It was my sin that held Him there...

How deep the Father's love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom
_________________________________


Those lyrics come from the 1995 Stuart Townsend song "How Depp the Father's Love for Us"


We sang it in church this morning.


As we were singing I thought of Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ."  We have all seen that movie and I imagine that most of us watched the flogging and crucifixion scene and thought "...oh, thats so horrible that he had to go through all of that...those horrible Pharisees and Romans..."


Heres an idea...


What was really going on that day was far worse than the physical beating that Jesus took.  All of our sin was being placed on Christ's shoulders and he DIDN'T deserve any of it.


He took all of our sin and payed our penalty so that we could enter into eternity with the Father.


Yes, I said "our"...thats what hit me this morning because of the Townsend song...it wasn't the Pharisees and the Romans that I should be so angry at - its myself.  He suffered for me, for everytime I envy and lust, for every malicious word that comes from my mouth, for every failure of mine to uphold God's righteous law.


I put Jesus on that cross...


But then again, in a way I didn't...he submitted himself to that cross for me.  Thats the beauty of the cross - when I look at the events of Good Friday I see a God who loved me so much he died for MY sins...not just sin in the abstract.


When we think of it that way we can achieve a far greater appreciation for our Saviour and hopefully a greater sense of worship and relationship with Christ.