Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
When God the Father, our Creator, found Himself confronted with a world (this fallen planet) that had rebelled against Him, He did the unthinkable: He frankly forgave us all!
This astonished the unfallen universe.
He sent His only Son, gaveHim, to die our second death.
The death of Jesus was infinitely more than a weekend of sleep (which any crucified person would appreciate; crucifixion did not kill people, it tortured them); the kind of death that Jesus died was what He described when He screamed on His cross, "My God, why have You forsaken Me?" (Matt. 27:46). The death that Jesus died is God-forsakenness. That's what hell is.
He knew He was dying our second death; He knew He was entering hell for us--the hell that has no ending, no light at the end of its dark tunnel.
Someone may object, "but He was resurrected the third day!" This understanding that many have diminishes the sacrifice of Christ and deprives us of the ability to appreciate its grand dimensions.
Crucifixion is a terribly painful experience but it is not lethal. Victims could live on for days, even weeks. It's torture. But Jesus knew that the death He was dying is the unending hell--the "curse" of God.
Moses had said it truly, "He who is hanged [on a tree] is accursed of God" (Deut. 21:23). Everybody believed Moses, including Jesus, which is why He screamed in His agony, "My God, why have You forsaken Me?" The cross was the proof of God's forsakenness of Him.
Hell is the infinite curse of God, the Father; there are no measurable dimensions to the extent of its horror; yet Jesus chose to enter into it; and the Father chose to giveHim to it!
When we sinners even begin to see its "width and length and depth and height" (Eph. 3:18), there is no end to the devotion that this divine love motivates us to give to Him forever!
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 28, 2009.
Copyright © 2019 by "Dial Daily Bread."
NOTE:"Dial Daily Bread" may be "off the air" again for a few days. Our power company (Pacific Gas and Electric) will be shutting off the power perhaps tomorrow or Wednesday nights. It's being shut off because of weather conditions that could start fires with their equipment. Hopefully, this won't last long and we'll be back soon.
