just heard the news on the radio that stunned the world, Princess Diana had been killed!
Another event that shook the globe happened on 9/11; the world watched in a state of
shock as the World Trade Center towers in New York City were attacked by terrorists.
We all saw these mammoth towers fall, taking hundreds of lives with them. There have
been many catastrophic events such as the two mentioned, that are forever etched in the
history of this world. You remember vividly where you were and what you were doing
when these tragic events played out before a horrified world audience. These two days
mentioned changed many things in the months and years that followed.
There is another pivotal day in history. Where were you when the Lord of the universe
was nailed onto an old rugged cross and shed His precious blood for you and me? You're
probably thinking, "Is she crazy, that was over 2000 years ago! I wasn't even born!" You
are right, you did not exist...except in one place. You were in His mind. He died for you!
As He hung in agony, He was thinking of you. Jeremiah 1:5a "Before I formed thee in
the belly I knew thee;" Yes, God was talking to Jeremiah here, however if He knew the
prophet Jeremiah before He was formed in his mothers womb, don't you think the same
applies to you and me?
Ephesians 1:3 & 4 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who
hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: According
as He hath chosen us in Him, before the foundation of the world; that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love:"
These verses are not saying that God picked who would and who wouldn't be saved, He
provided salvation for all! (1 Timothy 2:4 "Who will have all men to be saved, and
to come unto the knowledge of the truth.") It is saying that before the foundation of
the world, God KNEW who would accept salvations gift and become His children. Do
you get this, before the world was formed, God had you in His thoughts! His great love
for us is the only reason that put Jesus Christ on that horrid cross that day thousands of
years ago. He was thinking of us as they cruelly scourged Him, as they led Him out of the
city in shame carrying that heavy cross, as they nailed Him in anger to it and then raised
it to the sky. As He hung there, in our stead, we were on His mind.
Ephesians 2:4 & 5 "But God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He
loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by
grace we are saved:)" There is a song that goes like this,
It Was His Love For Me
It was His love for me that nailed Him to the tree,
To die in agony for all my sin.
For my own guilt and blame, the great Redeemer came,
Willing to bear the shame of all my sin.
To Calvary's hill one day, the Lord was led away,
None else the price could pay for all my sin.
He on the cross was slain, yielding His life in pain,
He felt the bitter stain of all my sin.
Was ever love so strong, was ever crime so wrong,
When Jesus suffered long, for all my sin?
He saw my greatest need, became my friend indeed,
Through Him I have been freed of all my sin.
Oh, what a Savior is mine,
In Him God's mercies combine;
His love can never decline,
And He loves me.
Norman Clayton
The next time you are sitting and thinking on these events in history, and where you were
when you heard the news, remember that 2000 years ago, when the Lord was crucified on
that old rugged cross...you were there.
He knew me, yet He loved me,
He whose glory makes Heaven shine;
I'm so unworthy of such mercy,
For while He was on the cross,
I was on His mind.
Ronnie Hinson & Mike Rayne
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