I watched the Billy Graham special today and I was blessed by the testimony of the young rapper ( Lecrae), and by the young lady singer (Lacey Sturm). The entire video was a blessing but two things were said that really struck me.
The young man mentioned the preacher that first spoke the gospel to his heart, and how that preacher looked out across a room of young gangster, ex-cons and told them, "How dare you tough guys call my Jesus a wimp!" and then proceeded to tell them the things our Lord endured on their behalf. Things most of us would not be able to endure, and that we certainly would not endure for others, most especially others who turned against us, spat on us and mocked us.
Too many people, especially younger people, and those who think themselves to be tough, think Jesus was some kind of meek and mild man, they see Him as weak. Those who hold this view have not read the scriptures well and have looked at too many pictures of our Lord depicted as a nice looking guy holding a lamb. Jesus is a warrior king, all one has to do is read the description given of Him in the book of Revelation to know that He is by no means a wimp.
"Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war. His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself. He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God. ..............Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: King of Kings and Lord of Lords."
The punishment that He endured up to and including His crucifixion also demonstrate the strength and endurance of Our Lord.He was scourged before he endured the cross, which was basically a whipping with a special whip, used by the Romans for such punishment. Typically the whip had several lashes on it, and each lash would be tipped with bits of metal or bone. These bits of metal or bone would rend the flesh of the person being whipped.
"For scourging, the man was stripped of his clothing, and his hands were tied to an upright post. The back, buttocks, and legs were flogged either by two soldiers (lictors) or by one who alternated positions. The severity of the scourging depended on the disposition of the lictors and was intended to weaken the victim to a state just short of collapse or death. As the Roman soldiers repeatedly struck the victim’s back with full force, the iron balls would cause deep contusions, and the leather thongs and sheep bones would cut into the skin and subcutaneous tissues. Then, as the flogging continued, the lacerations would tear into the underlying skeletal muscles and produce quivering ribbons of bleeding flesh. Pain and blood loss generally set the stage for circulatory shock. The extent of blood loss may well have determined how long the victim would survive on the cross. "
Needless to say the scourging our Lord endured was brutal, and terribly painful. Yet He endured it willingly, and went on to carry his own cross, atop his ripped flesh, to Golgotha, where He was nailed to it, the torn flesh of His back pressed up against the rough and brutal wood of the cross. Wimps would have died before they ever got to Golgotha.
Which leads me to the second thing that was said that struck me, "He lived the life that I cannot live. He died the death that I should die." Mr Graham spoke about how people do not like to hear this truth. They do not like to hear that they are worthy of God's condemnation. But truth is truth whether one wants to believe it or not. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, came down to this dirty disgusting sin ravished world, walked as a mere man, preached to the people, healed the people, fed the people, set captives free and raised the dead, then delivered Himself up to be crucified and killed.
Because all throughout the scriptures God had taught His people that sin requires a sacrifice to atone. But there was never anyone or anything worthy to pay the debt once and for all. Until Christ came. He the perfect sinless man, died in our place, on a Roman cross that our sins might be paid for. And then He, the perfect God, rose from the dead that we might not have to die.
Because of Him, our sins are paid in full. He is willing to give us a new name. We no longer have to be called, liar, cheater, thief, murderer, rapist, adulterer,coveter, blasphemer, whore, whore-monger, deceiver, coward, idolator nor any other name by which you may call yourself or that God almighty knows you to be. The blood of Christ is able to wash all that away.
As Mr Graham said, people do not like to be told they are sinners. You basically have two types in the world, for the most part. Those who truly think they are pretty decent people and those who know they are not. The first will die without a Savior because they do not believe they need one, the second will die without a Savior because they think their sins to grievous for God to ever forgive. Both are wrong.
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, all are condemned because of that sin. None have the power within themselves to be decent human beings who keep God's commandments. In order to stand before God righteous on your own power you must faithfully and always, never failing even once, keep each of God's commandments. Not one of us can even keep the 1st one, let alone the other nine.
And if you add to that, the words our Lord spoke when He walked this earth, you are even more utterly doomed. Jesus said that if we call our brother fool we are guilty of murder, and if we look at someone in lust we are guilty of adultery. That right there takes out everyone, for rarely does a day pass that we do not call someone a fool, and lust is everywhere. The porn industry alone sees to that.
So the truth of the matter is simple. It was you and me that rightly should be nailed to a cross. We are guilty. We are deserving of God's wrath and His judgement. When that thief, crucified next to our Lord spoke, he in truth spoke for you and for me. "And we indeed are suffering justly, for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong."
Our sins, the sins of the entire world, were poured upon Jesus on the cross. Ever dark and nasty deed, every murder, every rape, every lie and theft and deceit. My sins, your sins, and the sins of all those who came before us and all who will come after, poured out upon the Lamb of God, that He might die under them, and thereby atone for them.
And in so doing, He made a way for us, that despite our unworthiness and our inability to do what is right and what is required by God, He in His great mercy, made a way for us to stand before Him. Those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord, can stand in the very presence of God, for when He looks down upon you, He sees the righteousness of Christ, not the filthy dirty clothes you wear. He sees the perfect sinless life of the god-man Jesus, and not your countless sins. He gives you a new name.
No longer are you Murderer, no longer are you Deceiver, no longer are you ________, but you are now a child of the King, clothed in His righteousness, destined for glory......go and sin no more!
I wholeheartedly recommend Mr. Graham's final message to America, the video is only about 28 minutes long. It has some wonderful testimony's in it, and you can watch it in it's entirety here:
And I also recommend the below link. Here you can learn more about the things our Lord endured on your behalf.
Here is the link to the song sung in the video, called Mercy Tree sung by Lacey Sturm.
And here is the link to the song "Tell the World" sung by Lecrae