Sunday, April 5, 1998 This Week’s Lesson:
In this week's lesson, which came from Luke 23:32-34 and 41-43, we learned about the importance of coming to Jesus in repentance and accepting His free gifts of forgiveness and salvation. Having a right relationship with Him is the most important issue of life. If a person lives their entire life and leaves Him out, then they will have missed all that really matters. In these verses from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus and two criminals are being crucified. Those on their crosses beside Him were called criminals because they had been evildoers. By their own testimony, they deserved to be killed. However, Jesus had not done any wrong. He was being crucified, yet He had not done any wrong to warrant that action against Him. Nevertheless, His being on the cross was His Father's will, and from this, two observations are clear. First, by doing right and being good, we as Christians are not necessarily shielded from suffering bad. Second, just because we do the Lord's will, it does not mean that we will be totally spared from suffering and hurt. In this world, bad things can and do sometimes happen to very godly people.
Part of the drama of Jesus' death revolved around the attitude of the two criminals who were dying with Him. In the beginning, neither had known His true identity. They probably heard the jeers of the crowd and saw the soldiers gamble over His belongings, but they did not know that they were in the company of God. Then, Jesus did something which probably no one in His position could have or would have done. He prayed for those who were killing Him. One of the criminals reviled Him. The other turned to Him. What we think about Jesus will determine how we respond to Him. The criminal who recognized Christ's true identity sought His forgiveness and asked to be remembered. The other criminal was content to leave this world without ever having made peace with His Creator. The first man was wise despite his prior lifestyle. The second was not so wise. The first man demonstrated true repentance and received forgiveness. The second did not repent and did not receive forgiveness. One of the important points of this lesson is that what we do with Jesus in this life will determine our eternal destiny.
The conclusions of this lesson are clear. Jesus was crucified on the cross at Calvary on our behalf so that we can receive forgiveness for our sins. If you have never turned to Him, then you need to do so. II Corinthians 6:2 says that now is the accepted time and that today is the day of salvation. The second conclusion is that those of us who have embraced Him as Savior are tasked to share Him with those who have not. As Christians, our goal should be to use all that we have and all that we are in ways which will point those around us to the old rugged cross. Our goal should be to bring the lost to Jesus so that they, too, can receive His precious, free gifts of forgiveness and salvation. Therefore, as you go through the coming week, ask the Holy Spirit to use you to minister to those around you.
Tom of Spotswood"He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." (I John 5:12)
"And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart." (Jeremiah 29:13)
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