The Wonderful Way - Day 80

Today we have an open invitation to the throne room of the Almighty God, and a promised eternal home in the heavenlies all because of one loving action of one lovely Man. Lets remember again the amazing treasures that have been credited to our account because One chose to give all He had...

His legs are pillars of marble set on bases of fine gold.
His countenance is like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars.

His legs are pillars of marble. This speaks of Christ’s stability and certainty. One of the uses of pillars in the Old Testament was for structural support. They bore the weight of buildings and were responsible for the integrity of a structure. The book of Colossians tells us that because of Christ, all things consist and are held together, or are upheld. He is the One spoken of in Isaiah: “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation.” And again in Psalm 118, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone.” Jesus created all life and supports its existence every second. He is the foundation and He is the unfailing pillar that upholds and strengthens all those who put their faith in Him.

There is another Old Testament picture of Christ as a pillar of sorts in the Book of Genesis. Jacob, resting as he journeyed from his father’s home, had a dreamed. In his dream he saw a form like a ladder set up upon the earth. Its top reached to the heaven, and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood above it, proclaiming who He was. After the vision, Jacob took the stone that he had laid his head on while sleeping and set it up as a pillar to the Lord, signifying the ladder in his dream. This is the first mention of a pillar in the Scriptures. Jesus was later recorded in the Gospel of John as saying that this ladder was none other than Himself! “Hereafter you shall see heaven open and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.” (Jn 1:51)

Our mighty pillar, Jesus Christ, made His base in this world while His head is forever crowned in the heavenlies. He has bridged the insurmountable gulf between heaven and earth with His own body. By God coming down to earth as a man, we now have a way, The Way, to go up to God in heaven.

This picture of Christ being our way to heaven is seen also in the Book of Exodus. Here in chapter 24 Moses was instructed and invited to come up to God up on His mountain. Interestingly, after receiving the invitation, Moses built 12 pillars to the Lord signifying the 12 tribes of Israel which he represented. It is apparent that these men understood that to get up to where God was, there had to be a bridge, and they built as a memorial, a physical object to signify the spiritual reality. Do you feel that the gap between you and the Lord is impassable, insurmountable? Then what a joy it will be for you to realized that Christ bridged that impossible distance with His own body so that you and I could freely have access to heaven, to God Himself. It is never too late, while there remains breath in our lungs, to ask that our spiritual eyes might be opened to behold the glory of the Savior’s life and death for us. Ask Him today to forgive the sins that have separated you from your heavenly Father, and to be the Ladder that unites you again.

Another thing that is remarkable about this description of our Beloved is that His legs were as perfect, carved marble. Marble is always used to describe not only strength, but also impressive beauty. These legs were perfectly intact, as were our Lord’s in fulfillment of prophecy, as seen through His crucifixion. Crucifixion was designed to be a slow and extremely agonizing method of execution. To prolong the death process, the soldiers would nail or tie the victim to the cross with his legs not fully extended. Often, crucified persons would actually die of asphyxiation. Under the intense strain, the arms would dislocate and the chest and shoulder muscles would start to spasm, suffocating the lungs. A bend in the victim’s knees would make him able to stretch up on his legs to relieve the pressure around his lungs, allowing him to take gulps of air.

Under certain conditions or to expedite death, it was common for the executioners to break the legs of the crucified with a club. This would prevent assisted ventilation, and the person would die within minutes. The Bible tells us when Jesus was crucified on the cross for your sins and mine, He hung in the middle of two thieves. The Gospel of John records that when the Roman soldiers came to the three men on the crosses, they broke the legs of the men on each side of Christ. But when they came to Jesus, they saw that He was already dead and did not strike His legs.

