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Life Around "The Fire"
Life Around "The Fire"
The Last Words Jesus Said On The Cross RevealThe True Nature Of God The Father
Jesus' seven last statements on the cross reveal a profound depth of love and purpose that transcends the horrific torture he endured. Spoken from a place of unimaginable physical agony—after being falsely accused, mercilessly beaten with rods, whipped nearly to death, and hung on a Roman torture device—these words carry extraordinary weight precisely because of where and how they were uttered.
The final statement, "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit," showcases a trust and surrender that defies human logic. After declaring "It is finished," Jesus placed his very being into the safest (yet physically unseen) hands possible—those of his Heavenly Father. This profound act of trust followed his temporary experience of separation when he took on humanity's sin, making his return to unity with the Father all the more significant.
Many struggle with the concept of "Father" because of painful earthly experiences. Fathers who abandoned, abused, or failed their children have created distorted images of fatherhood that affect how we relate to God. Jesus came specifically to demonstrate who the Father truly is—not harsh, angry or difficult to please, but loving, protective and good. When Philip asked to see the Father, Jesus responded with surprise: "Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father." Their relationship was so intimate that, as Jesus described, "you couldn't really see where one stopped and the other started."
The security Jesus felt in committing his spirit to the Father is the same security he offers us. We live between D-Day (Christ's victory on the cross) and V-E Day (the final consummation of all things), and though battles continue, the ultimate victory is secure. Jesus invites us to come home to the Father, to break free from misconceptions about God that have kept us distant, and to find our true security in the Father's hands.
Ready to experience the security that comes from relationship with your heavenly Father? Join us as we explore how Jesus' final words can transform your understanding of God and invite you into a deeper connection with the One who calls you home.
Loving Yeshua/Jesus, Loving people... Come as you are and you will be loved!
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Shalom to you and your home.
we've been looking at the last seven statements that Jesus made while he was hanging on the cross, and in doing so we've emphasized the fact that what he said is so powerful because of where he was, of where he was, given the fact that he had, 12 hours previously, began the process of being interrogated and falsely accused, mercilessly beaten, beaten, literally beaten to the point of death, whipped and then just smacked, hit with rods, thin rods that would just nearly crack a person's bones, bruise them deeply. And he was hit all over his body with rods as a form of torture prior to his crucifixion, which was a torture device made out of wood in which a man would hang on until he would die. And Jesus hung on that cross of torture until he gave up his spirit. Interesting point he said very clearly no one takes my life, I give it. He didn't take his life either, he gave his life. Big difference there as well, suicide is taking one's life and, granted, there's forgiveness for that, but it leaves things in such a place of disarray. When one gives one's life, they're offering it on behalf of someone else.
Speaker 1:Jesus gave his life so that we could have his life. Those of us who believe in him believe that what he did was what it took in order for us to have a relationship. We stopped trying to do it on our own. We stopped trying to find another way, because all other ways lead to a dead end. And trying to find another way, because all other ways lead to a dead end and trying to do it on your own only leads to exhaustion and disappointment. It's called dead religion. Trying to work our way into righteousness impossible. Jesus gave his life into righteousness Impossible. Jesus gave his life so that we could have his life, the life that he has with the Father. He is both the destination and the door. Although he leads us to the destination of relationship with the Father, as we pass through him, into him, we experience God, our Father, which leads us to the final statement that Jesus made while he was on the cross. And again, the fact that he said anything coherent is amazing, because typically a person would be in shock or they'd be in such a foul mood that the things that came out of their mouth it's not worth repeating because it's so vile. It's not worth repeating because it's so vile, and some of us have said some pretty raunchy things in our life, so I mean, we know what that is, so I don't have to go into any depth and describe that right. But the things that he said while on the cross were so full of love, and he had within himself the mind to see to it that the kingdom of God would be handed over to us. The keys to the kingdom, the keys to functioning like he functioned, would be given to us so that we could continue on that way, and even in a greater fashion, partly because there would be more of us, but also because there would be a release of even greater demonstration.
