Thankfulness for the Saviour

Thankfulness for the Saviour

“The Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)

During lockdown each Thursday evening the nation paused to express its thankfulness to doctors, nurses, and health professionals in the NHS in the current crisis. It is good to say thank you.

On Good Friday, we commemorate the death of Jesus upon the cross. We sometimes sing:

“Thy cross, Thy cross! ’tis there we see

What Thou, our blessed Saviour, art;

There all the love that dwells in Thee

Was labouring in Thy breaking heart.”

I want to pause this morning and reflect upon words Jesus spoke as He died at Calvary, and bow in thankfulness to the Son of God “who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). Christ’s forgiveness removes the guilt that haunts us and gives us peace with God. It is the most extraordinary experience. We can be thankful that the Lord Jesus died, so that we might be forgiven.

“Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). We can be thankful that no matter how far away from God we were, His love removed the distance and brought us into a place of nearness now and for eternity.

He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” (John 19:26-27).

On the cross the Lord Jesus demonstrated His love for the world, for the dying thief and for his mother. We can be thankful that the Lord Jesus never ceases to care for His own, and, as with John, He puts the care for others in our hearts.

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). The Lord’s central cry from the cross described the depth of His suffering. We can be so thankful that the Lord Jesus was forsaken so we will never be forsaken.

“I thirst” (John 19:28). These words express the utter exhaustion of the Saviour in the complete giving of Himself. We can be thankful that we “know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

“It is finished” (John 19:30). “Finished” is a victory cry reminding us that the work of salvation is a complete and eternal work. We can rest with thankful hearts in Christ’s love, displayed at Calvary, that will never let us go.

“Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46). The Father’s name embraces all that Jesus said from the cross. He commits Himself to the Father and in resurrection spoke of ascending to “My Father and your Father” (John 20:17). We can give thanks that the Lord Jesus has brought us to His Father and that He tells us, “the Father Himself loves you” (John 16:27).

May we express our thankfulness to the Saviour by our willingness to forgive, to love our neighbours, to love our families, to sacrifice, to spend and be spent, to be victorious through faith, and to worship the Father and the Son in the power and liberty of the Holy Spirit.