Easter week Post #1.

This week’s series of posts has been a year in the making.

The Lord wants to speak to us this week about all that He accomplished on the cross. I will be posting a word each day starting tomorrow through Saturday. Five of these words from the Lord are reposts. In each one He speaks of the cross in different contexts. Put together, His words in these posts challenge us to embrace all His victories won by the cross–and apply them to our lives. We are called to live victoriously because Jesus paid the price for ALL freedom for us.

Friday’s post will be a word the Lord spoke to me a year ago. He instructed me to hold the word until His timing for its release. It is the most revelatory and mind-bending word He has ever spoken to me. It has given me far deeper understanding of Christ’s victory in death–for Himself and for us as we follow Him.

Many only think of the cross as Christ’s redemption for our sins–which is true. What an eternal, amazing victory for all who will accept Him! And yet Jesus accomplished so much more than even this miracle on the cross and through His resurrection. He won back man’s authority over satan–the authority lost when Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. He established all His people as co-heirs with Him. His shed blood as the perfect lamb gave us all power over evil. He died to heal us in all ways–of our sins, of sickness, and of soul wounds caused by trauma in our lives, of fear and anxiety. We are to live as conquerors, as mighty warriors over evil, rising in our faith above all earthly circumstances–and kicking satan OUT of every aspect of our lives.

Do we?

Why do Christians, who carry the power of Jesus’ all-powerful blood, walk around defeated, depressed, and oppressed by the devil? Why do we live as if we’re weak and helpless? Why do we say “I can’t….” about anything when we serve a boundless God? Why do we not understand the full depth of Christ’s accomplishments for us on the cross–and live accordingly? Jesus paid for all these victories with His LIFE. And what do we do with these wondrous gifts?

Everything that happened on the week of Jesus’ death was a fulfillment of prophecy, beginning with His entry into Jerusalem on a donkey. Everything that happened during the crucifixion–all the details and words spoken by Jesus–were to fulfill prophecy. John 19:28-30 gives us a clear indication of this: “Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” ²⁹ A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. ³⁰ When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” King David’s Psalm 69:21–“They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst.”

David’s Psalm 22 serves as a detailed prophecy of Christ’s crucifixion. But it doesn’t stop with Jesus’ death. Verses 19-21 prophesy of God’s rescuing His life–the resurrection. Verses 27 and 28 foretell the ultimate victory and result–when all people and nations will worship the Lord–Jesus the King. The final verse proclaims, “He has done it.” Jesus echoed this with His words from the cross: “It is finished.” When Jesus cried out the first line of this psalm from the cross–“My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?”–He wasn’t crying out in despair. He knew His Father would never forsake Him and would in fact raise Him up again. Jesus was quoting this prophetic psalm that told of His death and ultimate victory. The details within the psalm of piercing His hands and feet, of the soldiers gambling over His robes, of his bones being out of joint due to hanging on the cross, of the people staring at Him and sneering for Him to deliver Himself, of his thirst–these held the revelation of what all those watching His death were witnessing at that very moment. The religious leaders standing by and gloating over Jesus’ death knew this psalm. But they’d never understood it. King David’s words from so long ago proclaimed that this death they had caused and were now witnessing would lead to Jesus’ ultimate worldwide victory. Jesus invoked David’s prophetic first line to alert them to this psalm. To say, “This is playing out right now before you! Open your eyes and SEE. And in the end I will be the Victor!”

The final post of this week on Saturday speaks to this victory–for Jesus and for us–and to how we should therefore live.

I encourage you to take time in reading each posted word this week. Before reading, ask the Lord to release revelation of His message to you. These words from Him are hard-hitting and deep, and they deserve our reverence. All of His words to us, whether written in His Bible or spoken, must be heard with our spirit, not our rational mind. For the Lord’s words are far greater and higher than our mere human rationality. He will grant us revelation of His words if we will only ask.

May you be blessed this week. May your life be changed through these words from our Lord. And when next Sunday–Easter–dawns, may you rejoice in the day as you have never before rejoiced. For Christ’s death…lead to our VICTORY.
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Notes:

Psalm 22, by King David

1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the one Israel praises.
4 In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
5 To you they cried out and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not put to shame.
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
8 “He trusts in the Lord,” they say,
“let the Lord rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him.”
9 Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me trust in you, even at my mother’s breast.
10 From birth I was cast on you;
from my mother’s womb you have been my God.
11 Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
13 Roaring lions that tear their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted within me.
15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce my hands and my feet.
17 All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.
19 But you, Lord, do not be far from me.
You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver me from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
22 I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or scorned
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
25 From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the Lord will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!
27 All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
28 for dominion belongs to the Lord
and he rules over the nations.
29 All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
30 Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
31 They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!

John 19:28-30: Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.” A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips. When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.” With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

Luke 23:33-37: When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers even sneered at him. They said, “He saved others; let him save himself if he is God’s Messiah, the Chosen One.” The soldiers also came up and mocked him. They offered him wine vinegar and said, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”

John 19:23-24: When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said, “They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.”