₦airaland Forum

On a memorable afternoon in Palestine, four thousand years ago, two travelers might have been seen, slowly tailing up the side of Mount Moriah father and son, Abraham and Isaac.

“Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Inquires the son.

“My son,” answers the Spirit-inspired father, “God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering.”

And now the altar has been erected and Isaac is laid upon it. Abraham grasps the knife and with arm uplifted, prepares to plunge it into the heart of his son, when, suddenly, a voice from above cries out:

“Abraham, Abraham… lay not thine hand upon the lad… And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.”

“In the stead of his son.” And hundreds of years after, God Himself provided a lamb, His own well-beloved Son, to die “in the stead of” sinful, guilty man. But when He hung on the cross, there was no voice from Heaven, for there was no other who could take His place. And so he died. Jesus Christ, a substitute for you and for me.

This, then, is the ground of Salvation. Christ’s work is the only true foundation, and every other is sinking sand. Hence, salvation is “not of works”. Christ did the work on Calvary’s cross nineteen hundred years ago.

If Calvary teaches anything at all, it teaches substitution. Such is the plain and unmistakable interpretation of Abraham’s sacrifice of ram, which, we are told, he offered up “in stead of” Isaac his son. God took your sin and mine and laid it on His Son, Jesus Christ, who bore it, and died in our stead. “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” John 1:29

In the awful hour when darkness covered Golgotha, and at the moment when the Lord Jesus Christ sent out that piercing, never-to-be-forgotten cry; “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me!” then it was that the foul thing called sin, yours and mine, was laid upon Him. So terrible was the experience that even God Himself had to turn away His face – Jesus was compelled to bear it all alone.

He has paid for your sins; you don’t have to pay for it anymore. He’s knocking at the door of your heart; won’t you open to Him today and let Him come in? The work of your salvation has been finished on Calvary; you don’t have to be a slave to sin and devil anymore. Surrender to Him and trust Him. Do it and do it NOW!

If you are lost, it will not be because of your sins. it will be because you will not accept the pardon that God offers you through His Son Jesus Christ.

Eben 2:
On a memorable afternoon in Palestine, four thousand years ago, two travelers might have been seen, slowly tailing up the side of Mount Moriah father and son, Abraham and Isaac.

“Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? Inquires the son.

“My son,” answers the Spirit-inspired father, “God will provide Himself a lamb for a burnt offering.”

And now the altar has been erected and Isaac is laid upon it. Abraham grasps the knife and with arm uplifted, prepares to plunge it into the heart of his son, when, suddenly, a voice from above cries out:

“Abraham, Abraham… lay not thine hand upon the lad… And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son.”

“In the stead of his son.” And hundreds of years after, God Himself provided a lamb, His own well-beloved Son, to die “in the stead of” sinful, guilty man. But when He hung on the cross, there was no voice from Heaven, for there was no other who could take His place. And so he died. Jesus Christ, a substitute for you and for me.

This, then, is the ground of Salvation. Christ’s work is the only true foundation, and every other is sinking sand. Hence, salvation is “not of works”. Christ did the work on Calvary’s cross nineteen hundred years ago.

If Calvary teaches anything at all, it teaches substitution. Such is the plain and unmistakable interpretation of Abraham’s sacrifice of ram, which, we are told, he offered up “in stead of” Isaac his son. God took your sin and mine and laid it on His Son, Jesus Christ, who bore it, and died in our stead. “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” John 1:29

In the awful hour when darkness covered Golgotha, and at the moment when the Lord Jesus Christ sent out that piercing, never-to-be-forgotten cry; “My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me!” then it was that the foul thing called sin, yours and mine, was laid upon Him. So terrible was the experience that even God Himself had to turn away His face – Jesus was compelled to bear it all alone.

He has paid for your sins; you don’t have to pay for it anymore. He’s knocking at the door of your heart; won’t you open to Him today and let Him come in? The work of your salvation has been finished on Calvary; you don’t have to be a slave to sin and devil anymore. Surrender to Him and trust Him. Do it and do it NOW!

Great post. ''for he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin ; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him''--2nd Cor. 5:21

"How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, " Heb 2:3

Jesus Christ the Son of God hung there that day for you. He took your place, died in your stead became substitute, bore your sins, gave His life that you a poor, lost and guilty sinner might live. What a remedy for man’s ruins?!

Singing:

[Quote]

Alas! and did my Saviour bleed, and did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?

