In honor of it being Good Friday, I have written three Haiku (5-7-5
meter poems) about the Cross and what it means to me. Following the haiku is a
brief synopsis of what I believe is significance about the death, burial, and resurrection
of Jesus Christ.
i beheld The Lamb
hung on calvary’s cross for mesalvation received
the guarded sealed tomb emptied
salvation offered
saved by God’s free grace
offered to one and to allbelieved and received
Why Jesus’ death on the cross, His burial in a tomb (that was sealed
shut and guarded by Roman soldiers so no one could steal His body and claim He
had risen from the dead like He claimed He would), and His ultimate
resurrection are important to me.
I realized no one is perfect, especially me.
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” Romans 3:23 NIV (New International Version)
I also realized that, just like
I earn a wage at my job, my sin also earns a “wage” or consequence. The consequence of being
imperfect (sinning) is death—not just a physical death, but also a spiritual death (which is an eternal
separation from God—an eternity in hell).
“For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23 NIV
Then I heard about HOPE! (Re-read the second half of that last verse.)
Because God wants to give everyone the gift of eternal life!
"…but the gift of God is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23b
I read in the Old Testament
(before Jesus came to earth), that God
expected a blood sacrifice of a perfect animal as a payment to cover the sins
of His people. Then I read in the New Testament (after Jesus came to earth) ,
that because God loves us, He sent His only Son, Jesus Christ, to live a
perfect, sinless life, in order to become the sacrificial payment that covers
our sins.
"But God demonstrates His
own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for
us." Romans 5:8 NIV“Son though He was, He learned obedience from what He suffered and, once made perfect, He became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey Him.” Hebrews 5:8-9NIV
I realized salvation—the
forgiveness of sin and the promise to spend eternal life in the presence of
God—is a gift—I can never be good enough for it (no one is perfect) . I can
never work hard enough or long enough for it (what can replace the life of a
Fathers Son?). Salvation is a gift.
Freely given by a loving God.
“For God so loved the world that
he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but
have eternal life.” John 3:16NIV
As with any gift, the giver (in
this case, God) offered the free gift of salvation to me, and I had a decision
to make: I could accept the gift, or I
could reject the gift (waiting to accept the gift “later” is a passive form of
rejection). I chose to accept the gift.
So how did I accept the gift?
"If you declare with your
mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the
dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9
NIV
“Everyone who calls on the name
of the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13NIV
1) I said Jesus is Lord
2) I believed that the Biblical account of
Jesus being the sacrifice for my sin and coming back to life after He was
crucified is true3) I prayed (talked to God) and received (accepted) the free gift God offered me.
Happy Easter!
Saturday, D will stand for DogWalk (as in the Mighty Texas Dog Walk, which is a fund raiser I love to promote for an organization that takes shelter dogs, trains them to be service dogs, and then gives them free of charge to people with disabilities, effectively saving two lives!) http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/
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