Speaker 1:As the powers of darkness get more and more intense, so does the power of God. And so Jesus, hanging on the cross with people mocking him, said to them and to the Father, so they could hear him. But he spoke to the father. He said Father, forgive them, they don't know what they're doing. And they didn't really. I mean, the Romans were just doing what they do. The soldiers would often just get drunk and that was just their job. So after a while they got numb to it and they were mocking him, king of the Jews. So they rolled dice to see who would get his garments, and the religious leaders surrounded him like bulls and dogs and animals mocking him, taunting him, demonic powers coming against him, the invisible forces of darkness heaping themselves upon him, tearing away at his very mind. But in that condition, in that opposition, he said, father, forgive them, not the demons, but the people, because, he said, they don't know what they're doing, they're being driven. And then to a thief hanging next to him, he had the mercy and the compassion to say to him, as if he said remember me when you come into your kingdom. He said today, I tell you, today you'll be with me in paradise, you will be with me in paradise. What a bedtime, deathbed confession. He was with his mother and one of his followers, john, and he said to her dear woman, behold your son. And she he was referring to John, he was her son. But now he's saying John, is her son interesting? And he said to John, is her son Interesting? And he said to John John, behold your mother. Well, john had a mother. But Jesus said behold your mother.
Speaker 1:There is such a thing as the family of God and, you know, sometimes a family of God runs even deeper than our own biological families. Some of our biological families have some really messed up backgrounds, and so father, mother, brother, sister. They can have a lot of negative connotations to them, but Jesus is talking about a kingdom of God, relationship where there's righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. That makes up the atmosphere of the kingdom of God, not bitterness, strife and envy, confusion, competition, rejection. Next he said my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Because he felt the beginning pangs of the weight of the sins of the world coming upon him and he felt the separation that there was in his relationship, of which he'd never experienced before. But he needed to experience it because that's what we walked in and it was tormenting to him. What had become normal to us was tormenting to him, but he identified with it. It and he took it because he had to bridge the gap.
Speaker 1:The only way, the only way to have relationship with God was to cease to have the wrath of God stop, and not by the blood of bulls and goats, and birds and sheep, by a man. The blood of an innocent man would be the ultimate sacrifice of the Messiah, the Savior. He's the one who cut covenant, the new covenant, the new relationship in his blood. Blood covenant, blood relationship, a family born in blood. Hallelujah, powerful Life is in the blood. The life of God is in the blood, the blood of Jesus.
Speaker 1:Next, he said I thirst. And that was a prophetic fulfillment of something that was taking place, because it was the cup of wrath that he was drinking, the wrath of God. What was destined for us, he was taking, saying no, I want them to experience newness of life. I want them to experience life in the kingdom, apart from this life of sin and death, and I want them to experience it in reality and I'm going to give it to them, I'm going to have it given to them by none other than my Father, by none other than my Father, sending Holy Spirit to live and dwell within them. We become temples of the Holy Spirit Wow, powerful.
Speaker 1:Next, he said it is finished, paid in full, he completed it. He completed what we could not do. He fulfilled the law completely, perfectly, and it was finished. It never had to be completed again. And now it could be lived out by faith, supernaturally, natural, not by strict coherence to some set of rules that we can't live up to anyway and live under the control of people that claim they do but they don't, barring the way to the kingdom and don't even go in themselves. Jesus gives us the keys to the kingdom. He said relationship is now established, it's finished.
Speaker 1:And then he said, father, into your hands I commit my spirit, or I commend my spirit, I give you my spirit. And he breathed his last, died, he gave it up. He fulfilled what he said. He's gonna do, he goes, I'm gonna give it. He said it before creation was ever created. I'm gonna give it, I'll give it, I'll give it. This is a divine. I will show the world, the flesh, the devil. I will show the depth of my love for my bride, my people. I will go to this length to have them be mine forever, so that we are one, not just individually but collectively.
Speaker 1:See, that's again, that's the real, that's going to, we're coming back to that Unity, unity, unity, not uniformity, not being unanimous, but unity, true, heartfelt unity. Not just beyond, I should say, not just feelings, beyond feelings the reality of being melded together by the power of the Holy Spirit, as a result of the experience of that power of the Holy Spirit, that fire that just purges away from us, that draws and causes us to be melt and gold, so we can bond together. The presence of the Lord is what does that. His word is. What does that? His promises are? What does that? They do that when we believe. When we believe, and Jesus said Father, into your hands, I commend my spirit he placed them in the most secure, safe hands possible, and that's the hands of the Father. I have now done the same thing. I have placed my life in the hands of my Heavenly Father and I can tell you that in my life there is a peace and a security and a growing authority that I didn't have before.
