So You Want to Please God?

Only Jesus the Messiah can say, "He who sent me (The Father) is with me. He has not left me alone for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him (John 8:29,30). Later the Son of God, Jesus Chirst cries out on the Cross, "Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?" that is, "My God, my God why have you forsaken me?"(Matt 27:45,46) What happened? What happened to the Father and Son relationship that was perfect in love and unity? Was the Father no longer pleased with the Son? Was it that the Father was pleased with Jesus before, but was displeased with Jesus because He was on the Cross? Let us remember, it was the will of the Father for Jesus to take the Cross (Matt 26:39). So why was God displeased while Jesus was on the Cross? Why does God forsake His Son that He always finds pleasure in (John 8:29), and why on the Cross is Jesus receiving a penalty that is in total opposition to God taking pleasure in Him? Why does God turn His back on His Son whom He loves and is always pleased with? Whats wrong, what happpened?

The answer is sin, our sin. Our sin was put on to Jesus, the One who always pleased God, who always pleases God. This shows that God hates our filth so much that He crushed His Son that He was most pleased with on our behalf (Isaiah 53:10). This also shows God's love and kindness towards broken and filthy sinners like us. He made Him who knew no sin (Jesus) to be sin that we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Ok let's rewind some. The same pleasure God has in the Son in John 8:29 is the same pleasure He has for those who will put their faith in the finished Work of Jesus, Wow. Jesus died and three days later He rose.

The Father raised Him from the dead to show that He still found pleasure in His Son (Acts 2:24, Galatians 1:1). The Father still found pleasure in Jesus even after He received the punishment for sin, He was pleased in Jesus laying down His life for His chosen people (John 10:17), so those who trust in the risen Savior will never be forsaken because Jesus was forsaken for them on the Cross (Matt 27:46), Wow. His perfect life that always pleased the Father will become theirs because of His death, burial, and resurrection for sinners. That's what it means to be saved and born again through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. Believers are sealed by the Perfect life of Jesus by the Spirit, and saved from the wrath of God because Jesus was forsaken and crushed on the Cross for those who would turn and believe (Romans 5:9).

Only One Person can pay for sin, and that is Jesus Christ. The righteous died for the unrighteous and rose to give His righteousness to the unrighteous so they can be accepted by God through the Lord who always, and I mean always pleases the Father. John 8:29 is given to those who believe, but Matt 27:46 remains for those who will never turn to Jesus because of their love for sin and self righteousness against God. Jesus is now at the right hand of the Father giving life to those who by the Spirit will turn to believe in Him. He's giving His life to the sinful to make them right with God when they repent and believe in Him, and by the Spirit, keeping with repentance and faith because of the new birth. It’s all about Jesus the Christ. Sinners can be saved through Him to have Eternal Life through His death, burial, and resurrection, a life to the Father through Jesus for the salvation of sinners. Amen.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." John 3:16