The Unveiled Christ

This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:19-20

The Unveiled Christ
Words by Noah B. Herrell

Once our blessed Christ of beauty
Was veiled off from human view;
But through suffering, death and sorrow
He has rent the veil in two.

Refrain
O behold the Man of Sorrows,
O behold Him in plain view;
Lo! He is the mighty Conqueror,
Since He rent the veil in two.
Lo! He is the mighty Conqueror,
Since He rent the veil in two.

Now He is with God the Father,
Interceding there for you;
For He is the mighty conqueror,
Since He rent the veil in two.

Holy angels bow before Him,
Men of earth give praises due;
For He is the well beloved
Since He rent the veil in two.

Throughout time and endless ages,
Heights and depths of love so true;
He alone can be the Giver
Since He rent the veil in two.

This is a song that we sang pretty often in our church growing up. I understood what it meant that Christ “rent the veil in two” because of the crucifixion story and the verses in the gospels that plainly state it.

And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split.
Matthew 27:51

And the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
Mark 15:38

However, what I didn’t know was the meaning for us, as believers, that Christ rent the veil in two. Why was it important that the veil was torn in two? What did the veil do in the first place?

You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring in the ark of the testimony there within the veil; and the veil shall serve for you as a partition between the holy place and the holy of holies. Exodus 26:33

The veil was a critical piece in the tabernacle that Moses erected in the desert. The veil separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy Place. All the priests ministered every day in the Holy Place, but the Holy of Holies was different. In the Holy of Holies was the ark of the covenant, and in those days, God met with His people in a cloud above the ark. Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, and only on one day each year – the day of Atonement. (See Leviticus 16.)

Entering the Holy of Holies was serious business – God commanded Moses that Aaron (the high priest) would have to wear special clothes, bring animals for offerings and bring a firepan of coals and incense otherwise HE WOULD DIE.

He shall take a firepan full of coals of fire from upon the altar before the LORD and two handfuls of finely ground sweet incense, and bring it inside the veil. He shall put the incense on the fire before the LORD, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the ark of the testimony, otherwise he will die. Leviticus 16:12-13

This is where God was. Even the High Priest could only enter once a year. The Israelites could never go into the Holy of Holies. They had no direct access to God; they relied on the High Priest to make atonement for them.

Jump ahead to the time of Jesus and His life on earth – his death and resurrection bought our salvation and our eternal redemption. But what else? The Gospels tell us that at His death the veil was split from top to bottom – since the veil separated people from the Holy God, now, because of Jesus’ death, there is no separation! The veil is torn in two and now all believers have access to God through Jesus Christ! Stop for a moment and just think about this.

I think it must have been amazing, on so many levels, to be present at the crucifixion. But can you imagine what the Jews thought when they heard the sound of the veil ripping in two? Can you imagine what it must have been like to go to the Temple and see the veil in two pieces? To be able to see INSIDE THE VEIL?

In the Old Testament, the people had no access to God: a thick veil in the tabernacle separated them and only the High Priest could go within the veil. But Jesus has become our High Priest, has made atonement for us once and for all, and has rent the veil in two allowing us to go to God directly! Isn’t that GREAT NEWS???

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. Hebrews 9:11-12

He is indeed our mighty conqueror, having conquered sin and death forever. And He is with God the Father, interceding for us.

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-27

Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. Hebrews 7:25

I hope that you will take some time today and think about what it means for you, personally, that Christ rent the veil in two.

And I encourage you to draw near and hold fast as the author of Hebrews exhorts us.

Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:19-25

Jesus Lives and So Shall I

Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
Col. 3:1

Jesus Lives and So Shall I
Words by Christian F. Gellert

Jesus lives, and so shall I.
Death! thy sting is gone forever:
He, who deigned for me to die,
Lives, the bands of death to sever.
He shall raise me with the just;
Jesus is my Hope and Trust.

Jesus lives and so shall I! Isn’t that great news? Jesus’ death and resurrection took away the sting of death for those who know Him. Death no longer has the victory – Jesus does!

He will swallow up death for all time, and the Lord GOD will wipe tears away from all faces, and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; for the LORD has spoken. Isaiah 25:8

Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him.
Romans 6:8-9

Jesus lives and reigns supreme;
And, his kingdom still remaining
I shall also be with Him,
Ever living, ever reigning.
God has promised; be it must:
Jesus is my Hope and Trust.

