How often do we neglect to stand up
for the "why we believe", "The price in human terms paid for our
personal salvation" , how small our own sacrifices in comparison and how
minute and minimal our own AGAPE is in comparison to that of
the Father who gave His only Son to cleanse our natures.
This is a copy of an e-mail I received. Well worth the time of reading and thinking
about.
TRUE APPRECIATION OF HIS SUFFERING. (The
cost of eternal forgiveness paid for each of us.)
At the age of 33, Jesus was condemned to the
death penalty.
At the time crucifixion was the
"worst" death. Only the worst criminals were condemned to be crucified. Yet it was even
more dreadful for Jesus,
for unlike other criminals condemned to death by
crucifixion, Jesus was nailed to the cross by His hands and feet, rather than
tied...
Each nail Was 6 to 8 inches long. The nails Were driven into His wrist. Not into
His palms as is commonly portrayed. There's
a tendon in the wrist that Extends to the shoulder and the Roman guards knew that
when the nails were being hammered into the wrist, that the tendon would tear
and break, forcing Jesus to use His back muscles to support himself in order
for Him to breathe.
Both of His feet were nailed together. Thus He
was forced to support Himself on the single nail that impaled His feet to the
cross. Jesus could not support himself with His legs for long because of the
pain, so He was forced to alternate between arching His back and using his legs
just to continue to breathe. Imagine the struggle, the pain, the suffering, and
the courage.
Jesus endured this reality for over 3 hours. Yes, Over 3 hours! Can you imagine
this kind of suffering? A few minutes
before He died, Jesus stopped bleeding. He was simply pouring water from his
wounds.
From common images we see wounds to
His hands and feet and even the spear wound to His side. We often forget the many wounds made to his body. A hammer driving large nails through the
wrists, the feet overlapped and a nail hammered through the arches of his feet.
The Roman guard piercing His side
with a spear. Before the nails and the spear, Jesus was whipped and beaten. The
whipping was so severe that it tore the flesh from His body. The beating was
horrific. A crown of thorns (two to
three inch thorns) cut deeply into His scalp. Most
Men would not, could not, have
survived these tortures. He had three
nails hammered into His body; a crown of
thorns forced onto His head and, beyond that, a Roman soldier who stabbed a
spear into His chest just to verify His death.
All of this not to mention the
humiliation as He passed through the streets carrying His own instrument of
death, His Cross (the cross beam was
almost 30 kg of weight. He endured this humiliation for almost 2
kilometers, while the crowd spat in His face and they threw stones which had to
cause more pain and wounds. Jesus was naked, all his clothing was removed
to further humiliate Him in front of everybody.
PLEASE DON'T IGNORE THIS.
Jesus endured this experience that
you may have free access to God. So that
your sins can be "washed" away”.
*ALL* *OF THEM, WITH NO EXCEPTION!* JESUS CHRIST
DIED...FOR YOU!
He died for each of us as
individuals, His cost was great, and our cost is merely to accept that
forgiveness as our own with the acknowledgement of our own sinful acts. A small price to pay for the gift of Love and
Grace sent directly to you and me from God our Father.
It is easy to e-mail jokes or silly
photos, but when it comes to God, we often feel ashamed or afraid to forward a
message about Him to others.
We are worried of what they may
think.
Accept the reality, the truth, that
JESUS IS THE ONLY SALVATION FOR THE
WORLD.
God has special plans for *YOU*!
Share this with all your friends...
May God bless you! Always remember HE ALREADY HAS.
(Matthew 10:32 & 33):*
"Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will
acknowledge
before My Father in heaven; but
whosoever denies Me before others, I also will deny before My Father in
heaven".
