Into Your Hands

Welcome to this edition of PowerPoint with Jack Graham. A little later in the program we'll tell you how you can get a copy of Dr. Graham's book, Heaven. The first here is the message, Father into your hands I commit my spirit. One by one we're taking a long look at the words Jesus spoke from the cross, at the cross. These are often called the last words of Jesus. But of course we know because Christ is risen these aren't the final words of Jesus. His words live forever.

They are words by which we also live. And each one of these statements that Jesus declared from the cross are representative of how we also are to live and give our lives. Look beginning at verse 24 it was about the sixth hour. Christ now on the cross for these hours from 9 a.m. in the morning to 3 o'clock in the afternoon for six hours and there was darkness over the land until the ninth hour.

While the sunlight stayed and the curtain of the temple was torn in two. And then Jesus calling out with a loud voice, this wasn't the last gasp of a worn out life but rather it was the cry of a victor. With his last words he shouted though he was suffocating. When you died on a cross as we've noted in the past you basically are drowning in your own fluids yet God gave him the energy and the strength to say, Father into your hands I commit my spirit.

And having said this he breathed his last. It's obvious from the words of our Lord from the cross and his life throughout his days on earth that it was all according to God's divine purpose and plan. Jesus was dying, it was a real death but He was fulfilling His call. He was completing His mission. Jesus came to die, He is fulfilling His destiny.

It's obvious that He is in control. He would say earlier in John 10, no one takes my life from me. But I lay it down of myself. The death of Jesus on the cross was voluntary and it was victorious. Even in these final words Jesus breathed His last and He said Father into your hands I commit my spirit. The Gospel writers all include these words of Jesus spoken in His final moment. Into your hands I commit my spirit.

One of the writers gives us this word, into your hands I dismiss my spirit. No one has ever died like Jesus died because He gave His life. He voluntarily offered His life. Death didn't take Jesus, Jesus took death and He died. He breathed His last but when He did, He did it peacefully and majestically.

Majestically because He is the King. And though He rode into the city of Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday on the back of a donkey once again fulfilling prophecy, one day King Jesus will return not on a donkey but a white horse leading the parade of glory. Jesus died and His destiny is fulfilled.

And while it seems to some like a senseless tragedy, it is in fact a supreme triumph. The death of Jesus on the cross. Because on the cross, at the cross, Jesus conquered sin, death, and hell. In the words that Jesus spoke finally here, we see the Savior's heart, we see the Father's hand, and we see the believer's hope. First, the Savior's heart. All of these words that Jesus spoke from the cross reveal the heart of God, the great heart of Jesus. The cross and these words teach us when He died and bowed His head that He now has accomplished His sacrifice to save us from our sin.

He came to seek and to save that which is lost. It's been my prayer in this series that you would begin to know deeper and deeper more and more the love of God. Just how much Jesus loves each one of us. And that every person who hears these messages would receive this gift of salvation and eternal life.

And that we as followers of Jesus who trust and believe in Him would see His heart even more. That you would cherish the cross and cling to the old rugged cross. This is why we boast in our Lord's cross. We are obsessed with the cross because we have been saved by the One who died on that cross. And all because you are loved.

God loves you. And the fact is anyone can be saved at the cross because the Bible tells us that Jesus died for all. Reject any ideology, reject any theology that tells you that Jesus only died for some. Only the select or only the elect.

No, the Bible tells us that He died for the sins of the whole world. That no one is excluded. That everyone is included.

That the great heart of our God and Savior Jesus Christ welcomes all. Therefore we have been won by His love. There was a man standing at the foot of the cross, a Roman soldier. He had been there perhaps from the beginning and watched Jesus die. He had never seen a man die like Jesus died.

As a soldier, perhaps he had presided over hundreds if not thousands of executions. He had seen many men die the terrible death of a cross. But something happened in his heart that day when he saw Jesus die, this hard-hearted Roman soldier, this Gentile unbeliever. In verse 47, the centurion saw what had taken place and he praised God saying certainly this man was innocent. He proclaimed the sinless Son of God.

The other gospel writers include the fact that he said surely, surely this man was the Son of God. What could have broken the hard heart of this cruel, calloused soldier? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. He was won by God's love. He'd never seen anyone like this, Jesus. And He came to Christ at the cross. There were two men who were saved at the cross that day, one when Jesus lived and spoke today to a criminal, a Jewish criminal. Today you will be with me in paradise and another a Gentile centurion, this Roman soldier who in his death brought this man to eternal life. The cross is God's great surprise.

Who would have thought that a cross and a Savior dead on a cross would save the world, would save you and me? You are listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and his message, Father into Your Hands, I Commit My Spirit. Pastor, this month we have a special gift for our listeners who give a gift to PowerPoint. It's your book, Heaven.

