Tortured.

Beaten bloody- tortured-crucified.

 

Christ was taken in the middle of the night, beaten severely, and sentenced to die on the cross.  Whipped and bloodied shoulders carried the wood that would ultimately hold a body wounded almost beyond recognition from thirty-one wicked stripes cut deep through flesh and muscle.

 

Christ ALLOWED Himself to be tortured to death.

 

When a person is facing torture they would do all in their power to make it stop, to keep it from happening. If there is any way out of being tortured they'd take it, right? I've never been tortured, and never faced torture. I have faced things like dental procedures, surgery and such which I knew would result in being given pain. The numbing for dental work requires a needle being inserted into sensitive gum flesh and often extreme pain. After surgeries you feel the pain from being sliced open. If you've suffered an accident you've felt pain. However, torture, the deliberate infliction of pain for whatever reason whose sole purpose is to induce pain is different. If you are being tortured you want to escape the torture, the pain, right? If you had a magic word to say to make all the torture stop, you'd say it, yes? How many people throughout history have given up secrets and such under torture just to get the pain to stop? A lot. Not all have the fortitude withstand torture, but some are able to and they end up dying before giving up any information being sought.

 

Christ was tortured and He had the means to end the torture.

 

He endured and He felt every last bit of the pain. There were NO pain buffers. There were NO supernatural interventions to prevent Him from feeling any pain. He suffered to the extreme.

 

Others were crucified throughout history, many, and they too felt the horrific pain of crucifixion. Jesus in His humanity felt it all, He was not exempt from pain.

 

Why, when He had the means to escape such pain did He endure it? For YOU, for ME. WE WERE WORTH THE TORTURE, WE WERE WORTH THE DYING FOR!

 

Sin would NOT steal humanity from God! Humanity would be offered a way to escape their eternal death sentence. The Love of GOD for us was so great He wanted to save us!

 

Jesus- God with God- took on flesh. Jesus- God and Man. Jesus willingly gave up His divine power to face life as a man. Jesus endured temptations to the extreme. Jesus suffered. Jesus took mankind with HIM to the cross. All humanity went to the cross with Jesus. Now mankind individually decides whether to accept the sacrifice made. We were CRUCIFIED with Christ on that cross. And we were buried with Christ and we were raised up with Christ.

 

We were given NEW LIFE. We were BORN AGAIN spiritually.

 

Christ is in US, the Spirit is in us!

 

Col_1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory

 

The mystery- Christ in us, our hope.

 

Col_3:1  If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.

 

Risen with Christ, we must SEEK those thing which are above where Christ sits at the right hand of God. We are to SEEK - actively SEEK the things which are with Christ in heaven!

 

Mat 6:20  But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal

 

Our TREASURES should be in HEAVEN.

 

Mat 6:33  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. 

 

We should SEEK FIRST the kingdom of God!

We should SEEK FIRST God's RIGHTEOUSNESS!

 

Rom 8:6  For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 

 

We MUST be SPIRITUALLY MINDED.

 

2Co 4:18  While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal. 

 

We are to believe on the UNSEEN things that are ETERNAL.

 

Php 3:20  For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: 

Php 3:21  Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. 

 

Our CONVERSATION must be in HEAVEN.

 

Heb 11:16  But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. 

 

A HEAVENLY COUNTRY- this is our DESIRE.

 

More on this tomorrow by the GRACE of our LORD.