Speaker 1:Jesus was approached by one of his disciples on the same night in which he was betrayed, and Philip said to him Lord, show us the Father, and that will be sufficient. Show us the Father, and that would be sufficient, kind of a you know. I mean, he'd been with Jesus for over three years and he'd seen some of the most profound miracles. And the teachings that came from Jesus could only have come from another source, and Jesus openly said that they come from my Father, they come from God, my Father. He said, when you pray, pray like this Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed. Be thy name, hallowed, be your name Holy. Be your name. Holy is your name, your kingdom, come your good pleasure, the things that make up your kingdom. Your will be done all throughout the earth as it is in heaven.
Speaker 1:And Jesus said, and I quote don't you know me, philip, even after I've been among you such a long time? That was Jesus saying that, but that was also the Father saying that through him, you see, jesus had that kind of relationship, and that kind of relationship is a relationship that he is offering to us to have as well, the same relationship that he enjoyed with the Father. He wants us to have, he wants you to have. We can have that. I have that. Praise God. I can say it boldly. I'm a fact, I live it. I live it daily.
Speaker 1:I walk in the security of my Heavenly Father, and there's no other security but the security that comes from a Father, a Heavenly Father, our Heavenly Father, god. I had a good relationship with my dad, my earthly dad, but there's nothing that can compare to the security that I feel as a result of my Heavenly Father. And I'm 66 years old. I'm not a boy, I'm a grown man. But as a grown man I need the security. Pardon the dogs in the background. The studio is in my home and so I got a delivery. That's come and they're going to bark. Please ignore that.
Speaker 1:So he came to demonstrate to us the Father, not just any father, and I can hear it in the back of my head that some of us have had fathers that have been absolutely evil. Only word I can use is evil. They've just been evil. Some of you have been abused mentally by your fathers and you're still struggling with the effects of that. The echoes of that are still going on in your life.
Speaker 1:The word father conjured up something very negative. For me that wasn't the case, but I've seen others where their fathers have actually sexually abused them. I'm not just talking girls, I'm talking men, boys, sexually abused by their dads, physically abused by their dads, dads leaving people Just dropping the family and leaving Abandoning their children. It leaves a negative mindset concerning the Father, and Jesus talks a lot about the Father, and so for many of us, even myself included, for a while I just kind of tuned out the Father talk that Jesus gave and I got Jesus all right, holy Spirit I'm getting acquainted with, but the father seems so mean, for some reason, so angry, so mean, harsh, harsh, hard to please.
Speaker 1:That was the misconception that I had, and Philip had something going on because he hadn't made the connect yet. He goes man, show us the Father, do something different so that I can really see the Father. Because I'm not getting it yet. And you know what I appreciate about Philip. He was honest. He was like I don't get it, instead of pretending like, yeah, I got it. And how many of us do the me too thing? Me too, yes, I got it, but you don't really get it because it's not real. Well, philip was like I don't really get it because it's not real. Well, philip was like I don't really care.
Speaker 1:Right now, things are getting kind of squirrely anyway. So I got to find out Show us, and it'll be enough, that'll be enough. As if Jesus hadn't. And that's why, jesus, have I been with you such a long time that you don't know me yet? And once again, why Jesus, have I been with you such a long time that you don't know me yet? And once again, though, it was Jesus talking. The Father was talking to him and through him.
Speaker 1:Because they had that kind of relationship. They were one, not just kind of like one, not just one. A lot of the time they were one. I mean, you couldn't really see where one stopped and the other one started. It was one.