Because of his sacrifice on the cross, we have eternal life. Those who have professed faith in Jesus Christ will live and reign with Him, forever in glory. Doesn’t that make your heart glad?

Then the seventh angel sounded; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever." Rev. 11:15

There will no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and His bond-servants will serve Him; they will see His face, and His name will be on their foreheads. And there will no longer be any night; and they will not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God will illumine them; and they will reign forever and ever. Rev. 22:3-5

Jesus lives, and God extends
Grace to each returning sinner;
Rebels He receives as friends,
And exalts to highest honor.
God is True as He is Just;
Jesus is my Hope and Trust.

Jesus lives, and by His grace,
Victory o'er my passions giving,
I will cleanse my heart and ways,
Ever to His glory living.
The weak He raises from the dust;
Jesus is my Hope and Trust.

These verses speak to God’s amazing grace – grace that is extended to each returning sinner and grace that gives us victory over our passions.

The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5:20-21

The Law was given so that people would see their sin, and the seriousness of their sin in contrast to our Holy God. But as we see in Paul’s letter to the Romans, where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that grace reigned through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus. In response to this gift of grace, we should follow the example of this hymn writer who says “I will cleanse my heart and ways.” As we see here in Paul’s exhortation to the Romans, we can have victory over our passions when we let righteousness reign instead of sin:

Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
Romans 6:11-14

Jesus lives, and I am sure
Naught shall e'er from Jesus sever,
Satan's wiles, and Satan's power,
Pain or pleasure-- ye shall never!
Christian armor cannot rust;
Jesus is my Hope and Trust.

Nothing will separate us from Jesus. This hymn offers such encouragement! You probably have these next verses memorized, and if you don’t, I encourage you to commit them to memory:

For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39

Paul pretty much sums it all up there. Nothing can separate us.

Jesus lives, and death is now
But my entrance into glory
Courage! then, my soul, for thou
Hast a crown of life before thee;
Thou shalt find thy hopes were just--
Jesus is the Christian's Trust.

Remember that death has no victory since Jesus has conquered it So death is now simply our entrance into glory! It has no power – therefore, be courageous in your Christian life – there is a crown of life awaiting you. You can confidently fix your hope on Jesus and know that you will find your hopes were just when you are in your heavenly home.

Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. I Peter 1:13

Welcome, Happy Morning!

I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Rev. 1:18

Happy Easter! (We got more than a foot of snow overnight, so it doesn't quite "feel" like Easter in our part of the country...)

Easter is the day we celebrate Jesus rising from the dead. I think His miraculous resurrection surprised even His closest followers – even though He had told them what would happen. Can you imagine what it would have been like to be one of the Marys on that morning, and going to the tomb, finding it empty? Thinking that someone had stolen your beloved friend and Savior? And then learning that He wasn’t stolen – He arose! And you will see Him again! What wonderful news! They must have been beside themselves with joy.

Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. The guards shook for fear of him and became like dead men. The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified.

He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said.

Come, see the place where He was lying. Go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you into Galilee, there you will see Him; behold, I have told you." Matthew 28:1-7

As this hymn tells us, Jesus’ resurrection won heaven for us and vanquished hell. Vanquished is a big word that means conquered, defeated. Jesus conquered hell by rising from the dead – the devil no longer has the power – Jesus does! We’ve looked at this verse before from Hebrews but it bears repeating:

Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives. Hebrews 2:14-15

Jesus was a human just like we are, and partook of death, as a human, so he might render the devil powerless. We no longer fear death! Jesus has conquered it for us! This hymn uses this illustration in several verses – in verse 1 it speaks of hell being vanquished, in verse 5 it reminds us that “mankind to deliver, mankind did put on.” Jesus became a man in order to deliver us through his death and resurrection.