What can you tell us about this powerful resource? One of my favorite Christian thinkers, C.S. Lewis, once wrote about heaven. He said, if you read history, you will find that the Christians who did the most for the present world were those who thought most about the next world. For example, Christians like William Wilberforce and John Newton led to fight to abolish the slave trade in England.

Newton is best known for pinning the lyrics to the hymn, Amazing Grace, when we've been there 10,000 years. These were men who longed for heaven, and it made them powerful forces for Christ on earth. That's something we desperately need right now, isn't it? We need believers whose hope is set firmly, anchored in the promises of God for the life that is to come. Because that will strengthen us boldly to witness and to live for Christ right now. That was one of the prayers in my heart when I wrote my book called, Heaven. I'm excited that we're offering it as our special thank you when you give to help promote the message of Christ and the Gospel through PowerPoint. So please be sure to request your copy of Heaven when you give today. Call today and get Dr. Graham's book, Heaven, as our thank you for your gift. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627.

Or text the word PowerPoint to 59789. Now let's get back to today's message, Father into your hands I commit my spirit. A miracle took place, in fact there were several miracles that took place when Jesus showed us His heart on the cross. When we see the heart of Jesus at the cross, there was an earthquake that shook the place. And as a result of the earthquake, as a result of this trembling of the earth and the darkness when Jesus died, the Bible tells us here in this passage that the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom.

Now what is that about? Well, the veil of the temple was a thick beautiful linen piece that was woven with colors red and blue and purple. It was very thick, about a foot thick. It was 30 feet high, 30 feet long and this massive curtain, it weighed hundreds if not thousands of pounds. And this massive curtain was raised between the holy place in the temple where offerings were collected and priests were washing in basins and serving the people from the temple. That was a holy place but the veil of the temple, this magnificent piece stood there to separate the holy place, listen to me, from the most holy place, the holy of holies. The holy of holies was viewed to be the most sacred place on planet earth.

Why? Because the Shekinah glory, the presence of God was in that place. So the holy place, meaning the presence and the power of God could only be entered by the great high priest offering a sacrifice of blood on the cross but now, not by the hands of man but by the hands of God from top to bottom, that veil was ripped apart. And because of Christ's death we now have a way into the presence of God forever. No more need for blood sacrifices, the blood sacrifice, the Lamb of God has been slain.

No more need for Passover celebrations because we now know Jesus, our Passover Lamb. Now we have boldness to enter the presence of God, He tore it down so that we can now go in. That's salvation. That's what Christ has done for us. We now have total access through Jesus.

The last offering, the final and full and forever sacrifice on the cross. Jesus made a way. And now by faith we go in. Look in Hebrews chapter 10 verses 19 and 20, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our body washed with pure water. This is all Jewish language, Hebrew language, metaphors describing the cleansing power and the opening of the door to salvation. We can now enter boldly because the same hands that were nailed to the cross, the nail scarred hands has opened to us not only the gates of grace, salvation, but the gates of glory so that we may enter in. There's a second thing at the cross and that is in these final words of Jesus we see the Father's hands.

The Father's hand. He said, Father, into Your hand I commit my spirit. God the Father, God the Son had a perfect relationship. Jesus had always walked in obedience to the Heavenly Father.

He said, as a 12 year old boy, I must be about the Father's business. He communed with the Father. There was union and communion with God the Father and God the Son. When Jesus was bearing the weight of the world and cried out, my God, not my Lord, but my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? In that moment He was bearing the penalty for sin and God the Father forsook Him, turned His back on Him, but now in His death that relationship is perfectly restored as Jesus commits Himself to the Father.

No more in the hands of men, but in the hands of God. It's beautiful to me that Jesus is quoting Scripture throughout His experience on the cross. And once again, He is sustained and strengthened by God's Word. As are we, whether we live or whether we die, we are sustained by the promises and the provision of God's eternal Word. And because of God's Word, just as Jesus knew the Father would be there when He died, we also know because of His Word that our Father will be there for us. That no one can take us out of the Father's hands. In John chapter 10 and verse 29, one of my favorite verses, the Scripture says that no one, my Father who has given them to me talking about you and me is greater than all and no one, no one is able to snatch you from the Father's hands. We are kept by the power of God. This is why I believe in the security of the believer in Christ. And because you're in the grip of Almighty God, you're in the Father's hands, nothing, not heaven, hell, nothing can separate you from the love of God which is in Jesus Christ. You're in His hands. You're as sure for heaven in Christ as if you were already there.

