Worship Initiative | Last Words of JesusSample

Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

“It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’ And having said this he breathed his last.” (Luke 23:44-46)

In a moment, everything was changed.

One man’s dying breath catapulted a great multitude into life eternal.

Those who were enemies of God…

Those who were dead in their trespasses…

Those who relied upon the Law for salvation…

Those who worshipped creation over its Creator…

Those who made countless sacrifices to atone for sin…

Those who valued man’s approval and praise over God’s glory…

Those who sought temporary satisfaction in place of the Bread of Life…

Those who were terribly, hopelessly, irreparably lost…found rescue.

“The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.” (Isaiah 9:2)

“Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:18-21)

When the curtain of the temple was torn, God demonstrated once and for all that the barrier between heaven and earth was gone. Christ had removed it and taken its place. What once was a fence became a door; what once was a boundary line became a pathway; what once was untouchable became as close as the very breath in our lungs. Suddenly, there was opened a way to the Father.

But it could only be opened by surrender.

Jesus committed his life, his body, and his spirit to this great and redemptive cause – ultimately, to the Father himself – knowing that it was the only way. He had to live perfectly in our place, he had to die brutally our death, and he had to be raised to accomplish our resurrection.

When he said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”, Jesus was taking his last step of submission to God the Father so that we might be able to know him.

Now our surrender, too, is required. We cannot perfectly imitate Christ, but we are called to walk his footsteps – obediently taking up our own cross, laying down our own life, and commending our own spirit to the will and work of the Father.

This is our great challenge and our great privilege. By this path, we walk – limping, but helped along – toward eternity. Radiant joy, boundless freedom, and unfathomable good await us on the other side.

So, today, take the next step of surrender.

Offer up even one ounce more of yourself to God.

Know that neither your sacrifice nor your suffering are wasted.

Every moment, every breath, every act of obedience, every repentant confession, every radiant joy, every pang of grief, everything you face as you walk the earth…is ushering you forward, carried by Christ Jesus, unto heaven. Unto eternity. Unto the Living God.