For since by a man came death, by a man also came the resurrection of the dead. I Cor. 15:21

We are delivered from our impending death because of our sin, and also delivered of the sins that imprison us. As the hymnwriter here says, “Loose the souls long prisoned, bound with Satan’s chain.” Until we confess that we are sinners in need of a Savior, ask for forgiveness and profess that Jesus is Lord, we are imprisoned by our own sin, bound by Satan’s chains. As Paul explained to the Romans,

I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Romans 7:23-24

Until he came to saving faith, Paul, and each of us, were imprisoned by our sin. But Jesus sets us free from the body of this death! His death and glorious resurrection raises us to life again with Him.

For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin.
Romans 6:5-7

But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. Romans 8:11

We have a new life now, and we also have eternal life. As Jesus promised

"For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day." John 6:40

All that is fallen is raised to life again. All glory and honor and praise to God for His wonderful plan: sending His own son to take my sin upon Himself to die a shameful death upon a tree, then rising again, having become the propitiation (satisfaction) for my sin, and now seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having finished the work that He came to do.

He is not here. He is risen! Hallelujah!

Welcome, Happy Morning!
Words from the Venantius Fortunatus, circa 590;
translated from Latin to English by John Ellerton

“Welcome, happy morning!” age to age shall say:
“Hell today is vanquished, Heav’n is won today!”
Lo! the dead is living, God forevermore!
Him, their true Creator, all His works adore!

Earth her joy confesses, clothing her for spring,
All fresh gifts returned with her returning King:
Bloom in every meadow, leaves on every bough,
Speak His sorrow ended, hail His triumph now.

Months in due succession, days of lengthening light,
Hours and passing moments praise Thee in their flight.
Brightness of the morning, sky and fields and sea,
Vanquisher of darkness, bring their praise to Thee.

Maker and Redeemer, life and health of all,
Thou from heaven beholding human nature’s fall,
Of the Father’s Godhead true and only Son,
Mankind to deliver, manhood didst put on.

Thou, of life the Author, death didst undergo,
Tread the path of darkness, saving strength to show;
Come, then True and Faithful, now fulfill Thy Word;
’Tis Thine own third morning; rise, O buried Lord!

Loose the souls long prisoned, bound with Satan’s chain;
All that now is fallen raise to life again;
Show Thy face in brightness, bid the nations see;
Bring again our daylight: day returns with Thee!

Behold Him Now on Yonder Tree

It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. I Timothy 1:15

Behold Him Now on Yonder Tree
Words by George S. Smith

Behold Him now on yonder tree,
The Prince of Peace, the heavenly King;
O what can His transgression be
Such shameful punishment to bring?
And lo, a thief hangs on each side;
Who justly suffers for his crime.
But why should Christ be crucified,
The One so holy, so divine?

Refrain
It was for me, yes, even me,
That Jesus died on Calvary;
My soul to cleanse from all its guilt,
His precious blood my Savior spilt.

O sinner, see, for you and me
He freely suffers in our stead;
And lo, He dies upon the tree;
Behold, He bows His sacred head!
So pure, yet He has borne our guilt,
By death our ransom He has paid;
It was for us His blood was spilt;
Our every sin on Him was laid.

O loving Savior, take my heart,
No longer can I live from Thee!
With all unlike Thee now I part;
Thy wondrous love has conquered me.
I yield to Thee my little all;
Accept me now, Lord, as Thine own;
I’ll be obedient to Thy call
And spend my life for Thee alone.

Today is Good Friday, the day Jesus was crucified. Many Christians do not want to think too much about Good Friday – it gets glossed over in favor of Resurrection Sunday – Easter. After all, Easter is the good news part of the story, right? Jesus rose from the dead! However, without Good Friday there would be no Resurrection Sunday – and Good Friday is when Jesus accomplished the purpose for which His Father had sent Him to Earth – to take the sins of man upon Himself and be sacrificed, once for all.

For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God. I Peter 3:18

Jesus died a shameful death FOR US and BECAUSE OF US. This hymn makes it very clear – Jesus freely suffered in our stead, bore our guilt and paid our ransom.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. Mark 10:45

Are you grasping the gravity of this? God, in human form, came to serve. He is God. You would expect that the King of the Universe would be served instead of serving. But His words are clear: He came to serve and give His life as our ransom. The sins of the whole world, past, present and future, were put on Him.

He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. II Cor. 5:21

All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him. Isaiah 53:6

When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. Col. 2:13-14

Because of His suffering, we are healed – healed from our sin, and made whole.

