2020 - MAR/APR Carolina Messenger

And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left” (Lk. 23:33).  Luke records the beginning of the end in the life of Jesus upon the earth and documents the first two sayings of Christ from the cross.

The first three sayings focus on others, while the last four relate to Jesus himself and the Father. The depth and meaning of the last words of Jesus warrant our whole attention.
   
     Rick Bauer wrote:

Last words are powerful words. Perhaps you’ve watched a loved one die, and heard his last words. Words of love, words of farewell, too often words of regret and remorse, all these describe the last words of parting before death. Jesus’ dying words are the most powerful words of parting ever spoken, and reveal his life, his concerns, and the true nature of his character in a way they are shown nowhere else in the scriptures. In these words, we truly find the meaning of the cross. Let us study with reverence the parting words of our Master … the message of the cross, the message of Jesus from Golgotha. We see Jesus for all that he is when we come to the cross, when we stand around it, when we listen to The Sermon on the Hill (Rick Bauer, The Anatomy of Calvary (Joplin: College Press, 1989), 121.

     James Stalker likewise opined:

These are like windows through which we can see what was passing in His mind. They are mere fragments, of course; yet they are charged with eternal significance. Words are always photographs, more or less true, of the mind which utters them; these were the truest words ever uttered, and He who uttered them stamped on them the image of Him-self (James Stalker, The Trial and Death of Jesus Christ (New York: A.C. Armstrong, 1894), 187.

Forgiveness.  “And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ And they cast lots to divide his garments” (Lk. 23:34; Isa. 53:12).  Jesus desires and prays for the forgiveness of his enemies, but this would only be possible by men being willing to repent and obey Christ to receive remission of sins.
Jesus calls upon us, His disciples, to extend love and kindness to those against us (Lk. 6:35).

Salvation.  “And he said to him, ‘Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise’” (Lk. 23:43).  The two thieves represent two distinct attitudes toward Christ. The context before the verse reads: “One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, ‘Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!’  But the other rebuked him, saying, ‘Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation?  And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong’” (Lk. 23:39-41).
     The key to remember is that Jesus gives salvation: “But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins” (Lk. 5:24).

Responsibility.  “When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’” (Jn. 19:26).  John is understood to be the disciple being referred to here (Jn. 2:4; 13:23; 21:7, 20) and he is the only one who records it.
     In this saying, we witness the love and care that Jesus exhibited toward his loved ones.  He was providing for His mother, even at the time of His death (1 Tim. 5:8).

Loneliness. “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?’ that is, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?’” (Matt. 27:46).  The quotation is from Psalm 22:1. There is much here on which to study, meditate, and pray in order to begin to understand anything about it.  It is a statement of loneliness based upon separation.

     G. Campbell Morgan wrote:

Alone in the supreme hour in the history of the race, Christ uttered these words, and in them light breaks out, and yet merges, not into darkness, into light so blinding that no eye can bear to gaze. The words are recorded, not to finally reveal, but to reveal so much as it is possible for men to know, and to set a limit at the point where men may never know. The words were uttered that men may know, and that men may know how much there is that may not be known. In that strange cry that broke from the lips of the Master there are at least three things perfectly clear. Let them be named and considered. It is the cry of One Who has reached the final issue of sin. It is the cry of One Who has fathomed the deepest depth of sorrow. It is the cry of One Himself o’erwhelmed in the mystery of silence. Sin, sorrow, silence (G. Campbell Morgan, The Crises of the Christ (New York: Fleming H. Revell Co.), 297.

     The Hebrew writer wrote, “In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence” (Heb. 5:7).  Our Lord was paying the ransom price for the sins of the whole world (Ac. 20:28; Heb. 9:22).

Humanity.  “After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), ‘I thirst’” (Jn. 19:28).  This is mentioned in Psalm 69:21.
The humanity of Jesus is shown here.  Jesus relates to our physical nature.  This is the only recorded statement of a physical need while on the cross.

Victory.  “When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, ‘It is finished,’ and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (Jn. 19:30).  The goal of Jesus was to finish the task given by the Father (Jn. 4:34).  The victory over sin was being accomplished.  The fact that “Jesus Saves” comes ringing loud and clear because He came to “seek and save the lost” (Lk. 19:10).

     Guy N. Woods wrote:

The words “It is finished,” sum up all that he came to do; the redemption of mankind was now being achieved and the course which had been laid out for him from the beginning, had been completed. His life and work, his suffering and death, the shame and agony of the cross, are all viewed as behind him and in triumph he shouts, It is finished! (Guy N. Woods, The Gospel According to John (Nashville: Gospel Advocate, 1981), 408.

Commendation.  “Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!’ And having said this he breathed his last” (Lk. 23:46).  The final recorded statement of Jesus fulfilled Psalm 31:5.

     R.C. Foster wrote:

He died a thousand million deaths on the cross as He died for all of us.  We cannot comprehend how great was His suffering for us.  If we could multiply the agony of death by as many millions of people as have lived in this world, we might approach the sum-total of His suffering: He bore the sins of all mankind as He died.  As His life was absolutely unique, so was His death.  His death was actual and real, but His suffering was so much greater than any of  us can ever know that we can scarcely comprehend it.  Jesus did not say: “I am finished.”  This saying (or words to the same effect) is so often heard from mortal man in the hour of death.  He has done all he can to fend off the fatal hour, but he cannot fight on any longer and so he cries: “I am finished.”  Not so with the Son of God.  The voluntary character of Jesus’ death is everywhere seen in the record of these hours on the cross.  He says: “It is finished.”  His thought is of the supreme work of God which He left heaven to accomplish (R.C. Foster, Studies in the Life of Christ (Joplin: College Press, 1995), 1284-85.

