Jesus Christ of Nazareth the Son of God suffered more than any human being on earth. First of all Jesus was completely innocent as He was the only one without sin. During the Last Supper He knew that his Disciple called Judas Iscariot whom he called a friend would betray Him. In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus knew what would happen to Him and He knew that if He didn’t go ahead with dying on the Cross none of us would be saved, yet He could have called His angels anytime to help him, but He didn’t do so. That knowledge must have made it a lot harder for Him knowing that He had that power, and couldn’t use it. He saw the sins of the world that He would carry, and He sweated blood so much that He nearly died in the Garden of Gethsemane. He had spent His life helping others and healing them, yet when He wanted companionship his Disciples fell asleep instead of comforting Him, and when He was arrested the crowd turned against Him and they wanted to free Barabbas instead of Him. Not only was He betrayed by Judas Iscariot His Disciple, but He was also betrayed by his Disciple Simon Peter who denied that he knew Jesus three times. Jesus was flogged 49 times and then they put a crown of thorns on His head and they blindfolded Him, and hit Him and spat on His face and broke his nose and mocked and humiliated him. Jesus had to carry the Cross which was the instrument of His Crucifixion.
The worst thing of all was that not only did Jesus Christ have physical pain, but the mental and emotional torture of carrying all our sins in His body for our salvation. For someone, who was so innocent, pure, holy and perfect to carry even the worst sins of the crimes committed in humanity must have been worse than the physical suffering He endured. It made Jesus Christ feel like a worm and not even a man and He felt completely cut off from His Father, and He cried out in a loud voice saying “My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me “. Jesus’s heart was melted like wax, and He was completely brokenhearted. He took all our punishment and blame on the Cross, and the sins of the world from the beginning of time till the end of time, and also He bore all our sufferings and sicknesses. Jesus conquered death on the Cross and rose again on the third day. See the passages on the Lord’s Passion in Psalm 22 and Isaiah 53 and Luke 22:1-24:53.
He is now the living Jesus Christ who shares continuously all the pain and sufferings we endure to this day. His sufferings are far longer than 3 hours hung on a Cross because He suffers non-stop because each time one of us suffers, He shares in our suffering. This life is only temporary, but Eternity goes on forever. The Saints and the Martyrs who suffered for Jesus are now in Heaven for Eternity with Him, for salvation is only through Jesus Christ, and not by any other route. It is so comforting to know that whatever hardships we go through in life, we are not alone because we have Jesus who suffers with us. All we have to do is to repent of our sins and turn away from sin as seen in Mark 1:15. We also need to give Jesus Christ our lives and live to do His Will and obey His Commandments and make him the Lord, Master and Saviour of our lives.
Some people keep confessing the same sins to God or to a priest over and over again and then carry on feeling guilty and tormented and afraid as it weighs them down, and stops them from being truly free because they haven’t truly believed that they have been forgiven, and so they haven’t been able to be totally freed from their sins as guilt and fear are stumbling blocks to true repentance. This attitude stops them from being totally transformed because they are still chained by the past and they are unhappy and feel like defeated Christians. Conviction comes from the Holy Spirit, and once sins are forgiven, they don’t exist anymore, but guilt comes from the devil. Who do you listen to Jesus Christ or the devil? Refuse to let yourself sink into guilt, and replace the thought by believing that you have been forgiven by Jesus. The problem is that you can’t feel the Lord’s forgiveness if you can’t forgive yourself, and Jesus’s love is far greater than all the sins you have ever committed, and so if He has forgiven you, you have to forgive yourself in order to be set free, and believe what the Bible tells you on the Lord’s forgiveness and keep repeating the verses which state that you have been forgiven and personalize them. Psalm 103:12 Micah 7:18-19
When you repent and turn away from your sins, your sins are completely wiped out so that you can start afresh again, and God doesn’t recall your sins to mind again, and has forgiven and forgotten your sins so that you shouldn’t feel guilty anymore. Feeling guilty comes from the devil and certainly not from God. See Isaiah 43:25 and 1 John 2: 1-2.
When you have truly forgiven yourself you will experience the Lord’s forgiveness and will be filled with the Lord’s peace and joy and you will walk in the light as seen in John 8:12
If you have been freed you will no longer feel guilty as seen in: John 8: 34
Once you give your life to Jesus, your life belongs to Him and not you anymore, and you must live to do His Will, and not compromise with what is right and wrong, but in return you will have the love, peace and joy that the world cannot give you and you will be purified by Jesus as seen in 1 John 1:8-9.
If you want Eternal Life and to be with Jesus forever say this prayer as often as you want to because each day you have to make a choice to follow Jesus Christ, and it will strengthen you to recommit yourself daily to Jesus, as it says that those who persevere to the end will be saved as seen in Matthew 24:13.
Dear Jesus Christ
You are the Son of God, and You were crucified on the Cross and died for me, an agonizing death, to pay the price for my sins, and You took my
punishment and blame instead of me.
You carried all my sins, infirmities and sorrows. My Precious Jesus Christ, I adore you so much that I am eternally grateful to You that You have saved me from hell and paid such a high price for my freedom.
I repent and I am truly sorry for my sins that caused You so much heartache and agony. I cry to You from the depths of my heart, and ask You to please give me the grace not to commit the smallest sin again, so as not to ever hurt You.
Jesus Christ, I give You my life, and I accept You as my Lord, God and Saviour, and please be the Lord and Master of my Life.
Please fill me with Your Holy Spirit to enable me to have Your Holiness and Grace to the brim, and please help me to resist temptation because I am Your child forevermore.
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you so much for rising from the dead on the third day for me and everyone in the world and for conquering sin and death for us.
You are truly alive, and I ask you please to be the Eternal Light that shines in my heart forever.
Amen.
See what happens when you belong to Jesus Christ the Son of God as seen in John 3:16
What you need to do to achieve a close personal intimate relationship with Jesus is to make sure that you spend at least half an hour or one hour of prayer a day with Him, – preferably both morning and evening, and sometimes simply to stay silent and be aware that you are God’s precious child and soak up the Lord’s love. Also read your Bible with eyes of love, especially the Gospels to learn about Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the Son of God. Ask the Holy Spirit to enlighten you to understand the Bible and try to praise Him in your heart throughout the day, and sing praise and worship hymns which you can find on youtube and most importantly be imitators of Christ by letting Jesus guide you throughout the day, so that you love God and your neighbour.
God Bless you.
Written by Marie-Helene and Dominic Bradshaw
e-mail [email protected]