The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe
"Our Prince of Life"
"But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that He by the grace of God should taste death for every man" (Hebrews 2:9).
How bitter would have been the taste of death for the Prince of life?
Consider that as God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ had known only infinite and eternal life "from everlasting" (Psalm 90:2). He had also known life as a man from His conception in the womb of Mary as God "manifest in the flesh" (I Timothy 3:16). Death was therefore a terrible aberration to such a One, a horror infinitely beyond any measure we will ever know. Indeed, it is one thing for human beings to see and ultimately experience death. We are all of a dying race, with death working in us physically as the cells of our body die by the millions every minute. We have context for our own end of life. For the Prince Of life, however, death came to Him as an intruder that seemingly should never have approached Him in any manner. "I am… the life" (John 14:6).
Little more can be said of this grace of our Prince, our Prince of life, who for us tasted that which was so foreign to Him. We do not know, we cannot know, and we will never know what He experienced in dying. Perhaps the brightest light of the matter shines in our ignorance. One day we shall see Him "face to face" (I Corinthians 13:12). We shall also look upon His hands, His feet, and His side to behold the wounds that tell us much, but most bear witness to the loss that can never be fully told. Yes, when the Bible declares "Christ died," it states the truth we must know for our redemption (Romans 5:6). In real terms, however, we can know so very little of how bitter the taste of death was for our Prince, our Prince of life, who for us will forever bear the prints of His death.
"He was cut off out of the land of the living. For the transgression of My people was he stricken. And He made His grave with the wicked, and with the rich in His death; because He had done no violence, neither was any deceit in His mouth. 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. Therefore will I divide Him a portion with the great, and He shall divide the spoil with the strong. Because He hath poured out His soul unto death and He was numbered with the transgressors, and He bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
(Isaiah 53:8-12)
Weekly Memory Verse
I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men, for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty."
(I Timothy 2:1-2).
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