Gethsemane: The Cost of Love and Obedience

What an incredible that the one who made all things was willing to be taken by the mob. He was willing to be falsely accused and willing to be placed on that cross and yet it was nothing compared to what he endured to make that right for you and for me, that propitiation to take the righteous wrath of the father upon himself, to experience some kind of separation between him and the Father. Nothing was too great a cost. That's Easter. I pray it brings us closer to him and brings us that courage to obey him, whatever the cost. [00:31:58] (47 seconds)  #HePaidItAll

So this Easter, look at the cross and realize God's love for you. Don't wonder if you're good enough, you're not, And that's good news. To know that God is good enough to bestow on you a love that's undeserved. A love set in place before the foundations of the world fulfilled two thousand years ago in God's commitment to us. So the question for this Easter is how you're going to respond if you've never responded to God's love? Then respond to it today. What are you holding back? What are you waiting for? [00:24:47] (46 seconds)  #UndeservedLove

Come to the garden. Picture Jesus there who felt like He had nothing left to give but gave everything. To bring you into right relationship with Him. What on earth could hold you back? Recognise that since Jesus died for your sins, you are a sinner. That the sins cause that separation between us and God and recognize the reality that outside of God, we have no rest, that without God, can't live in the fullness of what we were created for, our life will never give us that fullness. [00:25:33] (40 seconds)  #ComeToTheGarden

And that his commitment was reinforced in this garden when Jesus longed that he wouldn't have to face what was ahead of him but refused to leave us where we are. That's the true love that comes through in Easter. Counting the cost, paying it willingly, that's Easter love. So this Easter, look at the cross and realize God's love for you. Don't wonder if you're good enough, you're not, And that's good news. To know that God is good enough to bestow on you a love that's undeserved. [00:24:20] (47 seconds)  #CountingTheCost

Paul elsewhere in Ephesians says, we're chosen before the foundations of the world, before we did anything. Jesus committed himself to this death in our place. Jesus' faithfulness is rooted in himself, not us. And so as the disciples scattered, Jesus remains. And and the passage shows us that Jesus didn't commit to something that turned out to be much worse than he thought, but that Jesus' commitment was why he left the comfort of heaven and entered into the world. [00:23:47] (34 seconds)  #ChosenBeforeTime

Preparing ourselves is about learning to delight in the father's will. It's having the faith to believe that what he wants is best and to encourage us to have the courage to see through in our lives what that means. Those who can respond to Easter with a much lesser commitment than Jesus, by all means, we're called to have the same willingness to say, nevertheless, your will be done. Lord, if you want it, it's good enough for me. I'll go first. I'll be willing. I just want to please you. [00:29:21] (48 seconds)  #ThyWillBeDone

Three times Jesus goes to pray. Three times He wrestles with what lies ahead of Him and He keeps Himself committed to the Father's will being done. In the three times it takes Jesus to pray, he prepares himself for the coming mob. In the three times the disciples sleep, fail to prepare, and they will scatter. And Peter, far from praying three times, will deny him three times instead. And yet, as we'll see tonight when we look at numbers, we don't see the disciples only, we see ourselves. [00:20:10] (39 seconds)  #WatchAndPray

Here's Jesus' greatest moment of anguish and pain, the point where we really see people for who they are when they're pushed to their absolute extremes. Jesus begins to experience the suffering he's going to experience on the cross, as the weight of sin is placed upon him, as the righteous wrath of God the Father is poured out upon Him instead of you and me. Here in this moment, we see the depth of sorrow that comes from sin. [00:16:29] (34 seconds)  #SorrowOfTheCross