Pastoral Letter 208
Dear Members of St. Andrew’s Uniting Church, Friends and Adherents,
Grace and peace to you all.
Tomorrow, we gather to have a solemn service of Good Friday reflecting on the suffering and the anguish of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who gave His life as a ransom for our sins. As we ponder and retell the story of His suffering and death, let us remember that all that happened because of His unconditional love. What an amazing grace demonstrated in the ultimate sacrifice on the cross.
On Sunday morning again we will come together to celebrate the glorious resurrection of Jesus from the tomb. Being risen from dead, He has given us the possibility of eternal life with one condition to have faith in Him and believe that He is the Saviour who bring redemption to all who are lost and dead in sin.
Please continue to pray for those who are going through difficult and tough times, seeking God’s presence, help and healing.
If you are not able to join us tomorrow, please light a candle and join us following the attached Order of Service.
Please let me know if you or anyone else has prayer points.
Here are some prayer points for this week:
- Pray for peace, harmony and good to prevail the earth.
- Pray for the Middle East, and the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
- Pray for the people Artsakh who are refugees in different parts of Armenia facing many challenges.
- Pray for the poor, the sick, the struggling and the stressed.
- Pray especially for Virginia as she undergoes her treatment seeking God’s help and healing.
- Pray for those who are going through a difficult time with health and financial issues.
- Pray for our church and our future plans as we seek God’s guidance.
Best Regards
In Christ
Krikor
MESSAGE
The Forgiven!
“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.” Luke 23:43
It is no accident that Jesus was crucified between two criminals. Since the beginning, God had planned the time, the place, the method and the circumstances of Messiah’s death. All that He had decided came to pass exactly as He planned. Herod and Pontius Pilate, unknowingly, did what God’s “power and will had decided beforehand should happen” (Acts 4:28).
God had revealed through Isaiah that Messiah was to be “numbered with the transgressors” (Is 53:12), that He would be “assigned a grave with the wicked” (Is 53:9), that they would “cast lots for His clothing” (Psalm 22:18), that “not one of His bones would be broken” (Psalm 34:20). This shows us that the word of God is true and always is fulfilled.
There were only three to be crucified on that day together. To increase the humiliation and shame, the Roman soldiers placed Him in the middle. “The one who gets the nails is hung in the middle,” was their sceptical and scornful attitude. He was considered the worst of the three. He caused more turmoil to both, Romans and Jews. To the Jews He was blasphemous, to the Romans He was the king’s competition.
There were three crosses on that day. The scene was so dramatic, emotional and moving. Every time we envision and recall what happened that day, we understand the reality of sin and condemnation, but at the same time we see God’s love and forgiveness.
There are only three possibilities in connection to salvation. There is the Provider, there is the Receiver, and there is the Rejecter. There is One who died for sin, there are those who die to sin and there are those who die in sin. There are only three crosses. There is the cross of Redemption, there is the cross of Reception, and there is the cross of Rejection. There are only three people. There is the Saviour, there is the saint, and there is the sinner. There are no other possibilities in regard to responding to God’s salvation. That is the basic point of those three crucifixions on that day.
God used Jesus and the two criminals to dramatize the only possible responses to God’s promised Messiah: belief and unbelief, acceptance and rejection, repentance and impenitence.
A closer look at the three crosses will illustrate for us how salvation or the forgiveness of sin is achieved.
1. The Cross of Redemption
This is the cross of Jesus. It is in the centre. It is the greatest of the three in that it is the central doctrine in all scriptures. This was God’s love in action. Creation reveals God’s power and wisdom but is silent as to His love for sinners. It is only at the cross and from the cross that we learn about His love for sinners. The wage of sin is death (spiritual, physical, and eternal). Jesus, by His death offered an escape from the spiritual and eternal deaths and defeated the sting of physical death. He died as ransom for many. Although we cannot understand the mystery of it all, it nevertheless is clear that God’s offer of salvation through the cross of Jesus is not only common sense, but also the only solution to rescuing us from the power, guilt and curse of sin. It takes a blameless person to atone for those who are stained with sin. But Christ’s death does not only open the gate of heaven for us. It also enables us to live now as transformed. It is one thing to believe in Christ and a different matter to live a crucified life.
2. The Cross of Reception
This is the cross of the criminal whose life was short but blessed. It is said of him: “In the morning he was in nature lost and condemned; at midday, he was in grace, his black past erased; by the end of the day he was in glory, sharing its joy with the One who redeemed him.” It was said of him also that, “he was the first real Christian who was saved”.
But there is more to that. We learn that:
1. Faith alone saves. Had that thief lived, his faith would have manifested itself in works. Works do not save us, but they are the natural outcome of true faith.
2. Upon death we are transferred into the presence of our glorified Christ. There is no waiting period; Jesus said: “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
3. There are no purgatorial fires before entering paradise. The only condition is to believe.
4. When sinners come to Jesus seeking His redemption with a repentant heart an immediate salvation is experienced. Jesus said: “He who believes in me shall not perish but will have eternal life”.
Here is a proof that no matter how deep our sinfulness is, Christ’s grace is powerful enough to restore us and grant us paradise.
3. The Cross of Rejection
This is the cross of the other thief. He died as he lived, in his sin. He was physically near Christ but very distant from Him spiritually. Jesus could have saved him if he only acknowledged what God was doing on his behalf. From this cross we learn that:
1. Jesus can save the unholy, the unfit, and the unclean, but the unwilling he cannot save. There must be a cry for mercy in order for salvation to be accomplished.
2. We cannot wait until our dying moments to seek repentance and forgiveness.
3. Christ would not force Himself on anyone. He only makes Himself available. The choice is always ours.
4. A person may be very close to the means of salvation and still miss it. This thief wanted to be delivered by Jesus from his pain. He wanted a Christ without a cross. Many seek a Christ that will fulfill their dreams, but not One who would save them from sin.
5. Those who insist on their cross of rejection will be lost forever.
The way to being saved finds its blueprints in the example of the penitent thief:
1. He confessed his need for a saviour.
2. He declared his desire to believe through prayer.
3. He was granted his Savior’s pardon and assurance.
He was the Forgiven!