He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging we are healed. Isaiah 53:5

The third verse of this hymn is our response to this amazing gift. Our lives are now yielded to Him, we are called to be obedient, and to live our lives for Him.

For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf. II Cor. 5:14-15

I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. Gal 2:20

By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. I John 4:9

I urge you to contemplate Good Friday and what it means for you personally. It was my sin and your sin that sent Jesus to the cross. Jesus’ death was painful and real, and He experienced it as any human would have. Because of His incredible obedience to His Father, and God’s amazing plan, we are redeemed – we no longer live, but Christ lives in us. Hallelujah to the Lamb!

Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!
John 1:29

Go To Dark Gethsemane

Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to His disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray." Matt. 26:36

In the last week of Jesus’ life on earth, He had just finished His last Passover, and had instructed His disciples to remember Him by breaking bread together, instituting the Lord’s Supper. Most of us know how the story continues: His disciples went with Him to Gethsemane, and Jesus told them to wait while He went away to pray. During this time, the disciples fall asleep, and Jesus comes and instructs them to watch and pray, so that they will not enter into temptation. But, you guessed it, they fall asleep again. It is here in the Garden of Gethsemane that Jesus prays this specific prayer three times:

My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will." Matt. 26:39

I’ve heard some commentaries about the Garden of Gethsemane and how it would have been possible for Jesus to get away from His pursuers at this point. But He didn’t. He knew that God would not take this cup away from Him – as this hymn says, He did not turn away from His grief. He was in conflict, so much so, that as we saw earlier this week, His sweat actually turned to blood. And what did He do? He prayed.

We can learn from Him how to pray when we face the tempter’s power, when we are in conflict, and in grief. Jesus faced all of this that night, and He turned to His Father in prayer. I’ve addressed prayer before in this blog – it is our great privilege to go before our Heavenly Father in prayer – to humbly bow before Him and seek His will – notice that’s what Jesus did. “Not as I will, but as you will.” Sometimes that’s a very difficult prayer to pray. God’s will is not always our will. But God uses our time in prayer and in studying His Word to bend our hearts to His will.

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving. Col. 4:2

The story goes on: Jesus was betrayed by Judas, arrested, taken before Caiaphas, beaten, questioned by Pilate, and mocked. He was arraigned for a crime He didn’t commit – He took our sin as His own. He suffered for us.

Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. Heb 5:8

Because of His suffering for us, we can learn from Him. We learn to bear the cross. Many of us suffer, in fact, it’s the only thing guaranteed in our lives. Paul encourages us:

For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ. II Cor. 1:5

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Romans 8:18

For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. II Tim. 1:12

We will suffer, no question about it – but our suffering is a time of being made more like Jesus. When we learn to bear the cross, we learn to obey, to be humble, to be selfless, and to trust in the One who healed our wounds through His death. Peter exhorts us that we have been called for this purpose!

For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, WHO COMMITTED NO SIN, NOR WAS ANY DECEIT FOUND IN HIS MOUTH; and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; and He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. I Peter 2:21-24

Our story doesn’t end with Jesus betrayal and arraignment. They hung Him on the cross, and He suffered physical pain and agony for many hours before giving up His spirit. He died.

Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, "It is finished!" And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. Then the Jews, because it was the day of preparation, so that the bodies would not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. So the soldiers came, and broke the legs of the first man and of the other who was crucified with Him; but coming to Jesus, when they saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. John 19:30-34

We learn from Jesus Christ to die. Jesus physically died. And He calls us to die to our fleshly desires, and to live for Him.

Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. Romans 7:4

Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Gal. 5:24

So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh--for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Romans 8:12-14

For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Col. 3:3

Go To Dark Gethsemane
Words by James Montgomery

Go to dark Gethsemane, ye that feel the tempter’s power;
Your Redeemer’s conflict see, watch with Him one bitter hour,
Turn not from His griefs away; learn from Jesus Christ to pray.

See Him at the judgment hall, beaten, bound, reviled, arraigned;
O the wormwood and the gall! O the pangs His soul sustained!
Shun not suffering, shame, or loss; learn from Him to bear the cross.

