When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit. John 19:30
As presented on *The Lutheran Hour® by Dr. Oswald Hoffmann, April 7, 1957.
Your relationship to Christ is not something you can attend to later. There may be other matters that seem to claim your primary attention, making a living, providing a good home, furnishing an education for your children, improving your personal circumstances.
I want to tell you today that not one of these concerns is nearly as serious as a right relationship with God through Christ.
Perhaps you think, “I would like to believe, but how can Christ's death 2,000 years ago mean anything to me today?” As the stars reflect the glory of the sun, so the face of Jesus Christ reflects the glory of God shining on you right this moment. The light of God's kindness and God's forgiveness is there to stay.
The cross of Christ is inescapable. Either you shrink from it or you embrace it, but you cannot be indifferent to it. Calvary is not so much a scene as a mirror, for it reveals something about ourselves, our moral destitution, our twisted way of looking at things, our failure to live the kind of life we ought to live. By the answer we give to the cross, we judge ourselves.
Let Jesus Christ take your hand and lead you along the way, till you reach that turn in the road where for the first time you will come in sight of the land of which you had hardly dared to dream. By His cross, Christ tells you how to live. What may be even more important, by His cross Christ tells you how to die.
Gracious Father, give us the sense of freedom that belongs to the sons of God by faith in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Taken from A Message of Hope: Proclaiming the Cross (selections from messages broadcast on *The Lutheran Hour, celebrating 75 years of proclaiming the promise).
Copyright © 2006 by Lutheran Hour Ministries
*The Lutheran Hour is the longest-running Christian radio broadcast in the world. It is a production of Lutheran Hour Ministries. For more information, visit www.lutheranhour.org.
Today's Bible Readings: Deuteronomy 17-19 Luke 5:17-39
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