Several
years ago a friend bought me a unique ring.
It is like the one in the picture above, and it is a recreation of
Martin Luther’s wedding ring. That is
the Martin Luther who nailed his Ninety-Five
Theses to the door of the church in the 1517.
The
ring is loaded with symbolism from the Bible.
As I look at the ring I am often reminded of the overwhelming truths
that God has blessed us with that flow sweetly from God to His son Jesus and on
to us, the people that Jesus gave His life for.
Today
is the day known as Good Friday that commemorates the death of Jesus on a cruel
Roman cross. It was a horrible and
painful death sentence given to the roughest of criminals, and those who
opposed Jesus turned the leaders of that day against Jesus. He was the only man to live a perfect,
sinless life. He was the only one who
could give His life for ours.
As I
look at Luther’s ring several realities give my faith confidence.
The Cross
On the
side of the ring is depiction of a Catholic crucifix with Jesus on the
cross. Jesus is not on the cross any
longer, but His death on the cross bought our life. He bought our abundant life before physical
death and our spiritual life of eternity in heaven.
Galatians 3:13 NLT
But Christ has rescued us from the curse
pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it
is written in the Scriptures, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.”
The Blood
The
stone on the top of the ring is a garnet.
It is dark red and symbolizes the blood of Jesus that flowed from His
body. Since the beginning of time and
the first sin God required an offering or sacrifice of blood. Yet the blood of the old covenant was a
yearly demand by our holy God. Jesus’s
shed blood was a once and for all time sacrifice for those who call out for and
accept Jesus.
Colossians 1:20 NLT
and through
him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in
heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s
blood on the cross.
The Stories
Our
Bibles are full of stories before Jesus came to earth and after. The ring has several symbols of various lives
and happenings. They are stories of people
of faith who lived beyond themselves and found that living disconnected from
God was not an option for them. We must
find the same true for us. We can and
must chose to follow Jesus and let our faith in God increase. God gives us a story to share with others.
Psalm 145:7 NLT
Everyone will
share the story of your wonderful goodness; they
will sing with joy about your righteousness.
Forgiveness and Redemption
Lost. Undone. Hopeless.
Useless. Those are just a few of
the words that roll off the lips of people who have sought meaning apart from
God. Yet when we talk to people who came
to Jesus and who lean on God, we find the truth of what it is to be redeemed
and forgiven. Without the death of
Christ, without Good Friday, there would be no forgiveness of our sin.
Hebrews 9:12 NLT
With his own
blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for
all time and secured our redemption
forever.
Hebrews 10:18 NLT
And when sins
have been forgiven, there is no
need to offer any more sacrifices.
May the reality of Good Friday overwhelm our minds and convince
our hearts that the finished work of Christ on the cross is the story that
continues to change us and to change others.
As we look at the reminders of Good Friday we know that our faith is
rock solid built on Jesus.
Hebrews 12:2 NLT
We do this by
keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.
Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured
the cross, disregarding its
shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.
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