Nothing Can Stop Me

But the truth of the matter is that we just can’t actually understand what it means to be ALL knowing and ALL powerful. There is absolutely nothing in our world that can give us an example. We have never gotten a glimpse of something that perfect, and while we are here in this life, we will never truly understand and know what it means. We will never be able to fully grasp the amazing power of God. We will always have some sort of limitation that we impose on what we think of God because of our own weaknesses and worldview.

It’s not really our fault. I mean, we’re just not well enough equipped to really grasp it. God is ALL KNOWING and ALL POWERFUL. But even saying it, we can’t help but believe that there are limitations to ALL knowing and ALL powerful. A part of us truly believes that it’s MOSTLY knowing and MOSTLY powerful. He can do anything, except help me. He can be anywhere, except with me.

So let’s take a little bit of a look at our faith. As Christians, there are certain things that are a part of our core beliefs:

1. Jesus is God. It goes back to that Holy Trinity thing. 1 God in 3 separate entities. Jesus is the Son.
2. Jesus performed many miracles. He healed the blind, deaf, handicapped, sick, etc. He brought people back to life! He fed thousands with crumbs left after a meal.
3. Jesus actually WALKED on water. The only person who has ever done so successfully. Peter had a quick go at it but flopped once he took his eyes off of Jesus. But Jesus would have probably walked MILES to get to where the disciple’s boat was.

There are of course more things, but these will certainly make our point today.

I’m writing this on Easter Sunday. Today is the day that we celebrate the Resurrection of KING JESUS! It’s probably the most important celebration for us as Christians. His birth was pretty cool, but the fact that he died, defeated sin and death, and then came back to life to sit on the throne is truly worthy of praise and celebration. Today is the celebration of the fulfillment of God’s covenant with His people. He promised to provide a way for us to be with Him again and now His promise has come to fruition.

Why was I talking about the limitation we put on our view of God when here I am talking about how God made something that seemed impossible possible? There’s 1 big reason. We put those same kind of limitations on Jesus too.

When we look at the story of Jesus after being handed over to the Romans for execution, He is mocked and embarrassed. He is beaten and tortured. He is humiliated through town. He is nailed to a cross. He dies a horrific death.

Last year, I wrote about the horrors of crucifixion and what an unspeakable way to die it would have been. The pain of supporting yourself by nails in your hands or feet. The agony of your rib cage collapsing from your weight with each breath. The eventual asphyxiation or heart failure. It’s brutal.

We seem to think that once Judas betrayed Jesus, there was nothing that Jesus could do. They put him in some ropes and he was stuck. Did you ever watch Man of Steel? Do you remember the scene where they have Superman in handcuffs in an interrogation room? He plays along, allowing himself to be handcuffed and seemingly detained and under control for a while. But he gets tired of it and snaps the handcuffs without showing any kind of exertion. It’s the same with Jesus!

Do you really believe that He couldn’t have called down legions of angels to come to His rescue. Do you really believe that He couldn’t have told the cross to let Him go? Do you really believe that there was no way out for Jesus? He’s the Son of God. HE IS GOD! He wasn’t trapped. He wasn’t tricked into being captured. He died voluntarily.

While people walked past and told Him to free Himself if He is the Son of God, He hung on the cross. He could have easily proven to them who He was, but that ruins God’s promise. He could have given in to the agonizing pain and set Himself free, but then who would be the perfect sacrifice that was needed for salvation?

Here’s where we really limit Jesus. We believe that those 3 nails, hammered into a couple of pieces of wood are what kept Jesus on that cross. There was no way for Him (the person who healed so many, who fed thousands from nothing, who walked on water) to be able to be released from those nails. But the truth is, the nails had nothing to do with Him dying on that cross. He could have been free at any time. Jesus stayed on that cross….for YOU!