Was it for crimes that I had done He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown! and love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide, and shut His glories in,
When Christ, the Mighty maker, died for man, the creature's sins.


But drops of grief can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away- tis all that I can do.[/quote]

It was night. Another day had gone, and all was still. Bu what matter? It was always night in the cold, clammy dungeon where Barabbas lay. The Sun now and then did manage to penetrate the inky blackness that ever reigned beneath the surface of the ground. But even then it couldn’t be called light; it was only less dark.

And yet there was a difference, for this particular night was the night of doom for the murderer who awaited the execution of his awful sentence. It was the last night on earth for him. His career was ended; his last crime committed.

Back in the darkest corner he crouched, deep in thought. A few more hours and all would be over. Ah, but would it? In the morning he would hear the football of death warden as he came along the corridor. Then for a moment it would cease as he paused before the door of his dungeon. The great key would clank in the lock, the bolt fly back, and the heavy door swing slowly open. And then he would be dragged out, led to the fatal spot, and nailed to a cross. And there for hours, it might be, he would suffer the most excruciating agony that Roman Ingenuity could devise, exposed to the public gaze of an indifferent populace; for he must pay the penalty of his crimes.

In the morning he did hear the steps of the jailer coming along the corridor. The key was placed in the lock. The bolt did fly back, and in another moment the great door was opened. And Barabbas still crouched in the darkest corner as before. But that was as far as his surmises of the night were realized.

“Barabbas, have you heard the Good News”? It was the wardens’ voice jubilant and strong.

“What Good News?” responded the condemned man in a bitter tone. “All I know is that this is the day of my execution, and that you have come to lead me out to be crucified for my crimes.” And he shrank farther back against the cold, wet wall.

“Ah! But you don’t know” replied the warden in the same triumphant tone. “Listen, Barabbas, Somebody died for you!”

“Somebody died for me! What do you mean?”

“Come with me, and I will show you, Barabbas.”

Through the door, along the corridor, past numerous cells, into the street, and beyond the wall of Jerusalem, they made their way, the jailer forging ahead, hurrying his dazed prisoner along. At last they paused.

“Do you see yonder cross?” he inquired, placing his hand on the shoulder of the other, and pointing to a hill some distance away.

The condemned man looked, but it was a few moments before he could comprehend the scene before him, so unaccustomed were his eyes to the light of day. But at last he saw and spoke:

“Yes, I see. There are three, are there not?”

“But do you see the centre one?”

“Yes”

“Well Barabbas, that centre cross was made for you, and you were to die on it this morning.”
Slowly the light dawned and broke on his beclouded mind.

“Then-then that Man hanging on it is dying in my place, for me!”

“Yes, Barabbas, for you. Did I not tell you that somebody died for you? And now you are free!”

“Can it be possible!? For me, dying for me; taking my place! But yes, that cross was made for me and I should have been hanging there now. Yet He is dying in my stead. He has taken my place.”

“Yes, Barabbas, for you.”

And for you too, my dear friend. Jesus Christ hung there that day for you, me as well as for Barabbas. He took your place, died in your stead, became your Substitute, bore your sins and gave His life that you, a poor, lost and guilty sinner, might live.

Will you accept His redemptive work on Calvary or will you reject Him and pay eternally with your blood for what has already been paid for? The choice is yours!

"the thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I AM COME THAT THEY MIGH HAVE LIFE, AND THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE IT MORE ABOUNDANTLY" John 10:10

"the thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy; I AM COME THAT THEY MIGH HAVE LIFE, AND THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE IT MORE ABOUNDANTLY" John 10:10

5solas: Singing:

[Quote]

Alas! and did my Saviour bleed, and did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head for such a worm as I?

Was it for crimes that I had done He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown! and love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide, and shut His glories in,
When Christ, the Mighty maker, died for man, the creature's sins.


But drops of grief can ne'er repay the debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away- tis all that I can do.

For the Lord to die for a worm like me, what a dept of love God has for me!

I am come that they might have life and have it to the full!

Christ came to give us His life and that we might it to the fullest, this is the very reason we will be saved because our lives is taken away and we have His life, so when God sees us He no longer the old life but the new life in Christ Jesus.

Pastor Olu T: I am come that they might have life and have it to the full!

Christ came to give us His life and that we might it to the fullest, this is the very reason we will be saved because our lives is taken away and we have His life, so when God sees us He no longer the old life but the new life in Christ Jesus.

Hmn... "For ye are dead and your life is hid with Christ in God" Col 3:3