Jesus Christ forsaken

“when jesus christ was dying on the cross of crucifixion he cried out, ‘my god, my god, why have you forsaken me?’ up until that moment jesus was in eternal triune communion with god the father and his holy spirit. was it impossible for jesus the god-man, the begotten son of god, to lose intimate, personal communion with god the father? . . . because jesus the man was carrying the sins of all mankind god removed his holy spirit from jesus’ human spirit accounting for his anguished cry of personal abandonment. god too experienced profound grief when he turned his back on his only begotten son whom he loved. but god in his grace to mankind had an eternal purpose for this center point of history at the cost of his son. ‘the reason the son of god appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.’ the purpose for the sacrifice of the spotless lamb of god was fulfilled when jesus was heard to say as he died, ‘it is finished.’ . . . man was the ultimate focus for jesus’ spiritual separation from the father at his death. fallen mankind deserves eternal spiritual death, but the love of god was revealed when he abandoned the human spirit and soul of jesus while he sacrificially bore and gave death to the sins of all mankind, harking back to isaiah 59:2. his substitutionary death provided for the redemption of the spirit and soul of mankind in repentance. mankind’s debt to sin was incurred at the fall of adam when the choice was made to live self-focused, denying the authority of god and being disobedient to his counsel. the consequence was loss of direct communion between the spirit and soul of man and the holy spirit, a fall that threatened to extend into eternity. man’s debt to sin was fully paid by jesus’ sacrifice so that direct communion between the holy spirit and the human spirit could be restored. god’s purpose was fulfilled, but the cost to the father was the death of his beloved son. god restored his spirit to the spirit of jesus when he was resurrected glorified by the power of the holy spirit. the eternal triune communion in love between the father, the son and the holy spirit was restored, and eternal life and hope was offered to man. . . . because jesus the incarnate son of god was fully human but without sin the propitiation of the sins of mankind against the holy god and the offer of eternal life was accomplished by his death as a sin sacrifice. . . . now each one of us can choose to accept god’s offer in repentance and grow in sanctification. this is accomplished by the leading of the indwelling holy spirit, the helper and counselor sent as promised by the resurrected jesus christ. it is a gift of god’s grace. it is an expression of the boundless love of the father for man. when understood it gives inspiration and the motivation to become as christ-like in this life as humanly possible.”

Stan Lennard