffered Mentally

His disciples whom He loved these three years, people whom he taught, comforted, encouraged and built up deserted Jesus when He was arrested. After all the good he did for His people, His people forsook Him. Jesus was ridiculed and mocked at, spat at, and slapped. Even his clothes were gambled away.

Jesus Suffered Spiritually

But He felt His suffering most acutely when He was forsaken by His Heavenly Father. For eternity past, the Triune God: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit had enjoyed unbroken fellowship characterised by infinite joy, peace and life in its infinite fullness. But at the cross, Jesus cried out in Aramaic: “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani: which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46). As no child can bear separation from his mother, Jesus felt it infinitely more. Jesus was forsaken by His Father because the sins of the entire world were laid on him. He became sin who knew no sin. Sinful man can never understand the extreme pain of Jesus’ separation from His Heavenly Father. But that cry from our beloved Saviour tells us that the pain was extreme. But why did Jesus suffer? He suffered and died not only for the whole world but He died especially for you as an individual. It was your sin that sent Jesus to the cross. Why must Jesus suffer for sins that He did not commit? When must Jesus be punished when it was you who sinned? That is because He cares deeply for you—He really loves you.

Your Response

It is thus unimaginable that you do not love God deeply and sincerely. How can you be lukewarm? How can you not spend time with your Saviour? How can you serve Him half-heartedly and cut corners in your service to Him? How can you not come to worship and thank Him on Sundays? How can you be distracted when worshipping Him? How can you not do what he tells you to do? How can you live in sin and anger Him and break His heart? How can you give your heart to the world, to sin, to Satan and just pretend to love Him? How can you be so ungrateful when He did not hesitate but willingly died for you? As we remember our Saviour’s suffering and death on the cross of Calvary, let us give our hearts to Him again. Even as you give your life to Him and serve Him faithfully, you are the one who are blessed because your Saviour desires to give you abundant life.