The Message

If you ask the average Christian what Jesus has done for us, he or she often gets no further than “that Jesus died for our sins.” Is that all we have told them? The cross means so much more! If we want to make strong and stable disciples, we will tell them about the seven wonders of the cross. The writer of Hebrews calls us to look at Jesus in the last 18 hours: “Remember Him who endured so much, so that you do not become weak or indifferent” (Hebrews 12:3, Het Boek).

The Church needs a new perspective on the last 18 hours of Jesus. Jesus was not a Jewish martyr, who went to the cross with the courage of despair. God dit not force Him to die, but meticulously prepared him for every detail of the last 18 hours of his live. In the last 18 hours we don’t see a pitiful Jesus, we see a victorious Jesus. Jesus’ death was not a tragedy, it was a victory.

In the last 18 hours nothing happened by chance. Twice Peter declared in Acts 2 and 4 that everything that happened in those last 18 hours, was in accordance with God’s will. God had a pre-determined plan, worked out to the smallest detail. The last 18 hours form a majestic Easter saga in which we see a sovereign Jesus who reveals himself as both the Lamb of God and the Great High priest.

When we read Leviticus 16 we discover that every year on the Great Day of Atonement the High Priest was instructed to sprinkle the blood of the sacrificial animal seven times on the ground. The sevenfold sprinkling in the temple was a prophetic act, pointing to the seven times that Jesus would shed his blood for us.

Every time Jesus shed his blood for us, is a wonderful gift from God the Father to all his children on earth:

The first wonder: forgiveness
The second wonder: salvation
The third wonder: cleansing
The fourth wonder: healing
The fifth wonder: deliverance
The sixth wonder: reconciliation
The seventh wonder: the rebirth

God wants us to keep our eye on the victorious Jesus and gain sight of the greatness of the cross. Then we will receive the same supernatural courage, love and strength to be his witnesses in this world.

The Seven Wonders publications