THE GREAT CROSS OVER

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to judge because He is the Son of Man.”

“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. By Myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and My judgment is just, for I seek not to please Myself but Him who sent Me.”

John 5:24-30

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

The Jewish religious leaders took offense to Jesus healing a paralyzed man on the Sabbath and in confronting Him about the matter, got more in response than they bargained for as He explained that just as God was always was work, so too was He because God was His Father. Jesus followed this up by letting the authorities know that since He was the Son of God, then He was like His Father in every way

Both these proclamations would have raised the ire of the religious leaders but Jesus was saving the best for last for as we see in today’s scripture passage and our continued study of John 5. Look again what Jesus said here:

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. And He has given Him authority to judge because He is the Son of Man.”

“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. By Myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and My judgment is just, for I seek not to please Myself but Him who sent Me.” John 5:24-30

Here we find Jesus reaffirming words that He spoke in the 3rd chapter of this Gospel, words that explained why He had been sent by God in the first place, to fulfill the prophecies of old and bring the opportunity for salvation to all of God’s people, Jew or Gentile. For God did so love the world that He was willing to give up His one and only Son so that whoever would believe in Him would not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Or as He puts in today’s scripture passage, those who hears His words and believes that God did what He said He did would “cross over from death to life”.

Thus, in Jesus, we find the great cross over, a cross over not only from death to life but from sure destruction to everlasting salvation.

Ironically, the cross had everything to do with this great cross over. For in order for God to offer the chance for eternal life to His children, He had to first offer an atoning sacrifice to pay the cost of their sins. A perfect, unblemished, sin-free sacrifice needed to be made and Jesus was the only One who fit those qualifications. And so He and God, His Father, offered up the sacrifice freely and allowed the sins of man to be nailed into Calvary’s cross through Jesus’ hands and feet which were pierced by nails driven into the wood.  

Jesus would die on that cross, His body prepared and laid in a tomb for three days, before He crossed over from death to eternal life, bridging the gap so every man and woman who believed in Jesus could follow and live with Him and God forever. In other words, Jesus is the tipping point for salvation and everyone will be judged by Him justly as He pleases the One who sent Him.

Think about where we would be today without Jesus. We would be without hope and destined for sure destruction and devastation, doomed by our transgressions. Won’t you take the time today to thank Him for being caring and loving enough to suffer and die in your place, to celebrate the great cross over that He and He alone made possible.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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