Passion

 Picture taken from gettyimages.com

We watched The Passion of the Christ in church twice this week. I've lost count of the number of times I've watched this movie, but I know that every time I watched it again, the Lord spoke something deeper into my spirit, awakening it, reminding me, enlightening me with new revelations, assuring me of His love and giving me a greater understanding of His sacrifice.

This is the first time that I didn't shed a single tear. I still felt the excruciating pain when they whipped Jesus and nailed Him on the cross, but I also received a revelation from there. It's not just about treasuring my salvation and the life that Jesus has bought back for me by His body and blood, but the crucifixion itself, and the process of it all, and all that the Roman soldiers and religious authority did to Him was prophesied hundreds of years before He was born... it's such a significant turning point for all mankind.

I understood grace even more now. Who am I that He, the King and Lord of all, would give His life for me, suffer and die for me, just so that I would be made whole and complete and well again, just so that I would be able to have an abundant life. Not because I deserve it, but because I am wretched and I need Him. Amazing grace. Amazing love.

Passion is sacrifice. It's not just a deep love for something, but an act upon your love, that you will not hold back anything just to get to it, just to achieve it. You will not think twice about laying down anything of your self in exchange to it. You will be willing to sacrifice for it.

If you have a passion for photography, you sacrifice your money and time to buy camera and learn to use it, you pour your whole heart to it, just to see the produce of your photography. If you have a passion for music, you invest in instruments, protectives, polish; you invest your time to brush up on skills; you buy albums and listen over and over again; you learn from others.

But Christ, His passion was us, His people, His creation, His children. He invested His whole life for us, He sacrificed Himself. We sometimes devalue the word 'sacrifice'; e.g. "I sacrificed my time and money and youth to learn dancing." or "I sacrificed some meals and gave my money for the church." Compare that with what Jesus did, it really puts things into perspective. Jesus gave His body and His blood as the ransom to buy us back from spiritual darkness. And He gave it willingly. He was betrayed, accused, trialed, spat at, mocked at, scourged, beaten up, bruised, crucified, pierced, rejected, abandoned ... but there was never a word of complaint. He bore it all willingly, because He loved us. Passion is sacrifice.

There is no greater sacrifice than that of Jesus Christ. The Lord showed me that really, actually, whatever things that we suffer here on earth, every heartache, every pain, every rejection, every hurt, every challenge that we face, everything that we think we are unable to overcome, every setback, every obstacle, every opposition... He has taken it all unto Himself, so that we will not need to sacrifice. I'm again reminded that every challenge I face is just a tiny dot compare to what I will be rewarded and enjoy in eternity. And everything I thought impossible is already possible, because the most unthinkable and impossible -- God dying for His creation -- was already done. No wonder Hebrew 12:2 says to keep looking unto Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of our faith. Look unto the cross, look unto His finished work, there lies the power that will defeat and crush satan under our feet!

Lord, as we lift You up in our daily lives, may You draw all men unto Yourself. Amen.