The Seven Sayings Of Jesus From The Cross

The Seven Sayings of Jesus From The Cross

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh. When man sinned, all of creation was affected and to this day travails under the burden of estrangement from its Creator. No part of creation is more affected than mankind. The consequences of sin are judgment and death - eternal death, eternal separation from God. The burdens, cares disappointments, grief and sorrow that befall us in this broken world are often more than we can bear.

Just as all creation happened in seven days (including the day of God’s rest), so also is re-creation, or what we may call the redemption of creation, encompassed in the seven sayings of Jesus on the cross. The seven sayings of Jesus from the cross were much more than the desperate cries of a tortured man. Yes, Jesus was tortured and yes, he felt the pain as much or more as any man would. But amazingly, in spite of his pain, the words he spoke from the cross manifest the profoundest of truths and blessings. The old creation died with Jesus that day. His death, which satisfied the justice of God in every respect, made possible the dawning of a new day. The suffering of Christ was vicarious, that is, it was on our behalf which means our sin nature itself and the individual sins we have committed were all nailed to Calvary’s tree. Our sins were transferred to him and he paid the debts those sins incurred. Just as our sins were transferred to him, conversely, the way was opened for His life to be transferred to us. Resurrection still happens today every time a person puts his/her faith in Christ. Because of him we can experience a brand new life, one that is unimaginably better than we had before. It all happened because Jesus died. Listen to what he said while he was on the cross…

The First Saying: “Father, Forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”Luke 23:34

Before creation the earth was formless and empty, in absolute darkness. (Genesis 1:2). The Spirit of God hovered over the water, water that covered the whole earth, and then God spoke the first creation words, “Let there be Light. (Genesis 1:3)

When Jesus came to this world in human form and called himself the Son of Man, he came to a race of people that had natural light in abundance. Man even discovered how to create his own light so he never has to be in the dark. I’m new to Hong Kong so I am still very much in awe at the magnificence of the City. One of the things that impress me most is the brilliance of the city’s lights at night time. It is hard to describe to someone who has never been here just how colourful and bright they are and how abundant they are. It is for good reason Hong Kong is called, “the City of Lights”.

When Jesus came, he came to a world that was filled with darkness, but darkness of another kind – spiritual darkness. Sin had extinguished the light of relationship and fellowship with God. The created was separated from the Creator. Mankind has manufactured spiritual darkness of a much greater kind and of much greater amount than the many natural light-generating devices he has invented. Isaiah, when he prophesied about the coming of a Messiah, said:

The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the

Land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. Isaiah 9:2

Jesus said;

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12).

All of us who know Christ know what it was like to live in the darkness of sin. Our lives had no form, they were empty, just as the world was before creation. Just as in the beginning when God created natural light to dispel natural darkness, He created spiritual light in the person of His Son to destroy the darkness of sin. Just as the Holy Spirit hovered over a formless, empty and cold planet, so now He hovers over humanity calling us to Jesus, the light of the world. Peter said:

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

1 Peter 2:9-10.

Darkened, despairing, empty men and women, with lost identities, whose lives were lightless and lifeless, are called into “wonderful light” – the most wonderful light of all - light that Jesus gives – light that He alone can give.