A Sermon by Elise Beatrice Inspired by the Lord Jesus Christ on 18 December 2024 for Easter.

Have you ever cried out, “Lord, where are you? Why have you tossed me aside?” In this powerful and deeply moving sermon, Elise Beatrice confronts the human struggle of not feeling God’s great presence in the midst of suffering. She unpacks the timeless question of divine absence, revealing a profound truth: even in our darkest moments, God is closer than we think.

This isn’t just another sermon; it’s a lifeline for those grappling with doubt and pain. Elise Beatrice navigates the spiritual battle we all face, reminding us that the fight is real, but so is God’s presence. She illuminates the powerful message hidden within the Lord Jesus’s own cry on the cross, offering a transformative perspective on our own moments of despair.

In this inspired sermon, you’ll discover:

• Why feeling abandoned doesn’t mean we are.
• How to recognize God’s presence in the midst of spiritual warfare.
• The transformative power of shifting your focus from despair to hope.
• Practical encouragement to persevere and praise God, even in the face of adversity.
• A renewed understanding of God’s promise to never leave us nor forsake us.

My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me? 

To explain why the Lord Jesus cried out on the Cross, ‘My God, My God, Why Have you Forsaken Me?’ Some say this:

• “Jesus took our sins, and God the Father could not look at His Son with all our sins.”
• “Jesus took our sins, and God the Father could not look at His sins because He hates sins.” 

Please Note:

God, the Son, took our sins upon Himself on the Cross, and if God the Father had to turn His face away from His Son because of our sins, it would be like turning away from Himself. God does not turn away from Himself; God does not abandon Himself. For when the Lord Jesus was carrying our sins on the Cross, Father God was carrying them, too. When He was flogged, Father God was flogged, too. Every pain He felt, Father felt it. When He wept, Father wept, too, for they are One, and what One feels, the other One also feels it. The Holy Bible does not say that the Father turned His face away from His Son on the Cross. 

When the Scripture says in Isaiah 53 that He was “despised and rejected,” it does not mean that God, the Father, rejected His Son or turned His face away from Him because of our sins, but we, humans, His own people, despised and rejected Him. John 1:11, “He came to His own, but His own did not receive Him.”

Father God hates sins and hides His face away from anyone who refuses to repent and renounce their wrong ways. Still, our sins were not His Son Jesus’s sins, and the Lord Jesus was not on the Cross as a sinner but as The Saviour, the beautiful sacrificial Lamb, for He had no sin. The Lord was sinless and Holy even when He took our sins on the Cross out of love for us and His Father. So His Father would still look at Him on the Cross and help Him through it, for they were suffering together for us since The Lord and His Father are One. 

The Father is God; His Son is God; His Holy Spirit is God. Therefore, God does not turn away from Himself. God does not abandon Himself. 

The same way the Lord Jesus never abandons His faithful servants and true children when they go through trials of any kind for Him and suffer persecution because of the devil’s evilness thrown upon them, the same way Father God did not abandon His sinless Son Jesus on the Cross, who did His Father’s perfect will by laying down His life for the sheep and paying for our ransom. 

So, what did the Lord Jesus mean when on the Cross He cried out, “My God, My God, Why Have You Forsaken Me?”

Watch the Video to understand why. 

May The Lord Jesus’ peace and understanding bless you. 

Elise Beatrice

If you’re searching for answers, longing for hope, or simply needing a reminder of God’s enduring love, this sermon is for you. Let Elise Beatrice guide you from a place of questioning to a place of unwavering faith.