Unlimited LoveSample

“Christ Was Forsaken That We Might Never Be”

Only those who live through the dark see the glories of the dawn.

Spurgeon says that the records of time and eternity do not contain a sentence more full of anguish than this fourth word from the Cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). Christ had endured silently all the torment of his body, but when his Father forsook him, his great heart broke. As John Owen wrote, “The sufferings of his soul were the soul of his sufferings.”

Christ does not cry, “Why has Peter forsaken me?” or “Why has Judas betrayed me?” These were terrible griefs, but feeling forsaken by his Father is the sharpest of griefs, and it cuts him to the quick.

There are times when some of us face a horror that makes the brain reel and the heart faint. At such times, a glance at Calvary can steady us and perhaps even restore us. He was forsaken that we might never be. He prayed that prayer that we might never need to. We need not suffer for our sin, for Christ has suffered in our place. Therefore, however overwhelming our grief and bewilderment, let us, like Christ, hold on, crying, “My God, my God ... “

Nightmares never last. Tunnels have their exits. Only those who live through the dark see the glories of the dawn.

Have you ever felt forsaken by God? I’m sure you, like I, have stories of having gone through nightmares, tunnels, and darkness. How has the Cross kept you going through those impossible times? Fall on your knees and thank God for Calvary.

By Dr Desmond Ford