What Jesus said on the cross gives us a window to peer through to see into the greatest sacrifice ever given in the history of mankind.

Steve Miller serves on the board of directors for the Carolina Messenger and is one of the ministers at the Gold Hill Road congregation in Fort Mill, SC.

What is your worldview? If you are not sure, we may need to ask: What is a worldview?

“A worldview is a commitment, a fundamental orientation of the heart, that can be expressed as a story or in a set of presuppositions (assumptions which may be true, partially true or entirely false) which we hold (consciously or subconsciously, consistently or inconsistently) about the basic constitution of reality, and that provides the foundation on which we live and move and have our being” (The Universe Next Door. A Basic Worldview Catalog by James W. Sire. Fourth Edition. [Downers Grove, IL; IVP Academic. 2004], 17-18.)

Many influences are involved in an individual’s worldview. David A. Noebel gets to the heart of the meaning when he writes: “Every individual bases his thoughts, decisions and actions on a worldview.  A person may not be able to identify his worldview, and it may lack consistency, but his most basic assumptions about the origin of life, purpose, and the future guarantee adherence to some system of thought” (Understanding the Times [Eugene, OR: Harvest House Publishers, 1994], 1.)

Philipps and Brown simplify the idea by saying: “A worldview is, first of all, an explanation and interpretation of the world and second, an application of this view to life. In simpler terms, our worldview is a view of the world and a view for the world” (W. Gary Phillips and William E. Brown, Making Sense of Your World [Chicago: Moody Press, 1991], 29.) Applying what we believe to our everyday lives is living our own worldview.

One of the most influential studies on worldview by James Sire has seven questions to consider when examining our worldview:

1. What is prime reality — the really real? To this we might answer God, or the gods, or the material cosmos. Our answer here is the most fundamental. It sets the boundaries for the answers that can consistently be given to the other six questions.
2. What is the nature of external reality, that is, the world around us? Here our answers point to whether we see the world as created or autonomous, as chaotic or orderly, as matter or spirit; or whether we emphasize our subjective, personal relationship to the world or its objectivity apart from us.
3. What is a human being? To this we might answer: a highly complex machine, a sleeping god, a person made in the image of God, or a naked ape.
4. What happens to a person at death? Here we might reply: personal extinction, or transformation to a higher state, or reincarnation, or departure to a shadowy existence on “the other side.”
5. Why is it possible to know anything at all? Sample answers include the idea that we are made in the image of an all-knowing God or that consciousness and rationality developed under the contingencies of survival in a long process of evolution.
6. How do we know what is right and wrong? Again, perhaps we are made in the image of a God whose character is good, or right and wrong are determined by human choice alone or what feels good, or the notions simply developed under an impetus toward cultural or physical survival.
7. What is the meaning of human history? (James W. Sire, The Universe Next Door. A Basic Worldview Catalog. Fourth Edition [Downers Grove: IVP, 2004], 20.)\

Sire surveys the landscape of people’s ideas on the questions he raises. It is important to note: “The fact is that we cannot avoid assuming some answers to such questions. We will adopt either one stance or another. Refusing to adopt an explicit worldview will turn out to be itself a worldview, or at least a philosophical position” (Sire, 21).

Questions That Need Answers
When we narrow down the field to the three most common questions, we begin to see our worldview more clearly: Where did I come from? Why am I here? Where am I going when I die? It is generally conceded that these three questions relating to our existence cover our curiosity and drive us to dig deeper in many cases to discover real, consistent, coherent answers that align with a worldview that makes sense to us. We may not be able to articulate our worldview, but we have one none the less.
     Examples abound in books and materials with varying lists of questions that center around the same, basic inquiries as listed above. The biblical worldview answers each of the questions consistently as they are considered in reality and join together the overall plan of God for man:
     Where did I come from? Mankind was the crowning glory of God’s creation. “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27).
     Why am I here?  “The end of the matter; all has been heard.  Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man” (Eccl. 12:13).
    Where am I going when I die? Our eternal destiny depends on obedience to His commandments. “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mk. 16:16).

The Big Issue
     One’s view of God is the starting point for all worldviews. God is present in the foundation of our worldview if we have a biblical one. If we fail to include God in our worldview (Rom. 1:21), then we operate on an atheistic platform that will fail us eternally.
     A biblical worldview is a perspective that sees everything through the “glasses” of Scripture.  Rather than allowing culture or experience to determine a worldview, it allows the Bible to make that determination.  “The Christian belief system, which the Christian knows to be grounded in divine revelation, is relevant to all of life” (Carl F.H. Henry, Toward a Recovery of Christian Belief [Westchester, IL: Crossway, 1990], 113.).
Divine Direction
     The following are only a beginning sampling of biblical reminders of living our lives after the pattern of Him who died for us. A biblical worldview will be lived out by our unwavering allegiance to God and His Word in every category of life. We are not being true to God if we compartmentalize our faith and fail to consistently apply the gospel to our whole existence.

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12:2).
“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.  So they are without excuse” (Rom. 1:20).
“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ” (Col. 2:8).
“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction” (Prov. 1:7).

​     Take time to examine what you believe and why you believe it. Make sure your foundation is built upon God and His Word and seek to live your life in a consistent manner daily, all the while keeping your eyes focused upon Jesus Christ and His example.  A biblical worldview is the way of life for the Christian and must be maintained in order to please God our Creator.

Steve Miller