One of our key responsibilities is “to know Jesus Christ deeply.” This is one of the most crucial tasks we have because it forms the foundation of our salvation. If we do not understand Jesus in all His fullness, it becomes difficult to comprehend our positions and the grace that has been extended to us. The result of not understanding Jesus is to despise grace and ultimately be lost.
Now, the task of knowing Jesus is not about knowing what He looked like, how beautiful He was, what color He was, what kind of hair He had, or what food He liked to eat. No, that is not the responsibility we’ve been given in knowing Him. Our task is to UNDERSTAND THE POSITION HE HOLDS. Once we understand this position, we will come to know God deeply. And so far, no one has reached the ultimate understanding of this position; instead, as time goes on, we continue to understand it more deeply, and this leads us to love and respect God even more.
Ephesians 4:13
“until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”
Let us remind ourselves today how significant Jesus’ death was for us who were lost in sin.
In the Bible, we read that shortly before Jesus was crucified, Pilate released a prisoner who was notorious in that city. This was none other than BARABBAS.
Barabbas was guilty of several murders in the city, and he was known to be a cruel person. The Bible refers to him as a “notorious prisoner” (Matthew 27:16). Everyone knew he was wicked, and therefore, they didn’t need him at all. He was arrested by the Romans and put in prison awaiting his punishment. There was no doubt he would be executed in a more brutal way than anyone else, because everyone hated him. Even he knew that he deserved the greatest punishment, and there was no chance of escape. But as they say, “even the strongest chain has a weak link.” Even when it seems like there is no way out, God can make a way.
Barabbas, while in prison, perhaps started feeling guilty, realizing that he had killed innocent people. As he looked around, he saw that another man had killed just one person and had been sentenced to death by beheading. But what about him? He had killed many. What would his punishment be?
One day, early in the morning, Barabbas was surprised to be called out of the prison. He probably thought he was going to be executed. But when he came out, he saw a huge crowd cheering for him. They were praising his release, shouting, “Barabbas is set free! Barabbas is set free!” Pilate told him, “From now on, you are free like everyone else. Go home, enjoy time with your family, and live a new life.” Barabbas couldn’t believe it. He probably thought, “This must be a mistake; they mean another Barabbas.”
As he stood there, he saw a man standing in the distance, with a crown of thorns on His head, silent and humble like a lamb being led to slaughter. Pilate told him, “That man is taking your punishment. He will die in your place.” Without a doubt, Barabbas was astonished.
I believe his life began to change from that moment onward because he realized that the reason he was free, the reason he had life, was because of Jesus. If it were not for Jesus being rejected, tortured, and sentenced to die in his place, Barabbas would have surely perished.
This is a powerful example of how Jesus took our place. Barabbas is a representation of all of us.
How did Jesus take our sins? Not by merely carrying a package on His back, but by giving His life. It cost Him rejection, torture, spit, mockery, and humiliation. The greater Jesus was humiliated, the higher the worth of Barabbas in the prison became. The status of Jesus was lowered so that ours could be raised.
While Barabbas was in prison, he had no idea that Jesus was being mocked for him.
My brother, the cross is not something to take lightly. Everything good you experience today is because of Jesus Christ. If it were not for Him, the world would have ended a long time ago. God would have destroyed the earth with a curse a long time ago. Life would have ended many years ago.
Many people don’t realize that they are being fought for by God even when they don’t ask Him for anything. Many don’t even know that it is God who provides their needs, even in their sinful lives. They don’t realize that it is grace—because of JESUS CHRIST. If Jesus hadn’t suffered 2,020 years ago, no sinner would be alive today. We all deserved to die.
But this grace is being taken for granted. You think it is your right to live in your sin—whether it’s fornication, stealing, corruption, drunkenness, murder, blasphemy, homosexuality, or any other sin. This grace will one day come to an end, and when that time comes, you will understand how valuable this grace was.
When this grace is removed, it will leave with the Church. The saints will be taken, and the great tribulation will begin. The Antichrist will rise, killing many, and then the waters of the seas, wells, and rivers will turn to blood. A dangerous plague of boils, worse than the current COVID-19, will spread worldwide, and no one will escape who is left behind in the rapture. At that time, there will be no one to tell you to repent of your sins.
Those days will come when there will be no more cinemas, no sports games, no people going to work in affected nations. Everyone will be in hiding, unable to move freely. You see how the coronavirus has shut down roads, schools, and work in many places. That will be nothing compared to what is coming—100 times worse. Even your pets will not come near you. There will be no walking on the streets. Everyone will endure those punishments alone.
Amid that strange plague of boils, the rain will stop. The sun will be lowered, and there will be nothing green to see. Hailstones will fall—large ones, the size of talents (a large weight). Earthquakes and volcanic eruptions will occur worldwide, and after the scorching sun has passed, there will be an incredible darkness, worse than that of Pharaoh’s time. The stars will disappear, and the moon will turn red like blood for a long time. All these things will come at once, and many other strange things will happen. These are not stories, but real events as described in Revelation 16. If you are left behind, you will witness all these things.
Hebrews 10:25-31
“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God.
Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
For we know him who said, ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ and again, ‘The Lord will judge his people.’
It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
If you have not yet turned and repented, the door of grace is still open today. It is better to repent now than to waste time commenting or liking posts. Don’t just read this as a story to make you feel good. Let it be a reason for transformation in your life.
Repentance means “to turn.” It means deciding to leave behind the things that do not please God and getting baptized with the right baptism and receiving the Holy Spirit. These things you do with all your heart.
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