Psalm 22:16

The Man In The Middle

Have you ever wondered why Jesus Christ was in the middle of three crosses?  The Lord Jesus Christ stands between good and evil; the honest-hearted man who said, "Remember me," was on His right, and the cursing evil man was on His left.  We owe our lives, our eternal security, our very freedom to The Man In The Middle.

"When they had crucified him, they divided up

his clothes by casting lots."

(Matthew 27:35)

They gambled for the robe of the God of the universe!  The God who could blink an eye and multitudes of Angels would appear at His side; the God who created light and lightning was treated like a "bet," and He let them ... because He was The Man In The Middle.  He was the Man who came to die for the gambler, the one with the whip, the mockers, those who spit in His face, the ones who delighted in His blood flowing from gaping ripped flesh, the ones He created and was dying for ... the ones He loved. 

"All day long they surround me like a flood; they

have completely engulfed me."

(Psalm 88:17)

They were like rabid, snarling dogs surrounding Jesus, cursing Him, growling their accusing insults, hatred popping the veins in their scowling throats, as hour after hour they attacked the only Man in the universe who could, with those beautiful nine little words, "This day you will be with Me in paradise," save them.  They knew not what they were doing.

                                                                   

"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation

hath appeared to all men."

(Titus 2:11)

Earth is not all there is; we have a home beyond the stars, a garden ordained from the foundation of the world, a hope for a creation that, for the most part, knows not their Creator.  But, the all-knowing God, the Lord Jesus Christ did not become The Man In The Middle for nothing ...  He had a plan; it started with the dust of the earth, a man molded like clay, progressed to a cross to redeem that pitiful clod of dust, and one day results in that dust transformed into a vessel of honor robed in white singing "Holy, Holy, Holy."

   "Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not

to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone,

graven by art and man's device.  And the times of this

ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men

every where to repent."

(Acts 17:29, 30)

I guess you could say it all comes down to this; He's the One who said, "Where were you when I formed the foundation of the world?"  He is also the One who mocks the Big Bang theory, because He created all Bangs; He's the One who moves a finger and the oceans stop at a boundary line; the One who nods His head and billions of stars appear; the One who exhales to fill creation with His Spirit; and the One who will inhale one day soon and the dead in Christ will rise first and we which are alive and remain will be caught up together with Him in the clouds and so shall we ever be with the Lord; the bottom line ...  I'd say He's MORE than just ... The Man In The Middle!

                                                                                                                                 By Sheryl Fowler

      (Visit promiselandchurch.net and theexperience238.com. 

     PromiseLand Church, Austin, Texas, Pastor Kenneth Phillips)