Calvary’s mournful mountain climb; there, adoring at His feet,
Mark that miracle of time, God’s own sacrifice complete.
“It is finished!” hear Him cry; learn from Jesus Christ to die.

I Cannot Tell

There is a lot we don’t know about God and His son Jesus, and the work of the Holy Spirit. Or, we may “know” it from absorbing the truth in God’s word, but we have a hard time wrapping our heads around it. I feel like I echo Mr. Fullerton’s feelings as he wrote this hymn: there’s a lot I cannot tell about, or know about, but there’s a lot I DO know, from walking by faith, and from seeing God at work in my life. I appreciate the way he writes this hymn and juxtaposes what he cannot tell, with what he can: he doesn’t know why God calls us to Himself, but he knows that our Savior has come. I can relate. I have a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that the God of the Universe seeks us while we are still sinners in order to reconcile us to Him.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

He even sent His own son to the cross to die a criminal’s death in order that we might be forgiven our sins and saved from an eternal separation from God.

For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. John 3:17

Remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. Eph. 2:11-12

We (Mr. Fullerton and I) also cannot tell how He suffered on the cross, and had His heart broken by taking on the sins of His people. Even before He got to the cross, Jesus’ agony was so real that He sweated blood.

And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.
Luke 22:44

We certainly don’t know how it is to suffer like that – the writer to the Hebrews reminds us of that.

You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin. Heb 12:4

But this we know: He heals the broken hearted! He lifts the burden from the heavy laden! The Savior of the world is here!

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3

Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, the God who is our salvation. Psalm 68:19

We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. I John 4:14

We don’t know how He will win the nations. I’m sure of this: it will be something to behold. We know that all the nations will worship Him, but how He will accomplish it is beyond my grasp.

"Great and marvelous are Your works, O Lord God, the Almighty; Righteous and true are Your ways, King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For You alone are holy; for ALL THE NATIONS WILL COME AND WORSHIP BEFORE YOU, FOR YOUR RIGHTEOUS ACTS HAVE BEEN REVEALED." Rev. 15:3-4

But we do know that all flesh will see His glory. He will reap His harvest. He will be known!

Let every valley be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; and let the rough ground become a plain, and the rugged terrain a broad valley; then the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all flesh will see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken. Isaiah 40:4-5

Then I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and sitting on the cloud was one like a son of man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand. And another angel came out of the temple, crying out with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, "Put in your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe." Then He who sat on the cloud swung His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped. Rev. 14:14-16

All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will worship before You. Psalm 22:27

I cannot tell how the lands will worship, or what the jubilation will be when the hearts of men are filled with love. Again, I can imagine it will be greater than anything I could even attempt to comprehend or picture.

All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O Lord, and they shall glorify Your name. Psalm 86:9

And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, "Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created." Rev. 4:9-11

We can’t picture it, but we know this: the skies will thrill! The people will sing! The Savior is King!

I Cannot Tell
Words by William Y. Fullerton

I cannot tell why He whom angels worship,
Should set His love upon the sons of men,
Or why, as Shepherd, He should seek the wanderers,
To bring them back, they know not how or when.
But this I know, that He was born of Mary
When Bethlehem’s manger was His only home,
And that He lived at Nazareth and labored,
And so the Savior, Savior of the world is come.

I cannot tell how silently He suffered,
As with His peace He graced this place of tears,
Or how His heart upon the cross was broken,
The crown of pain to three and thirty years.
But this I know, He heals the brokenhearted,
And stays our sin, and calms our lurking fear,
And lifts the burden from the heavy laden,
For yet the Savior, Savior of the world is here.

I cannot tell how He will win the nations,
How He will claim His earthly heritage,
How satisfy the needs and aspirations
Of East and West, of sinner and of sage.
But this I know, all flesh shall see His glory,
And He shall reap the harvest He has sown,
And some glad day His sun shall shine in splendor
When He the Savior, Savior of the world is known.

I cannot tell how all the lands shall worship,
When, at His bidding, every storm is stilled,
Or who can say how great the jubilation
When all the hearts of men with love are filled.
But this I know, the skies will thrill with rapture,
And myriad, myriad human voices sing,
And earth to Heaven, and Heaven to earth, will answer:
At last the Savior, Savior of the world is King!