Why? Not because you're holding onto Him, but because He's holding onto you. We're kept. And so when we lay down to die, or when we get up to live, we know that we're in the Father's hands and we are kept by His power. That's why we can live and die with confidence. The same kind of certainty and confidence expressed by the Apostle Paul who said in 2 Timothy 1-12, I know whom I've believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.

I know. Sometimes we mistranslate that verse. I know in whom I have believed. Does it say I know in whom? It says I know whom I have believed. I know the One in whom I have believed.

Paul didn't want even a preposition between him and Jesus. He said, I know Jesus. And because I know Jesus, I live with a certainty of confidence that when the day comes, when I stand before Him, I will be secure. Christian, you can pray this prayer every night. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

When you can't sleep because the tears are coursing down your face and the fears are running through your veins, pray this prayer. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. When your heart is breaking and your life is aching, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.

He's there. In the darkest hour, even in death, you're in the Father's hands, Christian. One final word. The Savior's heart, He loves you. The Father's hands, He holds you.

We're held. And then the believer's hope. Just as Jesus prayed, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. We know that our spirits belong to God. This is the part of you, the spirit, the soul that will live forever. You were made to live forever.

Your body will die. But your soul is the part that is made to know and love and experience God's presence and your soul will live on. The cross is so precious and so powerful, so cherished by believers because we know that even when we face the end, that we can cling to the cross. The cross gives us hope. His victory is our victory. His hope is now our hope as we are embraced by the Father and welcomed into His presence. Death is the final enemy.

There's no getting around it. Death is an enemy. Death is a terrorist.

In fact, the Bible tells us that death is called the king of terrors. When Jesus died, it was ugly. It was brutal. He was beaten. He was bludgeoned. His visage, His face was marred. His body was drenched with blood.

He was soaked with His own blood. It's a terrible picture of what sin does, the death of Jesus Christ. But in the midst of all of this terror and death and hell, Jesus died in peace.

Jesus died in the presence with a simple prayer, into your hands I commit my spirit. I've seen cancer devour grown men's and women's bodies. I've seen disease destroy people and destroy families.

I've seen accidents bring death to young adults and teenagers. Sometimes when you see death and you experience death, you're just so beaten down by it. That's when we run to the cross. And there we find hope because at the cross, we discover that death does not have the final say. Jesus has the final word. That death is powerless and that our decaying bodies, our dying bodies will one day be raised because Christ is raised. That we will be in the presence of God.

While we are not offered an easy death, we are promised a sure future with Jesus. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. That's a prayer to live by. It's a prayer to die by.

You're listening to PowerPoint with Jack Graham and today's message. Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. No matter what struggles you're facing today, you have hope in the promises awaiting you in heaven. And God calls you to share that hope with others today. That's why we want to encourage and inspire you today by sending you Pastor Graham's book Heaven. This exciting book takes you straight to scripture to help you see all that awaits you in the life to come and how it impacts your life today.

You'll find hope for today and courage to share that hope with others. So don't wait to request your copy. Heaven is our special thanks for your gift to help boldly proclaim God's word through PowerPoint. So request your copy when you call today. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789. And don't forget to visit JackGraham.org where you can shop our e-store, give a gift online or sign up for Dr. Graham's free daily email devotional.

Our website again is JackGraham.org. Pastor, what is your PowerPoint for today? What I want to do every day with my life, Scott, and to all of you who are listening today is truly give my life, commit my life into the hands of a loving God, the nail pierced hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. To commit my decisions, to commit my family, to commit my friends, our church, our ministry, to truly take hands off and to give this completely to him. That means to live in dependence upon him. I don't want to live my life self-dependent. I don't want to live focusing on myself, but rather I want to commit my spirit, my life, my all, my future.

God knows it all. And so I want to give it to him. And that's what I would challenge you to do today. Maybe you've got some things in your hands that you need to let go today, a problem that you're facing, a sin that you're holding onto, a family situation that is driving you up the wall and you just need to turn it loose and commit it to the Father's hands.

That financial situation, your business is cratering. I don't know what you may be going through, but of all our listeners out there, I believe this is a moment that God has brought you to today in order that you would truly take hands off your life and just give what you have to the Lord. Whatever you're going through, give it to the Lord. Just as Jesus bowed his head and said, Father, into your hands I commit my spirit. Commit your heart, your life, your all, your spirit, life and death and all of it to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Give it to the Father's hands and He will bless you. And that is today's PowerPoint. Remember when you give a gift to PowerPoint, we'll send you Dr. Graham's book, Heaven as Our Thanks. Call 1-800-795-4627. That's 1-800-795-4627. You can also text the word PowerPoint to 59789. And join Dr. Graham next time when he brings a message about what's waiting for you in your heavenly home. That's next time on PowerPoint with Jack Graham. PowerPoint with Jack Graham is sponsored by PowerPoint Ministries.