And then there are those times when, for whatever reason, He just feels far away. Doubt and despair knocking on the doors of our hearts. What do we hold onto then?
Psalm 37:28 gives us the anchor of hope to hold onto: "For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones. Wrongdoers will be completely destroyed; the offspring of the wicked will perish."
So there it is: God will never, ever forsake his faithful ones. Hallelujah!
But wait. The ones not forsaken are the “faithful ones.” Other versions refer to saints or godly ones. That's a problem, because if I'm to be honest, in and of myself, I am nowhere near godly or faithful or saint-like. And even worse, there is nothing I can do to qualify as godly. I can't buy or earn or trick my way into 'sainthood'.
Romans 7 says "I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?" Oh boy!
But it is in the next verse that my hope is found: "Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!"
The darkest hour in the history of the world was two thousand and some years ago. It was literally dark—the sun went black for three hours. Creation cried out at the horror of its Creator dying as a man.
The beloved Son of God, perfect in love and harmony with the Father from eternity past, was forsaken. Cut off. Cursed.
“Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them." (Galatians 3:10).
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” (Galatians 3:13).
The punishment for my sins, the perfectly just wrath of God, the curse, the cutting off and separation from God that I deserved, in that moment all fell on Christ Jesus, the Son of God. He was forsaken, so that I wouldn’t have to be.
Even more than that: Not only did he take my curse; He put on me His perfection.
Jesus was the only person who ever kept that perfect Law. The only one who never fell short. The only one who ever measured up to the standard of God’s character. Only he could.
But what is near unbelievable is that the Father credits that perfect, stainless record—the unblemished righteousness of Jesus—to broken, blemished, stained me when I trusted in Him for my salvation.
"This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:22-24)
“For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” (Galatians 3:27)
When I trusted in Christ, I was made one with Him. When God looks at me, He sees His perfect, beloved Son. So the faithful godly ones of Psalm 37? In Jesus, that is me. That is you.
And as the Father loves His Son, He loves us too. With a love that will never forsake, never cast us off. We are his godly ones, his sons and daughters, beloved children. He will never forsake us or let us go.
That’s what we hold on to, even when God seems far. Even when doubt hovers and defeat threatens, we hold on to the gospel and the truth of what Christ has done.
The darkest hour in history is our hope. As we celebrate Easter, we remember the Friday that our Saviour was forsaken, the overwhelming horror of the High King's death.
We remember that it was God’s wrath for our sin that poured out on Him on the cross.
We remember this overwhelming love, and the unimaginable amazing grace of a God who would love this drastically, not needing us, but simply out of the fullness of his love, for the purpose of his glory.
But we can't stop there.
On forsaken Friday, remember that Sunday is coming. That there was, indeed a resurrection.
Our Saviour conquered death itself. He was restored to the right hand of His Father. And because of Him, we will never ever be separated from our God.
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