The Wrath and the Blood, part 2

In the last post, I talked about God's wrath - His holy anger - against us because we constantly reject Him and His law. God's wrath has been building up against us and He says He is weary of holding it in (Jeremiah 6:11). But in His wrath, God remembered mercy (Micah 5:15) and in His compassion, He has atoned for our sins (Psalm 78:38). He did this by sending His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to live and die in our place, to take the punishment we deserve.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by His life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. Romans 5:6-11

Jesus Christ left the glory and honor of heaven in order to take on human flesh and live the life we are created and called to live (but we don't, Romans 3:23). He perfectly obeyed every single one of God's commandments. He perfectly loved God and others. He was the perfect Man and He was the perfect sacrifice (the sacrifice that all the sacrifices of the Old Testament were pointing towards). Then He died the most gruesome death, bearing the weight of our sins and absorbing the full weight of God's wrath against us. His slaughter means the appeasement of God's wrath. His slaughter saves us (Isaiah 53:4-7). The Lord Jesus knew this was His calling, His purpose. It was planned before the foundations of the world (Ephesians 1:4; 1 Peter 1:20; Revelation 13:8). The cup of God's wrath was given to Him to drink and He drunk every drop of it. When He was in the garden praying fervently to the Father because He knew His time of sacrifice was near, He asked the Father to remove this cup from Him if it was possible, but it wasn't (Mark 14:6). He didn't dread the beatings. He didn't dread the whip of cords. He didn't dread the nails and the cross or the mockings. He dreaded the alienation from God (Matthew 27:46). He had always been in perfect fellowship with the Father and for the first time, God the Father would turn away from His Son while His Son took on the sins of the whole world. I cannot even imagine the spiritual weight of this. Sometimes the Lord allows me to see a glimpse of the ugliness of my sin, but it's just a glimpse...and it is extremely ugly...and Christ bore all of it. He refused to numb the pain (Matthew 27:34) and bore it all and then He declared it was finished (John 19:30). The wrath of God against His people for their sins was completely absorbed by the perfect Son of God. He delivers us from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10). He bought us with His blood. That was the price and He paid it (1 Corinthians 6:20). In full.

This is really good news. This is the reason we celebrate Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday. This is what we will be celebrating for all eternity. And it will never grow old.

   And they sang a new song, saying,
    “Worthy are You, O Christ, to take the scroll
        and to open its seals,
    for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God
        from every tribe and language and people and nation,
    and You have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
        and they shall reign on the earth.” Revelation 5:9-10