Jesus’ Perspective on His own Death

These are Written
Believe
Should Not Perish
3:16
Never, Never
Life, Love, Light
Condemned by Choice
This and That
Seven Expressions of Love from the Cross
Why?
I know, I know!
What?
UGH!
Expedient
Gain Grace?
The Gift
The Hands of God
Immortality
COME UP HERE
Not by Works of Righteousness We have Done
Jesus’ Perspective on His own Death
I AM

Download or order the free booklet “The Gift” here: https://basictraining.org/the-gift/

Thanks to the American Bible Society “The Gospel of John” for the video scenes.

I want to remind us of the perspective that Jesus, our Savior, had concerning His own death. Because I think it helps us appreciate it a little bit more. His death was 1) Purposeful, 2) Voluntary, 3) Joyful, and 4) Glorious.

Well, first of all, His death was purposeful. He recognized that He was going to die. John 12:27 says, “What shall I say, Father, do not let this hour come upon me. But that is why I came.”

The purpose of his death was also voluntary. It was a voluntary or volitional outpouring of His love, and it showed full and true submission to God, the Father. Romans 5:8, “for God demonstrates his love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” In the garden, Jesus said three times to the Father, “not My will, but Your will be done.” In John 10:17-18 Jesus said, “The Father loves me because I’m willing to give up My life in order that I may receive it back again. No one takes My life away from Me. I give it up of My own free will. I have the right to give it up and I have the right to take it back.This is what my father has commanded me to do.”

His death was purposeful. His death was voluntary. His death was also joyful. Hebrews 12:2 says, “Who, for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and He sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Jesus was fully aware of the pain and the suffering that He would face at the cross, but He had his eyes on the joy, and that joy was purchasing our eternal destiny.

And then finally, Jesus considered death as the path to glory. In John 12:23 He said those words, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to receive great glory.” And this is an amazing verse to me because this is shortly before the passion week. This is shortly before He would go through all of that suffering, the betrayal, the arrest, the scourging, the piercing of his hands and feet, the crown of thorns on his head, and the gathering up the sins of the world that pierced His heart. He didn’t say the time has come for the Son of Man to be tortured and tormented and suffer for the sins of the world. No, He said, “the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” He ignored the suffering and kept his eyes on the glory. And if we can grasp the truth of that verse, it would totally change our perspective of the sufferings in our life.

So this is His perspective of His own death. He was born to die.

Gene Cunningham - August 7, 2022

The Gospel Must First Be Preached to All the Nations

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There are four waves of world-wide evangelism during the tribulation. Rev 7:1-8 says, “After these things, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth holding the four winds of the earth. The wings should not blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree…” In other words, they're withholding judgment. “…Then I saw another angel ascending from the east, having to kill the living God. And he cried with a loud voice. To the four angels to whom it was granted to harm the earth and the sea, saying, ‘Do not harm the earth, the sea or the trees until we have seen all the servants have our God on their foreheads’. And I heard the number of those who were sealed. 144,000 of all the tribes of the children of Israel. There are from the tribes of Israel….” And then he gives in verses five through eight, a list of 12,000 from each of these tribes. So what see here after the rapture of the church takes place. How many believers are taken in the Rapture? All. How many believers are left on the earth? None. None for a moment of time. God opens the eyes of 144,000 Jewish evangelists, which begins the first wave of evangelism. They're not the only ones who are saved. They're the ones who begin evangelism throughout the world. These are the ones who are provoked They're provoked by what they have seen that the Gentiles did. That should have been their privilege. The second wave you'll notice Rev 7:9 says, “After these things, I looked and behold a great multitude that no one could number of all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues standing before the throne, before the Lord clothed with white robes and with palm branches in their hands, crying out with a loud voice, saying, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne unto the Lamb.’” Who are these people? Converts of the 144,000 to all these people are not only going to believe, but they're also going to be leading other people to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. Then we go to Revelation Chapter 11. We have the third wave of evangelism. These are the two witnesses. I take them to be Moses and Elijah. Revelation 11:3 says, I will give power to my two witnesses. “…and they will prophesy for 1260 days.” How long is that? Three and a half years. When does their ministry begin? Mid-tribulation. What else is going on at that time? The abomination of desolation and so they're going to have their ministry. They're going to be killed for a short period of time and they're going to be raised up. The final wave of evangelism is in Revelation 13:6 which says, “Then I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth, to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people.” There are going to be four waves of evangelism that will completely circle the earth in the tribulation period.