Without the shedding of blood, God says, there is no remission of sin. But there were very specific requirements for how the Lamb of God was to be sacrificed. One specification was that none of His bone could be broken. Exodus chapter 12 and Numbers chapter nine both stress the imperativeness of having the sacrificial lamb’s bones intact. Why were the bones of Christ so important? Because it is inside the bones that the blood is produced. Christ’s bones were preserved intact to illustrate to us that His grace and ability to forgive sin will never run out. There will be no break in His provision for the price required for our forgiveness. It is a perfect, flowing system of unending grace, impermeable to damage or disconnect. His legs were not broken, but like the renowned cedar trees of that region, they are strong and useful for lifting us up out of our suffocating sin and into the fresh, forgiving air of God’s grace.

What heartbreak was felt at the foot of that cross as His Mother and followers watched with horror as their Lord laid down His life. He had strength no one had ever known before, and power that was incomparable. Yet here He hung, weak, still, despised. Not at all delivered as He delivered others. Not healed and whole as He had done to the multitudes. What faith it must have taken for those poor souls who looked upon their Lord and yet still believe that all He said was true and would come to pass.

But how their tear stained eyes were rewarded on the third day as they saw their risen Savior standing in their midst! His feet once again planted on the ground where they stood, and His body, not just restored, but refined as the purest gold, and His countenance outshining the rich, white city of Lebanon. And someday soon, all eyes will see the power and majesty of the Pillar of our Salvation standing again upon this earth. Oh to behold such a marvelous sight where, “His feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, making a very large valley.” (Zech 14:4) Who shall be able to stand when our glorified Lord rises from His throne and sets His feet upon the earth. Let us bow now in worship, or be forced to bow then in fear.

Thou it can truly be a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God, it need not be for us. How we need to grasp that all His greatness and suffering is to demonstrate not just His dominion, but also His love. Not only is atonement through His blood provided by Christ because we need it, but also because He longs for us to have it! “It was for the joy set before Him that He endured the cross.” (Heb12:2) The joy He felt came from the knowledge that His act of sacrifice would, for all eternity, unite together with Him all who would. Having His legs not broken showed that Jesus did not have His life taken from Him, but, as He said, He laid it down by His own will. He gave His life for love for us! He was the perfect sacrifice, and now He is the magnificent pillar, or ladder, that joins heaven and earth for our passage.

Have you ever wondered what brightens the countenance of the Lord? Did you ever think of yourself as being the one who brings a joyful smile to the Savior’s face? As amazing as it may be, you and I are the joy of our God’s heart. We are the pentacle of all His creation, and the desire of His soul. Unbelievable? Yes! But we must believe it if we say that we believe His Word. Jesus, while praying to His Father on the night of His passion, implores Him to unite us with Them; that we might be one with Them as They are one with each other. He says, “The glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one; I in them and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” (Jn 17:22-23) Can you believe that! The Father loving you and me just as He loved Jesus? And Jesus loving us so much that He would bear all of our sins on His sinless soul, thereby suffering a torturous separation from the Father, and then die the most agonizing death of all time? This is hard to fathom, yet essential to a life of faith.

God’s love for us is spelled out on every page of His Word. In fact, the Bible is His very love letter to us; proof of His affection and deep longing for us written on every page. He has chosen to create us, to provide for our every need, to help us against sin, to provide justification when we do sin, to see us through every moment of our journey through the valley of the shadow of death that is life here on earth, and bring us to Himself, to the heavenly paradise which He has made for us! What a God we serve! What a miracle that our response to Him of love and obedience makes His countenance shine!


Thank You, God, that even in our frailty and failure You are pleased to call us Your own.
Lord, bless us and keep us;
Lord make Your face to shine upon us,
And be gracious to us;
Lord, lift up your countenance upon us,
And give us peace! (Num 8:2426)

Application:
1) What is the only requirement that grants us full, unrestricted access to the Father? Have you added any extra obligations or personal responsibilities to that which have shaken your confidence in being able to come boldly before His throne of grace?
2) The apostle Paul says that he makes it his aim to always be well pleasing to the Lord. How can we do this?