Peaceful Victory
And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit." Having said this, He breathed His last. Luke 23:46, NASB.
The dark night of His soul has ended. Jesus has passed through the crisis of His life and knows that His father has not forsaken Him.
The anguish is over. Trust and peace are in Christ's tone as He cries out with a "loud voice," "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit."
Remarkable words for a Man who a few minutes before had felt utterly forsaken. They are words of faith. Jesus knew who His Father was. And He knew where He was going.
Jesus did not die as other humans. We die because we have no choice. Disease or injury takes us whether we like it or not. But even in death Jesus was different. He died as a volunteer. Of Himself He said, "I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again" (John 10:17, 18). Jesus knew who He was. He realized the identity of His Father. And He recognized where He was going as He made His final commitment to God and breathed His last.
His experience has something to teach each of His followers. His death may have been unique in that it was voluntary, but every one of His followers has the privilege of meeting death with the calmness and sense of victory that He exhibited.
As with Him, I need have no fear of what some have called "the king of terrors." The work of Jesus has vanquished Satan. The devil can trouble our body for a season, but he cannot separate us from the love of God and the victory of Jesus.
The dying Stephen knew that as he cried out "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:59). The same great truth was in the mind of Paul when the time of his death was at hand: "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (2 Tim. 1:12).
Happy and blessed are those who stand with Jesus in life. The same shall eventually stand with Him again in the world to come.
We also can trust. Like Jesus, we know in whom we have believed. And we also can commit our spirit to Him as we face the end of our earthly journey.
And Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said, "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit." Having said this, He breathed His last. Luke 23:46, NASB.
The dark night of His soul has ended. Jesus has passed through the crisis of His life and knows that His father has not forsaken Him.
The anguish is over. Trust and peace are in Christ's tone as He cries out with a "loud voice," "Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit."
Remarkable words for a Man who a few minutes before had felt utterly forsaken. They are words of faith. Jesus knew who His Father was. And He knew where He was going.
Jesus did not die as other humans. We die because we have no choice. Disease or injury takes us whether we like it or not. But even in death Jesus was different. He died as a volunteer. Of Himself He said, "I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again" (John 10:17, 18). Jesus knew who He was. He realized the identity of His Father. And He recognized where He was going as He made His final commitment to God and breathed His last.
His experience has something to teach each of His followers. His death may have been unique in that it was voluntary, but every one of His followers has the privilege of meeting death with the calmness and sense of victory that He exhibited.
As with Him, I need have no fear of what some have called "the king of terrors." The work of Jesus has vanquished Satan. The devil can trouble our body for a season, but he cannot separate us from the love of God and the victory of Jesus.
The dying Stephen knew that as he cried out "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit" (Acts 7:59). The same great truth was in the mind of Paul when the time of his death was at hand: "I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day" (2 Tim. 1:12).
Happy and blessed are those who stand with Jesus in life. The same shall eventually stand with Him again in the world to come.
We also can trust. Like Jesus, we know in whom we have believed. And we also can commit our spirit to Him as we face the end of our earthly journey.
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