The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.
The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.
Psalm 18:4-5
This week we gaze again at the cross—the terrible necessity God required to make justice for our sins. The brutal cross is the price tag for our autonomy; it represents punishment and total separation from the open arms of the Father's love.
As Jesus hung on the cross in our place, for the first time in his life, he stepped into the black hole of hopelessness. As he took up our sin burden physically and psychologically, the world seemed to respond accordingly. The scriptures record that the clouds grew unusually dense and dark as heaven’s vaults seemed to seal against man’s insolence. The Garden of Eden had been sealed off from a rebellious couple. And now, again, God was quarantining the awful contamination of sin. Jesus stepped into that terrible sense of disownment and alienation and took it upon himself. The darkest chasm of depression and loneliness settled into him and around him. “My God, my God, why have you forsake me” (Matthew 27:46), he cried out to the silent heavens.
For those dreadful hours, Jesus owned our darkest fears and our pent-up despair. Our terrible sinking loneliness and worthlessness became his. This was not something he was accustomed to. He had only known perfect community with Father and Spirit. Always together. Always enjoying one another. Always confident in his Father’s counsel and approval.
But now, this awful separation! This terrifying absence. This pervasive insecurity. It is summed up with one nightmarish word—ABANDONMENT. As terrible as the physical suffering of crucifixion was, this emotional despair was worse.
Abandonment “IS” hell. This is what hell is. Being cut off from God's being, considered worthless, irrelevant to being—That is the curse of non-being. A soul that craves community can never be satisfied by isolation from the enjoyment of others. And that is what sin does—it completely isolates. The soul sinks into a vast wilderness of sadness with nothing and no one to comfort it.
Some of you have experienced loneliness and despair. Some of you have labored through depression or grief. Today, you can take heart that Jesus entered into your abandonment so that you could be rescued from it. He promised, “The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” If you choose the Father, you will never be forsaken or neglected. Jesus split open the thick temple veil that shrouded the Father from our intimate contact and restored our connection to his life-giving Spirit. He promised, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Today you can live in restored communion with God. Jesus’ replacement of us on the cross saved us from the awful fatality of abandonment. “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life” (John 6:40). As we meditate on the cross and mourn soberly for the price of our sins, we thank Jesus again for the enormous burden he lifted from us. He is our champion and companion. And thanks to him, we can begin—even today—to enjoy friendship with the holy community of God.
Tags: love, community, communion, sin, cross, gospel, sacrifice, salvation, suffering, death, loneliness, self, eternal life, crucifixion, despair, rejected, abandonment, costly
