Ron Hutchcraft Ministries

Thursday, February 20, 2003

It's a special thrill for a follower of Jesus Christ to be able to walk where Jesus walked. That's why, for many of us, a visit to the Holy Land is a special memory or a special dream. Years ago, one of America's premier preachers, Dr. Robert G. Lee, paid his first visit to Israel. Every place was special, but when his tour group went to Golgotha, the place where many believe Jesus was crucified, he couldn't contain himself. He suddenly started running ahead of the group to get there. The guide had to run to catch up with him. He asked him breathlessly, "Sir, have you been here before?" Dr. Lee paused and then he answered - "Yes, I have been here before. Almost 2,000 years ago."

I'm Ron Hutchcraft, and I want to have A Word With You today about "Deeply Personal."

Dr. Lee wasn't talking about some time-travel experience he'd had. He was talking about his deep feeling that when Jesus was dying on that cross, he was totally identified with what Jesus was doing there. It was his sin Jesus was paying the price for there. The great painter, Rembrandt, must have had that same sense when he painted his rendition of Christ's crucifixion. When his friends pointed out that a man in the crowd there looked like Rembrandt, he replied, "That is me."

Once a person comes to understand what Jesus was really doing on that cross, His death becomes a deeply personal and a totally transforming event. It's what the great Apostle Paul was describing in Galatians 2:20, our word for today from the Word of God. "The life I live ... I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."

There are many people who wear a cross or who know all about the cross who have never been to the cross. In other words, they've never, in their heart, made their way to Jesus' cross and said, "For me. What He did there is to pay for every sin I've ever committed, for every wrong thing I've ever done." It's at that point that you realize Jesus is your only hope of being clean, your only hope of ever having a relationship with God, your only hope of going to heaven. And you surrender yourself to this Son of God who gave His life for you.

I wonder if there's ever been a time like that for you - when you move beyond Jesus' brutal death as being just a historical event - or just a religious event, commemorated by some religious observance - when Jesus' sacrifice on that cross becomes for you a deeply personal, for me, event. Our churches are filled with people who know about the cross, who appreciate what Jesus did there - but who have missed the only thing that will change your eternal address from hell to heaven - that personal transaction at the cross where you make the Savior your Savior. "For me, Jesus - it's for me."

If there's never been a time when you actually gave yourself completely to Jesus as your only hope, please do not wait another day to get that settled. Your soul is at stake. Your eternity is at stake. Right where you are, tell Jesus that you're putting your total trust in Him to forgive your sin and change your life. And if you want to begin this personal relationship with Jesus, I'd like to send you my booklet about it called "Yours For Life." Just let me know that you want it.

You've been around this incredible love of Jesus for a long time. Now it's time for you to finally experience that love for yourself. It's your Jesus Day.

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