DCLM Daily Manna Friday 7 April 2023
TOPIC: It’s Darkest Before Dawn
Text: Mark 15:24-38 (KJV)
KEY VERSE
“And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost.”
(Mark 15:33,37)
DCLM Daily Manna Friday 7 April 2023 MESSAGE
Generally, people do not regard death as a pleasant thing. It remains a cause of fear especially for those who do not know the Lord, because it signifies the beginning of eternity. If men were to secure a blissful eternity, it will take a special death by a special offering to appease God’s wrath for mankind’s sin. If ever there was a good death, here is it. Interestingly, today is widely called Good Friday.
Christ’s death on the cross at Calvary came with such intensity that the Lord Himself was shaken by it. The enemy threw everything at Him to dissuade Him from dying on the cross and leave mankind bound to sin. The Jewish leaders and Romans who could not find Him guilty still needed to write an accusation on His cross; so, they ended up with a curious charge: THE KING OF THE JEWS.
Three hours on the cross, darkness descended on the earth, but His detractors were not impressed. The greatest sorrow came six hours on the cross when God turned His back on Him. He died shortly afterwards. At that moment, the heavy curtain in the temple was split in two, creating a free entrance into the holy place for the first time ever.
Jesus experienced and endured the most intense shame and suffering for us. For the first time in eternity, He lost, momentarily, the fellowship of God. He shed His own blood to pay the penalty for our sin, grant us access to God and reconcile us to the Father. Today, believers should rejoice and appreciate Christ for what He did for us while sinners should promptly confess their sins and accept His sacrifice for them.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: The darkness of the cross of Christ ushered in the sunrise of our redemption.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: John 19-21
