No other man in the history of of the world, has faced the level of betrayal, insults, shame, punishment and pain that Jesus faced in His journey to redeem man from sin.

Talk about the emotional torture, the physical pain, the taking on of the filth of the world (sin) and the spiritual separation from God. His death is such that not even the most compassionate of “ordinary” men would have volunteered of his own will to go through it. But Jesus did it anyway.

How was He able to withstand the so much pain that led to His death? The Bible tells us.

“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds.” (Heb 12:2-3)

"For the joy that was set before Him, He withstood the pains." That means there was something He was seeing ahead of Him. Something He had in mind. That enabled Him to withstand the pain and shame of the cross.

What was this joy or glory that was set ahead of Him? We find this in Isaiah 53, verse 10 to 11.

“Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.” (Isa 53:10-11 KJV)

That joy set ahead of Him is His seed, his generation, whom He will justify from everything sin through His death and resurrection. That is you the believer today.

You were the glory He saw ahead of Him that made His pains seem like nothing before Him. All the while He was on the cross, it was you that He had in mind.

In the eyes of Jesus, you are worth every pain, insult, shame, heartbreak and finally the death of sinners that He went through.

Not even the blood flowing through His veins was as valuable as you are to Him so He let it spill. By that blood today, you have eternal forgiveness of sins. A forgiveness of sins that covers your past, present and future. You can’t exhaust it.

“In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins.” (Col 1:14 KJV)

So now it is perfectly okay to quit running away from your past, ashamed of how bad it has been. It is perfectly okay to give up the futile effort of trying to clean up your life before you can come to Him. Being fully aware of your sins, mistakes and weaknesses, He invites you into His loving embrace so He can wrap His banner of Love over you.

Now you can boldly walk into His inner chamber, His throne room and expect to be declared “not guilty” of all charges the enemy may have brought up against you. Because He has borne your sins and was judged “guilty” and killed for your sake.

“Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” (Heb 4:14-16)

Come into His loving embrace and feel His fatherly heart beat for you. If the One who knows everything about you counts you worthy enough to die for your sins, why count yourself as nothing? You are the joy that was set before Him, the glory He saw ahead of His pains. Don’t let anybody tell you otherwise.

You mean so much more to Him than your mind can ever comprehend. He loves you dearly. He truly does. Come into His embrace, just as you are right now and experience His great love for you.

I hope this blesses you!

Say “I am the glory that was set ahead of you. Thank you Jesus for dying in my place. Indeed I believe it was for me you died.”

Glory to God!

Source: https://www.feedmejesus.com/2019/04/the-joy-that-was-set-ahead-of-jesus.html

Cc: Lalasticlala, Mynd44, Dominique