Speaker 1:That's why, jesus, when he was separated, he was like ah, my God, what is this? It's horrible, it's hell. Why have you forsaken me? Why did you forsake me? He had to. It's a price that had to be paid. It had to be paid. Well, I don't like the fact that it had to be paid. So what? There are a lot of things in life we don't like, but they're real. Life we don't like, but they're real. The reality was and is the price had to be paid. It had to be paid in blood, had to be paid by a perfect man who did things according to the law of God, without stumbling and without causing other people to be lost in the meantime, but to actually save those that the Father has placed into his care. And he's still doing it, hallelujah. He's still calling the children home, regardless of your age. He's still calling the children home, regardless of your age. He's still calling us. He's still calling you home.
Speaker 1:If you're listening and you're wondering why am I listening? You're listening because you're being called home. Holy Spirit is saying to you come home, come home, come home, come home to Jesus, come home, come home, come home, come home, come home to Jesus, come through the door, come and be clean, come and experience newness of life. Come, come, hallelujah, come, hallelujah Come.
Speaker 1:Jesus said to Philip have I been with you this long and you still don't know me? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, show us the Father? How can you say, show us the father? Don't you believe that I am in the father and that the father is in me? What an amazing concept God being in us, not just us doing good things to try to please God, but God being in us, the Father being in us the same way he was in Jesus. Perhaps Jesus baptizes us by the Spirit into the heart of the Father. We get immersed into the heart of the Father, which burns with passion, cleanses us by virtue of the blood of the Lamb and by the fire that is within his presence and causes impurities to come to the surface so that he can skim them away and we become suitable members of the body of Christ, citizens of the kingdom, but also as the bride of Christ, to be prepared for him. We're pure, we don't blemish, but Jesus, yes, jesus.
Speaker 1:Jesus said Father into your hands, I commend my spirit, not just any old hands. And nor did he say man, you treated me so bad. What do I ever want to have any relationship to do with you? Why would want to have any relationship to do with you? Why would I want to have anything to do with you? Who are you? I don't ever want to know you again. Get out of my way, get out of my life. I would have did this on my own. Who needs you?
Speaker 1:Some of us have said that. Some of us have said that Some of us have had such a mistaken notion about who God the Father is that we've made some strong, strong, strong statements, some inner vows that need to be broken, and we can see them broken. We can experience freedom from being controlled by those things and we can see them broken. We can experience freedom from being controlled by those things so that we can have freedom in relationship with him, because Jesus had freedom of relationship with him, even to the point of death on the cross, the painful death on the cross. The last thing he said was Father into your hands. I commend my spirit. We can say the same thing. He said was father into your hands. I commend my spirit. We can say the same thing. I do say the same thing. I'm saying it right now. Father, into your hands, I give you my life.
Speaker 1:There are things going on inside of us that sometimes we don't understand, but many of those things are us being prepared to have intimate relationship with our Heavenly Father Because we've had such marred relationships with our earthly fathers and our concept of Father is so distorted and it's being renewed and granted. Sometimes it's a process. God's aware of that. That's why he loves us in the midst of it. We are perfect in his eyes and we're being made perfect in the process. We live outside of eternity, but we live within the realm of time and space. We've already learned it, but we're learning it now. It's already done, it is finished, but it's being finished. Now we're living in between D-Day and V-E-Day. D-day.
Speaker 1:In World War II the victory was won. D-day is the cross. The victory was won. Ve Day was when the execution of judgment took place against the armies that were trying to take over the world. The war crimes were being judged and sentences were being executed and the war was completely over. V-e Day took place, but in between D-Day and V-E Day there were some intense battles that went on. Some of the bloodiest battles went on in World War II. The example is relevant today. There are some very significant battles still going on, but the victory has been won.
Speaker 1:Jesus is victorious, the end is secure and we have been empowered to fight the fight. In the meantime and in the end, we can commend our spirits to our Father, but in the process, let's do that right now. In the name of Jesus, let's pray. Father, our Father, the name of Jesus, let's pray. Father, our Father in heaven, holy is your name, your kingdom come. The things that make your kingdom happen be done in the earth as it is in heaven. Father, give us today our daily bread and forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us, and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for yours is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen, amen, amen. So be it, folks, I love you, amen, amen, amen. So be it, folks, I love you. If you have any other thoughts, questions, concerns, please feel free to drop us a line at lifearoundthefire at gmailcom. We would love to hear from you, or type in lifearoundthefire and look us up on the web In the meantime. God bless you. Adios amigos.