The Welcome Valley Reader
Dying Faith
“Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.”
The man who spoke those words had incredible gall. He had just admitted he deserved to be hanging by nails from a wooden rack in public. He had just admitted he was dying because he was evil.
Now he looked at another man who was experiencing execution by torture and said, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” The man he spoke to was Jesus Christ. Evil was to have had no part in Jesus’ kingdom.
The dying criminal spoke to a dying Christ. To put it bluntly, dead men don’t start kingdoms. They rot in graves. Yet this man, whose only known good deed was to criticize another criminal, had the nerve to ask a dying king for special favors. It isn’t the kind of thing the world looks upon kindly.
Unlike the world, Jesus Christ gave a kind answer. “Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
With that promise something happens to our dying criminal. All of a sudden his bold request for better than he deserves from a man who can’t even save himself turns from brazenness to faith. Somehow, this evil man realized some very important things.
Jesus Christ wasn’t going to stay dead.
Jesus Christ was indeed going to reign as king.
Jesus Christ had the power to forgive sins.
Jesus Christ could give him life after death.
We don’t expect to hang on crosses or even die this week. But God’s record of us is that we also deserve to die for our sins. Our one hope of seeing the paradise of God, our one hope of living forever, lies in the simple truths that a dying criminal saw in advance.
· Jesus Christ did not stay dead.
· Jesus Christ reigns as king and will reign more openly yet
· Jesus Christ has the power to forgive sins.
· Jesus Christ died and rose again to give us life after death.
So what about you? Have you asked Him to remember you in His kingdom?
t t t
This essay is in the public domain and may be copied and distributed freely.
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