From the Pulpit: My God, my God, why have you forsake me?

Have you ever felt like you’ve been abandoned? Like any support or help that you could have is non-existent? You are alone in your pain and suffering. 

Lack of support and help may add pain to an already painful situation. But, make no mistake about it, it could be worse… which is exactly what someone wants to hear, right? 

 There is nothing worse than being forsaken by God. To have his blessing removed from you would be unimaginable torment. In a word, it would be hell. No one desires that torment. Yet, we are all worthy of it. 

In Ephesians, Paul writes, “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins in which you used to live… (and a little later, he goes on) Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.” Our sin makes us worthy of that torment because our sin created a chasm between God and us. 

So, God sent someone who was not worthy of that torment, that punishment. God sent someone who had a perfect relationship with the Father because he was perfectly obedient and holy. He sent his Son, Jesus. 

 Jesus is the only human in history who was not worthy of God’s wrath. Yet, Jesus willingly stepped into that position of wrath on our behalf. Like the soldier, who jumps on the grenade to save his buddies, Jesus didn’t just suffer for his buddies, but he suffered for the sake of all people of all time. 

But physical torment wasn’t the whole story. From the cross, we hear Jesus quote Psalm 22, he says, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.” The Father had removed his blessing from Jesus and in that moment on the cross, Jesus suffered literal hell for us. He took the punishment that we deserved. 

But because he did, he has made us worthy. We are no longer worthy of God’s wrath, but we have been made worthy through faith in Jesus. Paul in Ephesians 2 goes on, “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.” 

 God has not abandoned you – and he never will! He will always be your support and help – even when you are suffering. And he will continue to strengthen you with the knowledge that Jesus was forsaken for you, so that you would escape the torment of hell and have the sure promise of heaven. Only in Jesus.