Thank you for the Cross

Good morning Lord! Thank you for the Cross. What was meant for death, you created life from it. You took the way of suffering and death to pay the ransom for my sin. You bore the weight and penalty of my sin to restore me in righteousness and relationship with you! What kind of mercy is that? You are the Creator of all things, and yet you chose to pay your own price for my human depravity. What kind of love does that? O God, You so loved the world that you gave your only Son to be the final sacrifice for ALL!

Why…? Because you created us in love and for love. You intended from the beginning for us to be one in you, but we messed that up. Each one of us since Adam and Eve has become sin in our human nature. For in wisdom and love, you created us with free will…choice…to accept or reject…your goodness. In the beginning, you created a man (Adam), and “It was Good”, You said. Everything you created was “Good”, You said.

Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.  ~James 1:17-18

From the beginning, you created us for relationship. You ARE relationship – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and we, your prized possession, are created in your image and likeness. For intimacy. For oneness. For love. I find myself humbled and in Holy awe of you my Lord, my dearest friend, and first love. You loved me so much that you took my sin with you to the cross before I was even created. Because you desired to make a way for me to be restored in you. You knew from the beginning…you knew each one of us before we were born, and you desired us. That is amazing grace.

“I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.”  ~Jeremiah 1:5

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins.  ~Ephesians 1:4-7

Dear God, thank you for the Cross! Thank you for making a way to eternal life in you, through the blood of Jesus, our sacrificial Lamb, our one and only and final sacrifice – for ALL! What a love! What a Father! What a Savior! What a Spirit – who draws us in love, to YOU! Amen! Thank you, precious Lord!

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.  ~Ephesians 2:8-9

Amen! Thank you Jesus for your finished work on the Cross. For by your death, you gave life to all who believe in you. By your blood we are saved – through your gift of grace Father, and through our faith in you – we have salvation from death’s hold on us. Praise God!

For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time; to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News.  ~2 Timothy 1:9-10

On this Good Friday, as you prepare to celebrate Resurrection Sunday, I pray God’s grace pour out over you so that you will encounter and receive the great mercy and love the Father has for you.

Peace and joy,

Cheryl