Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2 (NKJV 60)
God is a just and Holy Judge, that is His nature; a God who abhors and repulses sin and iniquity, for purity and perfection is His essence, and as much as He loved me as His creation, and all mankind, He could not but give us the punishment that each one of us deserved for the sinful nature that we inherited from Adam and Eve. We turned away from Him, we strayed from His nature like sheep gone astray, each of us running off a cliff for our vain pleasures that will never satiate us at all. In short, you and I could do nothing in our own strength to pay for our salvation, we could not escape God's righteous judgment without receiving the eternal punishment we deserve, no matter how hard we have tried to be "good" in our own strength, God cannot let Him be a righteous and Holy Judge only to pander to our evil deeds that are the product of a fallen and corrupt nature. But SO GREAT WAS HIS LOVE FOR ME AND YOU! That He sent His only begotten Son to provide a sacrifice for our debts, which we could never in all our existence have been able to pay, falling upon His son (Who was God Himself in the person of Jesus Christ) all the weight of sin, the wrath of God and the punishment we deserved, so that His holiness and justice would be satisfied; And thus, guilty people like you and me, can be forgiven, cleansed and justified. Tell me friend and sister, will there be a greater gift and greater love than this? WHAT PERFECT LOVE!!!
On the day when our Lord Jesus was about to be crucified, He began to experience great anguish and depression and even sweated like drops of blood; for which He begged the Father: My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.
Then they came to arrest him; but Peter, defending his master, drew his sword and, intending to take off Malchus' head, succeeded only in removing his ear. Even so, Jesus was willing to give his life for us, so instead of feeling defended by Peter, he said to him: "Put your sword back in its place:
Put your sword back in its place; do you think that I cannot now pray to my Father, and that he would not give me more than twelve legions of angels?
Having been able to avoid that suffering, he did it, for love of you and me. Even if there could be one person on the whole planet, either you or I, for her Christ would also have given Himself. I think of this scene and the times when He could have justified Himself, but for love of you and me, He kept silent before the false accusations of the scribes and Pharisees; For love of you and me, He could have borne in silence the terrible pains resulting from the tortures and scourging He received, our Father bearing upon Him all our sins and what burdened us not to be saved, and He endured every blow, every lashing in silence and without complaint. I can remember from His word how He could have "literally" come down from the cross, as He was called to His angels to make Him disappear when the crowd came to arrest Him, for having an escape route, He did not accept it and decided to take that great step towards the cross for love of you and me. THIS IS REALLY THE GOOD NEWS OF SALVATION THAT WITH GREAT JOY IN OUR HEART WE MUST ANNOUNCE!
He could have avoided it, but he didn't; for love of you!